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As a past payments executive and now as a specialized fintech recruiter it has been my experience that having a targeted plan, focused execution and persistence will result in a successful job search. The following are some of the key steps that should be part of every job search. Create a Plan: Identify the type of position, industry, and company culture you seek. Set goals for your job search, including how many applications sent and networking contacts you want to complete per week. Social Media: Having a current professional profile on sites like LinkedIn and Facebook highlighting your experience and accomplishments will enhance your brand value to hiring organizations. A strong correlation exists between a profile highlighting specific experience and how it drives Boolean keyword search resulting in a job match and inquiry from hiring managers and recruiters. Career Opportunities: Finding career opportunities to apply for should be driven by a multi-channel approach, channels to discover job opportunities should include: · Job boards like LinkedIn, indeed, Ladders, CareerBuilder, Monster, Glassdoor, Google for Jobs. · Company websites based on the industries you targeted in your job search plan. · Niche job boards like Angel, Dice, Dribble, Snagajob and Craigslist. · Professional associations and industry groups. Networking: Identify and set goals to network with your peers, personal associates and recruiters that specialize in your targeted industries. Your outreach message should be specific and include asking the networking contact to act, including having an informal meeting, providing a referral or asking them provide guidance as a mentor on your search. Research: Before applying or interviewing, research the company and align your experience to demonstrate your fit to the position requirements. Sources to research companies include company websites, CEO letter to shareholders in annual reports, Google Search, networking with peers and sites like TechCrunch. Application Content: Using the insights, you gain from your company research and the job description customize your cover letter and resume to highlight your experience and brand based on the fit to the position, responsibilities, and company culture. Interview: Focus on your experience fit and how it relates to your understanding of the position requirements and company culture. During the interview showcase your relevant experience, by communicating the situation, action you took and the outcome. Making a career change under any circumstances can be stressful, so always take time to celebrate success in every step of the journey and good outcomes will happen. Since 1999 Group W Partners has been a leading Fintech & Payments Executive Search firm, connecting today’s payments talent with tomorrow’s career opportunities.

Cultural fit is an important factor to consider when recruiting talent, as it can affect the performance, satisfaction, and retention of employees. The following are some of the benefits and challenges associated with this key element of candidate fit. Culture fit plays an important role in employee tenure, loyalty, and retention. Hiring people who share the same vision and mission with your culture, leads to better work output and quality. A well-defined value-based company culture attracts top talent. Candidates are more likely to apply to organizations that have a clear and appealing culture. However, hiring for cultural fit also has some challenges and risks. Hiring managers that only look for candidates who are like themselves or the existing employees, they may miss out on the benefits of having a diverse and inclusive workforce. Hiring for culture fit can be subjective and biased. If hiring managers do not have a clear definition of what culture fit means for their organization, they may rely on their personal opinions and feelings to judge candidates. Measuring culture fit requires more than just looking at resumes or conducting interviews. Utilizing tools and methods, such as personality tests, behavioral assessments and including multiple stakeholders in the hiring process will balance the assessment and alignment with cultural fit. While it is a key element of recruitment, hiring for cultural fit is not a simple or straightforward process. It requires a careful balance between finding candidates who share the core values and mission of the organization and respecting the diversity and individuality of the candidate. Since 1999 Group W Partners has been a leading Payments and Fintech Executive Search firm, connecting today’s payments talent with tomorrow’s career opportunities.

As a specialized Payments and Fintech recruiter, I believe the term “sales athlete” has become a metaphor for the best sales candidates. In the sports world athletes are driven, determined to win, go beyond the required, and are team players. Going beyond the quantitative results and really understanding the qualitative record of “how” they achieve what they do is key to finding the right MVP sales hire. This can be a hard lesson to learn for the hiring manager as not all sales athletes compete in the same way. Here are 5 areas to discuss with your sales candidate that will help you hire the real MVP: 1. Not closing the championship of big deals. What did they learn from those experiences and what did they do to improve? 2. Practice Makes Perfect. Discuss the types of training they have gone through, what have they done to hone their skills and stay at the top of their game? 3. Teamwork and Leadership. Ask for an example of a successful team they were a member of and the roles they played on that team. What was the outcome? Does their view of the team go beyond the sales organization? 4. Coach-ability. Most great athletes are coach-able, they understand the need for on-going improvement and will be receptive to those who offer help and advice. Ask for some examples of when a coach /sales leader helped them improve? 5. Game Preparation. Top athletes have a plan for each game. They know the competition and they know what they need to do to win. How do they prepare for a sales call and do they have a plan with a goal for the call? While understanding the "result metrics" of successful sales candidates is critical, understanding “how they play the game” will provide insights into work ethics, motivation, teamwork, cultural fit, and long-term success in your organization. Since 1999 Group W Partners has been a market leading Payments Recruitment and Fintech Executive Search firm.

