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I wonder if this will see an ability to more easily switch into fintech/banking as a developer working in various other industries. I worked with GS via a mobi

I wonder if this will see an ability to more easily switch into fintech/banking as a developer working in various other industries. I worked with GS via a mobile agency for a while and really respected the developers and what they were doing from an engineering PoV. I had always viewed that industry as essentially closed unless you got in straight after graduating. Has anyone ever made the switch into an engineering role within a bank? Is it hard to get past the lack of specific "financial" experience if you have X years of software engineering behind you in general?

cholantesh 9y ago
Banks aren't the only financial services organizations out there. Look to get into the sector through smaller firms that do IR, asset management, etc. You'll still be paid competitively, and you can pick up knowledge about the sector. They might even foot the bill for an entry-level cert like the Canadian Securities Course (I don't know of any equivalents abroad but I'm sure they exist). With these under your belt, you will have a leg up in applying to a larger bank.
ryandrake 9y ago
+1 for an answer to this question. Fintech seems to me to be as walled off to outsiders as game companies are, only tending to hire amongst their own. The job descriptions seem to require more specialized "arcane wizardry" skills than the normal above-average C++ or mobile developer. If you're a commoner who broke into the biz, I'd be interested in learning your story.
southphillyman 9y ago
There are plenty of CRUD positions on Wall Street. If one wanted to get into a "strats" type role maybe it would be easier to just join as a regular Sr. Engineer. Get paid above avg salary to write web services or whatever, learn domain knowledge in a less stressful manner, and figure out a way to get into the group you really want internally.
arenaninja 9y ago
Not working on a fintech but FWIW I work on trading platforms for a well-known investment bank. Getting in was not particularly difficult but even with some experience you may need to network with someone on the inside to get your resume in front of the right recruiter, simply submitting your resume via the usual channels appears to be a crapshoot (though I had never applied here because I wasn't aware they were in town) My salary is quite average for the role/seniority level and AFAICT it's resented by many developers who work here because many will trade their "in" on their industry into more interesting fintech/banking work elsewhere somewhere down the line for higher compensation. Knowledge of financial transactions is definitely highly specialized and I don't have nearly enough of it yet but it has started to sink in
- cyberpunk 9y ago
  Would I be correct in guessing from your username that you work with FrontArena? It seems in-house coustomisation of those kinds of systems isn’t paid very well (although I know some murex guys who get paid quite a lot as consultants). What does the day to day look like working on these beasts? Are you in Europe? Most of the developers I know working on these platforms seem to be quite silod and not really involved with the programmer ‘scene’ as it were (all using windows, no opinion on editors, never heard of hn, don’t care about this weeks $shinynew etc which I know shouldn’t be any kind of grading scheme but it always strikes me as a bit strange). Would like to hear your opinions on it: are most people who end up working here turned into these (generalisation warning, I know not all) unmotivated souls by the sheer pain of working on this stuff or does it just attract candidates who don’t really care that much about tech?
  - arenaninja 9y ago
    The username I have carried for some time since I used to play this bomberman clone called Teslatron. I am not in Europe but a large chunk of the team I'm working with is. Divulging the name of the company is frowned upon, but it's one of the large full-service investment banks Day-to-day is a lot like other jobs but projects are better managed than I have previously experienced resulting in less meetings for developers. Development can be faster-paced as a direct result. News of $shinynew is discussed daily by developers (e.g.: React's license, React 16, Vue, etc.) but projects themselves tend to be more conservative as a matter of company policy. I can say the average developer on my team is more capable than the average developer at other companies I have worked with previously. People who are unmotivated will be moved to projects nobody wants (my observation) Regarding editors, environments, tech events, HN, StackOverflow, etc.: participation is likely there but self-identification is a huge no-no TLDR: It's not all rainbows and there are institutional challenges, but the tech side is not naive

cholantesh 9y ago

Banks aren't the only financial services organizations out there. Look to get into the sector through smaller firms that do IR, asset management, etc. You'll still be paid competitively, and you can pick up knowledge about the sector. They might even foot the bill for an entry-level cert like the Canadian Securities Course (I don't know of any equivalents abroad but I'm sure they exist). With these under your belt, you will have a leg up in applying to a larger bank.

ryandrake 9y ago

+1 for an answer to this question. Fintech seems to me to be as walled off to outsiders as game companies are, only tending to hire amongst their own. The job descriptions seem to require more specialized "arcane wizardry" skills than the normal above-average C++ or mobile developer. If you're a commoner who broke into the biz, I'd be interested in learning your story.

southphillyman 9y ago

There are plenty of CRUD positions on Wall Street. If one wanted to get into a "strats" type role maybe it would be easier to just join as a regular Sr. Engineer. Get paid above avg salary to write web services or whatever, learn domain knowledge in a less stressful manner, and figure out a way to get into the group you really want internally.

arenaninja 9y ago

Not working on a fintech but FWIW I work on trading platforms for a well-known investment bank. Getting in was not particularly difficult but even with some experience you may need to network with someone on the inside to get your resume in front of the right recruiter, simply submitting your resume via the usual channels appears to be a crapshoot (though I had never applied here because I wasn't aware they were in town) My salary is quite average for the role/seniority level and AFAICT it's resented by many developers who work here because many will trade their "in" on their industry into more interesting fintech/banking work elsewhere somewhere down the line for higher compensation. Knowledge of financial transactions is definitely highly specialized and I don't have nearly enough of it yet but it has started to sink in

cyberpunk 9y ago
Would I be correct in guessing from your username that you work with FrontArena? It seems in-house coustomisation of those kinds of systems isn’t paid very well (although I know some murex guys who get paid quite a lot as consultants). What does the day to day look like working on these beasts? Are you in Europe? Most of the developers I know working on these platforms seem to be quite silod and not really involved with the programmer ‘scene’ as it were (all using windows, no opinion on editors, never heard of hn, don’t care about this weeks $shinynew etc which I know shouldn’t be any kind of grading scheme but it always strikes me as a bit strange). Would like to hear your opinions on it: are most people who end up working here turned into these (generalisation warning, I know not all) unmotivated souls by the sheer pain of working on this stuff or does it just attract candidates who don’t really care that much about tech?
- arenaninja 9y ago
  The username I have carried for some time since I used to play this bomberman clone called Teslatron. I am not in Europe but a large chunk of the team I'm working with is. Divulging the name of the company is frowned upon, but it's one of the large full-service investment banks Day-to-day is a lot like other jobs but projects are better managed than I have previously experienced resulting in less meetings for developers. Development can be faster-paced as a direct result. News of $shinynew is discussed daily by developers (e.g.: React's license, React 16, Vue, etc.) but projects themselves tend to be more conservative as a matter of company policy. I can say the average developer on my team is more capable than the average developer at other companies I have worked with previously. People who are unmotivated will be moved to projects nobody wants (my observation) Regarding editors, environments, tech events, HN, StackOverflow, etc.: participation is likely there but self-identification is a huge no-no TLDR: It's not all rainbows and there are institutional challenges, but the tech side is not naive