Despite the downsizing trend, experts in credit card technology are in demand, according to one credit card headhunter.
Susan Allard, a partner at Allard Associates, an executive search firm based in San Francisco, made that optimistic appraisal while drumming up publicity last week in New York.
"What makes using a recruiter in the credit card industry so appealing is the fact that demand outpaces supply," said Ms. Allard. "This is a phenomenon that occurs in any new or leading-edge area."
Though many people are looking for jobs in financial services, Ms. Allard said, those who can manage every facet of the credit card cycle are at a premium, because there are relatively few of them. As examples she cited escalating interest in executives for cutting-edge areas such as cobranding and smart cards.
"There are ads everywhere for executives in these areas," she said. "Everyone wants people in these industries - but they're so new that you're unlikely to find many people with experience in them, so it's hard for employers to decide who could do the job well."
Allard Associates consists of three partners and four associates. It seeks candidates for banking jobs from telephone companies, the airlines, and other industries whose workers have the kinds of skills that banks need, or from companies that market with credit card associations.
The headhunting firm says its clients are banks, nonbanks, credit card companies, and vendors that support the banking industry, such as risk management consultants, direct-response and data base companies, and vendors of software for the financial industry.
Current clients include Wells Fargo, First Chicago Corp., and American Management Systems.
Allard Associates receives a commission of about 30% of a referred employee's starting salary, which it said ranges from $45,000 to $200,000. Ms. Allard said her firm has made about 200 placements.
It is hard to impress upon banks that they have to pay more for technologists because demand exceeds supply, Ms. Allard said. "It's an educational process," she said. "A bank might say that it needs a credit scoring analyst, for which it wants to pay about $45,000. Then we'll tell it that area starts at $58,000 to $60,000."
She mentioned a bank in Maryland that had been seeking a credit card manager with heavy direct-mail experience. Though it initially wanted to pay $40,000, it ended up paying over $80,000, she said.
Executives at several companies on Ms. Allard's client list declined to discuss her or her company. But one independent analyst said she is on target with her appraisal of the supply and demand for card-technology talent.
He also suggested that using a headhunter would put a bank in a better position to negotiate salary once the executive is selected.
Ms. Allard made a series of predictions about the credit card industry. She said credit card companies will likely be seeking people from mortgage banking, commercial lending, automated analytics, investment banking, and the securities industry. And knowledge of techniques for identifying potential customers, such as adaptive controls and data base mining, will be crucial, she said.
Ms. Allard started Allard Associates in 1983. Before that she worked at Wells Fargo Bank, developing and marketing fee- and balance-generating services to correspondent banks worldwide.