By Julie Mott, Managing Director, Howett Thorpe. With the easing of lockdown kickstarting the economy and more employers seeking new staff, candidates have become far more selective about the jobs they decide to take. And where does a candidate gain their first impression of your business? During the recruitment process. If you still think your ideal recruit will jump through hoops for the chance of an interview, think again. Candidates have far greater expectations when it comes to recruitment in 2022, and there are around 36% fewer applicants across industries in the first place. So, you cannot afford to let the ideal candidate slip through your fingers. Where businesses go wrong with recruitment Two key reasons why candidates decline a position include: Being offered below-market pay and less-than-competitive perks. Job adverts that display salary information are 66% more likely to generate an application than one without because candidates want to know the bottom line of what employers are offering. Receiving an offer where the contract terms do not align with candidate expectations. Clarity and consistency are crucial for potential candidates, too. Research suggests that 53% of job seekers prefer the details of a job role to be clearly explained in the job description. However, 52% of job seekers place lack of response from employers (or recruiters!) as the number one frustration during the job search — which explains why 89% of potential candidates drop out of the hiring process due to a drawn-out timeline. During this new age of remote and hybrid working, company culture is also more important than ever. Failure to display a progressive attitude to work-life balance could be the ultimate turn-off for a potential candidate. According to Glassdoor, 77% of people consider company culture before applying for a job — and even believe it is more important than salary when it comes to job satisfaction. What’s more, since the pandemic necessitated the widespread adoption of remote working, many people are reluctant to accept roles involving a long commute. Only one in seven workers expect to commute into their place of work five days a week — so, if your business cannot offer a flexible approach to work, your top candidates will likely seek it elsewhere. How to improve the recruitment process A candidate will gain their first impression of your business by checking it out online before even thinking about applying. So, if your online presence is inconsistent, incomplete, or out of date, people are unlikely to view your organization as a suitable match. Ensuring everything — from your website and social channels to the job ad itself — is well written, accurate, and demonstrates a positive company culture will go a long way to reassuring a potential employee that your business is a legitimate and appealing prospect. A business’ reputation also speaks volumes about its culture and values. Quality online reviews and feedback from current or past employees are crucial, so it is essential to build a positive working environment and reputation to prove how great your business is to work for. Clear communication and timeliness from the start are also critical elements of the recruitment process. It takes a lot of time and resources for HR departments to keep up with multiple ongoing applications; by embracing technology and integrating digital processes, you can automate responses and streamline applications. Once you have refined your software and remote onboarding processes, your pool of available candidates will expand significantly — especially since 43% of graduates have had to turn down interviews due to the cost of getting there. Plus, as the average cost of replacing an employee is 150% of their salary, it is well worth investing in the correct processes to get recruitment right the first time.

