Daniel Yee asks is too much choice actually no choice at all?

I know I can’t be the only one that occasionally struggles with the slightly odd indecisiveness that comes from living in a society that does its best to give us too many choices for every decision we make in our day-to-day lives. Which of the 1120 shows on Netflix Australia will you watch today? Or is it one of the 832 TV shows in the Stan Library tickles your fancy? There are currently 100 million songs available on Spotify with 60,000 added daily. Which playlist will it be today? Across Australia, there are 18,000 restaurants available on Uber Eats, a fact that has done little to aid many of us deciding what we actually want for dinner this evening.

We often see this in effect with the candidates we speak to who, blinded by the glaring light of too much choice, are often seen to be stuck in a state of near-inertia when faced with all the different options available in the market. Perhaps it’s private equity they want. Will it be a domestic or global fund? Buy-out or growth? Will the fund have a sector speciality? Or invest flexibly across the capital structure? Will you have the opportunity to act as a board advisor?

What if they think they want to move into infrastructure investing? Will it be Core? Core-plus? Renewables? Maybe it’s a role with a financier or developer? For others, wanting to go down the corporate path, the choices can vary greatly depending on whether they go to a listed firm or one that is privately held. Will the role be more M&A, organic or strategy focused? Sector preferences often play a significant role in the decision, as does whether there are pathways out of the M&A/BD team into other parts of the business. It can be extremely easy to lose the forest for the trees when taking a casual glance at the market as a candidate.

We also see hiring managers become bedazzled by the seemingly endless options that the candidate pool, on the surface, looks like it can provide. A quick search on LinkedIn seems to indicate about 5000 candidates with the title of “Investment Banking Analyst” in Australia. There must be more than a few there that would jump at the opportunity in their team, right?

The recruitment process itself can often sag under the weight of its own complexity too: multiple rounds of interviews with the entire team, psychometric testing (which type would you like?), case studies, modelling tests, presentations, coffees, and the occasional site visit to a corporate facility or portfolio company. Of course, a recruitment process must be thorough, but we have seen many a process hit and then brazenly exceed the point of diminishing returns.

If you are a candidate who is feeling unsure about their options or a hiring manager drowning under the weight of a recruitment process that is unable to attract the best options out there, please feel free to reach out to us here at JMES. We would welcome the opportunity to cut through the noise that pervades the job market at large and help you find a solution that best fits you and your organisation.

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