The Problem: Cost of a Hire Failure According to a study by Leadership IQ, almost 46% of newly hired employees fail with 18 months and only 19% achieve a high level of success. And, according to research from CareerBuilder, the cost of hiring the wrong people can be staggering, as much as $25,000 to over $50,000 depending on the size of the company, not to mention possible damage to morale, productivity, customers, etc. What is most interesting in this study was the fact that only 11% of new hire failures were attributable to lack of proper functional or technical skills, yet, traditionally, that is where companies tend to spend most of their time in the interviewing process. The areas that contribute the most to bad hiring are with issues around motivation and attitude driven by poor alignment with the company’s work environment. A candidate may have the skill necessary to be successful, but do they have the will? Interview Questions to help assess candidate motivation and attitude 1. What would the perfect company and job look like to you? (listen for clues as to company reputation, leadership, products, size, stage, culture, advancement opportunities, structure, stability, etc. ) 2. Tell me about your most satisfying position. Why? (listen for clues about the working environment, their functional responsibilities, teamwork and collaboration, how they were managed, why they were motivated, etc.) 3. Now tell me about your least satisfying position. Why? (listen for the same types of responses) 4. Who was your favorite boss? Why? (listen for clues about how they were managed and motivated, how they responded to coaching or the level at which the manager got involved) 5. Who was your least favorite boss? Why? (listen for same types of responses) 6. What has been your most significant achievement in your career so far? How did you accomplish it? (look for teamwork, cross-functional coordination and collaboration, management support, working style, leadership, risk-taking, energy needed, flexibility and adaptability etc. – are these factors important for success in your company?) 7. What was your most significant failure? Why? (listen for what role low motivation and poor attitude played in that failure) 8. How important is your next company and role in terms of advancing your career path? (can your company provide the kind of advancement opportunities that the candidate expects?) 9. Where does compensation rank as a key motivator for you? (Is your company competitive in compensation and can you meet their expectations) 10. Based on what you know about (company), why do you think you would be motivated to be successful? (this will elicit questions about your company’s culture, so be prepared) By the end of this interview, you should have a much better idea as to whether or not your company can and will provide the working environment that will support this candidate’s expectations and be able to foster an attitude that will motivate them to succeed. Since 1999 Group W Partners has been a leading executive search firm, specialized in Payments Recruitment and related Fintech applications.

By PYMTS Middle-market companies had already started deploying digital payments, and the pandemic sharply accelerated the trend. Here are five ways PYMNTS found that companies have mitigated problems and found new efficiencies through new payment options. #1: Alleviating Consumers’ Concerns at Physical Stores Brick-and-mortar stores have been hit hard by the pandemic and have made serious adjustments to stay in business. Still, workers and customers have both become wary of using cash and physical cards to make purchases, as many are concerned that the virus can linger on physical surfaces. Shoppers also want to get in and out of stores as quickly as possible. These concerns are fueling the rapid rise of touchless transaction technologies that had already been steadily gaining ground. For example, contactless cards and mobile wallets enable customers to wave cards, smartphones or wearable devices over point-of-sale (POS) terminals to pay. #2. Reducing Frictions in B2B Payment Processes Offering instant payments methods such as account-to-account (A2A) transfers, which move funds directly from one bank account to another, could alleviate some of the frictions inherent in historically manual B2B payment processes, such as needing to wait for check deposits to clear. Businesses also must be sure they can transfer the attached payment and client data just as swiftly as they can the actual funds for A2A or other instant payment methods to work as intended. Transparent payments are quickly becoming table stakes for companies to stay competitive. Businesses are shifting their invoicing tools to virtual methods and are relying on online databases and workflow platforms to support faster payments and more satisfactory relationships with their clients. Integrating embedded or A2A payments within enterprise resource planning systems should be a top priority for companies. #3. Disbursing Funds More Efficiently Customers that have paid their insurance premiums on time for months or years on end understandably want to be certain that any necessary claim payouts will arrive swiftly and conveniently when crises hit. This makes it important for insurance companies to deliver swift, convenient claim payouts that are both cost-effective to issue and conducive to customer retention. Digital tools can help insurers disburse funds in more efficient, budget-friendly ways, while also pleasing policyholders. Insurers looking to reduce costs and improve efficiencies could consider moving claim payouts away from paper checks in favor of digital disbursement methods. Moves to instant disbursements are likely to be well-received by customers of companies in any industry that distributes disbursements. #4: Supporting Payments Choices on a Global Scale As online shopping continues to take the world by storm, a growing number of global consumers strongly prefer alternative payment methods — including mobile payments, digital wallets, bank transfers and buy now, pay later (BNPL) plans — to traditional card-based solutions. More than 450 local payment methods are used around the world, and merchants quickly have realized that simply offering debit or credit card payment options at checkout is no longer enough to satisfy customers. U.S. merchants looking to grow globally must offer methods popular in each country. So, cross-border eCommerce’s rapid rise is fast-tracking the development of cross-border payments solutions. Some mobile wallets, for example, allow consumers to process transactions in a variety of currencies and to place orders to and from different regions. #5. Controlling Corporate Spend Corporations are finding virtual credit cards to be a welcome partner in reducing wasteful spending. By 2026, virtual cards are expected to be the digital payment tool of choice, as virtual card-based expenses will reach $6.8 trillion, up from $1.9 trillion this year. By generating a unique digital token linked to a card’s account, users no longer need to carry a physical card, increasing convenience and security while maintaining oversight of spending. This is especially important at a time when, with employees working remotely, it has become much more challenging to manage expense authorizations and keep corporate credit card accounts safe from outside threats.

As the Independent Contractor trend continues to grow and becomes a permanent configuration of an organization’s workforce, the need to effectively manage this non-employee segment becomes increasingly important. Based on a study by Ardent Partners less than 50% of US companies contingent workforce is accounted for, while over 60% of US organizations consider non-employee resources as a key workforce component. The Case for Contingent Workforce Solutions Some of the key elements driving the need for contingent workforce solutions are visibility, risk management, tracking and payment. US Labor laws have specific rules about what constitutes a full-time employee versus a contractor. To manage classification risk, companies can utilize a contingent workforce solution for needs including onboarding, 1099 compliance and the unique management requirements of continency workers as Independent Contractors. Contingent workforce software solutions can also help automate project management, tracking of tasks, hourly billing, tax compliance and non-employee payments, so companies can efficiently manage all aspects of this workforce segment. As the Independent Contractor workforce continues to grow CWS solutions will evolve, expand scope, and provide a vital resource for companies to manage this growing component of their workforce. Since 1999 Group W Partners Payments Recruiters has been a market leading Fintech Executive Search firm, connecting today’s payments talent with tomorrow’s career opportunities.

What should job applicants include on their resumes in order to satisfy the needs of recruiters? This has been a much debated question, usually not settled by any standards or best practices. A recent survey of more than 150 recruiters nationwide conducted by global outplacement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas, Inc., asked recruiters how much experience a candidate should include on their resume. The survey revealed that the majority want to see a candidate’s entire professional experience. This finding casts doubt on some “common wisdom” that employers are only interested in an applicant’s most recent work experience. In fact, the large majority, two-thirds of those surveyed, said job seekers should include all work history. Some recruiters indicated that missing information raises the question that the job seeker may be attempting to hide something. Another 25 percent felt that up to 20 years of job history should be included, while 9.4 percent said up to 10 years. So what's the best length for a resume? According to recruiters, including the full work history may take more than the traditionally expected one-page resume. On the matter of resume length, respondents indicated that most application tracking systems utilize keywords, thus making length a non-issue. Actually, none of the respondents to the Challenger survey said that a resume should be limited to one page, completely shattering the myth. However, while resume length may be less of an issue in today’s technology-aided recruiting environment, more than two-thirds still felt that most people’s experience could be summed up in two pages. Still, only 18 percent said the resume should be as long as necessary to list all the candidate’s accomplishments. “Above all, job seekers need to include work history relevant to the jobs for which they are applying. Early or impertinent information should be included, but can be brief. The main reason to include all work history is that hiring authorities want to see a clear timeline of your professional experience,” offered John A. Challenger, Chief Executive Officer of Challenger, Gray & Christmas, and job search expert. The Question of Including Prior Salary Information Recruiters were divided on whether to include previous salary figures on resumes. Just over 50 percent felt it was always useful when matching candidates to positions. Another 9.1 percent said including it could price candidates out of positions, and 33.3 percent believed it should never be included. “Job applications typically ask for previous salary information anyway, so it was surprising to see that many recruiters do not want job seekers to include it on the resume. However, the question of salary will almost always come up in either the initial phone screening or the in-person interview,” commented Challenger. He added that job seekers should absolutely not lie about their previous salaries, and suggested that they can give a range of what is acceptable to them, based on market research from sites like Payscale.com, Salary.com, or Glassdoor.com. Applicants should take the time to research what their job positions are worth for their region and industry. What about Linkedin? Seventy-five percent of respondents said candidates should include their LinkedIn URLs on their resumes. Of the remainder who felt it they were unnecessary, one recruiter stated that they do not have time to read through them, and therefore, it would serve no purpose to include it. from RecruitingTrends

As a Fintech industry executive and now as a Payments & Fintech recruiter I wanted to share my observations on the emerging growth of Virtual Interviews. Based on Payments client feedback and Fintech industry analysis over 85% of hiring managers are using or plan on adopting virtual interviewing for most or in some situations all of the hiring process. The impact for both the candidate and employer of this trend requires an understanding of the shift in approach and most importantly the ability to adapt to this change. For the candidate, the preparation for the interview remains the same, however the introduction of video interviewing platforms like Zoom, Microsoft Teams, Skype and Google Hangouts require some knowledge and skill to effectively manage these applications. Prior to a virtual interview, determine which platform will be used and prepare by visiting the application in advance to check connectivity and how to navigate the solution. Most importantly record some interview role plays, play them back to check background, video quality and communication style. For employers virtual interviewing provides many benefits including a safe environment, speed, flexibility, and the ability to evaluate communication skills. However, as companies integrate this new medium the hiring manager should be present and avoid the pitfall of using virtual interviewing as a screening tactic for the perfect video interviewing candidate versus the best fit candidate. Some of the areas hiring managers should consider adapting to for virtual interviews include, avoiding background distractions, providing candidates with FAQ’s on the application and leveraging different mediums in addition to the virtual interview including, phone, scripted calls, PowerPoint presentations and written documents to create as much of a 360 degree approach as possible. Since 1999 Group W Partners has connected todays Payments, eCommerce, and Fintech executives with tomorrow’s opportunities.

If you are looking for that next high impact Payments candidate, you need to look beyond their results and experience. Since 1999 our team has been continuously evolving our assessment of past performance, as well as soft skills when matching applicants to companies. Soft Skills are a combination of learned experiences which support the development of communication skills, personality traits, attitudes, and career attributes. It has been our experience that these skills complement and form the foundation for a high performing candidate. As a hiring leader for 30 plus years and now as a Fintech recruiter, the top 5 soft skills I hire for are: Coachability – Coaching will be different, seeing as many of your employees may be working from home now. It's inspiring to have people on your team that are receptive to coaching, willing to learn, and are open to trying various approaches. Teamwork –As more Payments & Fintech employees migrate to remote roles, excellent communication skills are of the utmost importance. Look for employees with a desire to engage with other team members. Ideally, you are looking for a candidate that is willing and excited to share wins, best practices, and offer support to the team when needed! Self-Motivation – Optimally, you want to count on your employees to do their job without you telling them what to do. Someone with this trait will possess a strong will to win and desire to be successful. It is also important to know what individually motivates and drives each of your team members. This will only increase their will to win! Competitive – When searching for a candidate, it is vital to be on the lookout for a competitive spirit. You want someone that likes to win but win the right way. I always look for applicants that will raise the bar and create some fun competition within the team. Emotional Intelligence - I cannot say enough about Emotional Intelligence. The ability of individuals to recognize their own emotions and those of others to guide thinking and behavior, has a direct correlation to the achievement of individual and teams’ goals. At Group W Partners, we incorporate soft skills into our screening and interview process based on what is essential to your unique culture and organization. Amid all of the uncertainty at this time, we are here to help you navigate, hiring the best high potential candidates while allowing you to focus on your business. Since 1999 Group W Partners has been a market leading Payments and Fintech executive search firm specializing in the placement of Leadership, Sales, Marketing and Product executives.

As companies move to remote work to fight the coronavirus pandemic and an increasing number of workers are being laid off or furloughed, you might be wondering if you should continue to send out resumes or just assume that no one is hiring for the foreseeable future. It’s true that economists are predicting a recession, but career experts say it’s best to keep networking and applying, provided you change your approach a bit to acknowledge these are uncertain times. “Companies might not be hiring today, because they’re trying to figure out how to do business virtually, but they will be hiring,” says Danielle Beauparlant Moser, managing director and executive coach with bltCareers in Asheville, NC “The people who continue to relationship-build and share their ideas will be in a better position when companies start hiring.” Most HR departments and managers are just getting everyone up to speed on the logistics and daily routines of a fully remote workforce so it might be difficult to reach people in the first few weeks of the transition, says Kathleen Landers, executive director of SEQUENCE Counseling and Consulting Services in Silver Spring, MD. Plus, “people have a lot of concerns—they might have elderly parents, relatives in other countries, young children to take care of, even their own health issues.” Be prepared for job openings to be put on hold or disappear, even if they’ve been open for a while. That doesn’t mean they won’t open up again in a few months. Landers admits she herself was getting ready to hire someone but decided to put that on hold for a few weeks. “If I can tell my business will maintain the same level of income and consumers will still want the product, then I will move ahead,” she says. With all that said, you can still be actively working on your job search. These tips will help you navigate the process during the pandemic and the accompanying economic slowdown. 1. Consider How Urgent Your Search Is If you can afford to put your job search on hold, you may want to wait it out, Landers says, because it could be challenging to get on a hiring manager’s radar right now. “If you’re currently employed, think about how to make your job more palatable,” says Nancy Halpern, founder of Political IQ, a Manhattan-based leadership-consulting firm focused on developing emotional intelligence. “If you’re not employed, don’t think of your next job as the perfect job. It might be short term.” While many industries have and will continue to be hit hard by the COVID-19 pandemic, others are still hiring. If you’re unemployed and need a stopgap, consider looking there or wherever else you can find an opportunity that makes sense for you—and pays the rent and puts food on the table—in the meantime. 2. Get Comfortable Networking Online Events will be cancelled for a while, so you’ll need to find a new networking strategy. Seek out like-minded professionals online and ask about virtual events, Halpern says. Look for professional groups to join on Facebook and LinkedIn. Both platforms offer a wide range of options with groups for every profession. For instance, if you’re looking for a job in marketing, you could join LinkedIn’s Global Marketing and Communications Professionals group. “Join in the conversation, post and comment, and make yourself visible,” Halpern says. Just be sure to keep the conversation professional by posting relevant articles and chiming in on topics that allow you to demonstrate your expertise. Get ready to ace a virtual informational interview or networking chat by practicing with a friend, says Laura Labovich, CEO of The Career Strategy Group in Bethesda, MD. Have your friend ask questions and give you feedback on your delivery. Make sure you know how to angle the camera so the person you’re meeting with can see your entire face, not just your forehead or your left eye. Once you’ve mastered the technology, invite professional contacts to meet for a virtual coffee. 3. Stay In Touch Maybe you recently had a promising interview and a job offer seemed to be on the horizon, but now the company has moved to remote work and you haven’t heard from the hiring manager. What should you do? Check in with the hiring manager by email, acknowledging that they might be scrambling to help their employees get used to the new setup, Moser says. For instance, your email could say: “I’m looking forward to learning more when it makes sense for your organization.” This conveys that you know this is an extraordinary circumstance and acknowledges that this isn’t easy for people, she says. Make sure you also demonstrate a thoughtful attitude. Rather than asking them to help you, ask if there is anything you can assist them with, Moser says. The idea is to connect with people on a human level, she says. Let’s say you’re contacting someone you’ve networked with in the past. Your email can simply say: “I wanted to reach out to see if there’s anything I can do for you. You’ve been so generous with your time, I want to return the favor if I can.” If you have a specific skill a hiring manager might be able to tap into, mention it. You might say: “Given that I’ve led virtual teams, I might have some ideas to share on how to keep your employees feeling connected when they’re not in the office.” “Networking should be driven by what the company needs and how it matches up with your superpower,” Moser says. “It’s also an opportunity to demonstrate what type of employee you would be.” And find other ways to stay top of mind in addition to email. For instance, connect with the hiring manager on LinkedIn and, if they post a status, comment on it, Labovich says. If the hiring manager posts a company report or press release, make a comment that illustrates you read it and have valuable insight to contribute. Pretend you’re giving them a preview of what you’d add to the team if you worked there. 4. Gather Intel The COVID-19 crisis can provide a unique glimpse into company culture. Take note of how leadership deals with this emergency and treats its employees by following the company on social media and watching for any media coverage, says Heidi Parsont, CEO and founder of TorchLight Hire in Alexandria, VA. For instance, is the company allowing employees to work from home? Are they supporting workers in other creative ways? Did they lay off staff? Set up Google alerts for the companies you want to work for and listen to investor calls, Labovich says. When you do have a chance to interview, you’ll be able to demonstrate that you understand the concerns leadership has and the threats the company faces from this pandemic, she says. You can mention what you read and listened to and use your specific knowledge to drive home how you could help the company achieve its goals if hired. 5. Use the Time to Reflect Job seekers often jump at the first available opportunity or go into their search without fully considering what they want to do next. Take advantage of the slowing job market by getting clarity about where you want to work and the type of role and title you're seeking. Create a one-page document that lists your target industry, companies, job titles, and anything in particular you’re looking for, Labovich says. It goes without saying that you should apply to every posting you see that hits some or all of your criteria. But beyond job openings, you can also focus on which companies you want to work for and who you can reach out to at those companies. (The company might not have an open role yet but you can use your network to help you start making connections now.) Be prepared to think about your role more broadly and possibly pivot to an adjacent position that would also make use of your experience and skills. For instance, you might have been targeting a marketing role but with fewer people spending money, the company might be more inclined to hire someone for a communications role during this crisis. “Play the long game,” Lander says. “There is a lot of shifting going on right now.” 6. Boost Your Skills Now is the perfect time to work on bolstering your qualifications, Moser says. Analyze job descriptions by listing each required skill and experience. Then consider whether you have that exact skill, if you have the skill but haven’t used it in a few years, or if you’re lacking the skill entirely. Use that information to determine what you need to brush up on to make yourself an even better candidate when the job market picks up again. For instance, if you’re applying for social media or marketing specialist positions, the listing will likely require experience with Google Analytics and Hootsuite. Being certified in either or both would make your resume stand out. During an economic slowdown, it’s important to focus on what you can control—improving your skills and reaching out to your network, Parsont says. “You can lay the groundwork now so that when the crisis is over you have opened doors and rekindled relationships.”

JACKSONVILLE, Fla.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Feb. 27, 2020-- Financial services technology leader FIS™ (NYSE: FIS) today released its Worldpay from FIS 2020 Global Payments Report, a comprehensive analysis and forecast of consumer payment trends in 40 countries around the world. The report predicts that digital wallets will represent half of global eCommerce sales by 2023, while “Buy Now, Pay Later” (BNPL) methods emerge as the fastest-growing online payment preference over the next five years. The Worldpay 2020 Global Payments Report indicates that even as global eCommerce continues to grow to an estimated $5.9 trillion by 2023, the marketplace is rapidly changing as digital and mobile wallets transform consumer behaviors online. Many diverse factors are driving this change, including the urbanization of emerging economies, widescale technological adoption, the increasing spending power of Generation Z consumers, and the rise of social commerce. Smartphones are becoming the new wallet for many consumers who are forgoing traditional payment methods in-store, according to the Worldpay report. In 2019, 22 percent of in-store purchases globally were conducted using mobile/digital wallets1 – up from 16 percent in 2018.2 Market forecasters project that more than one billion shoppers will make a digital or mobile wallet payment in 2020.3 “Mobile commerce is set to make up half of all global eCommerce spending in five years because the reach and scale of the technology means you can shop and buy anywhere,” said Shane Happach, EVP, head of global eCommerce, Worldpay Merchant Solutions, FIS. “If a merchant’s payment strategy doesn’t consider mobile-first payment methods like digital wallets and ‘Buy Now, Pay Later’ options, they are going to lose market share to their competitors.” “While innovations like ‘Buy Now, Pay Later’ grow out of consumer demand, new payment methods win market share when retailers and service providers work to educate shoppers about their options,” said Zilvinas Bareisis, Head of Retail Banking, Celent. “It is upon payments service providers and retailers to educate shoppers by talking to them at the register, or through disclaimers along the shopping experience online. These communication tools should be designed in a way that drives awareness as well as adoption.” Global Payment Trends While digital wallets are becoming a preferred choice for online and in-store commerce, BNPL methods are rapidly emerging as a global payment option. BNPL payment services such as Afterpay or Klarna allow consumers to delay payment or to pay by installments over a set period. The FIS report found that BNPL is the fastest-growing online payment method in Australia, Brazil, France, Japan, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom and the United States, and is set to grow at a 28 percent compound annual growth rate globally over the next five years.1 The Europe-Middle East-Africa (EMEA) region leads the global market in terms of BNPL usage, comprising 5.8 percent of total eCommerce purchases and expected to grow to 8.9 percent by 2023.1North America currently comprises less than one percent of eCommerce BNPL purchases and is expected to advance to three percent by 2023. art of the possible in a mobile-first consumer market, giving new tools to merchants who must open new doors to shoppers looking for more flexible and personalized ways to pay.”