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Forgive me if I missed something but it sure sounds like banks are going to get their teeth knocked out if that's what they think constitutes 'hand-to-hand comb
by GVIrish 13y ago
Forgive me if I missed something but it sure sounds like banks are going to get their teeth knocked out if that's what they think constitutes 'hand-to-hand combat' for recruiting tech talent. It's good to focus more on engineering schools but that is only putting you at the start line against everyone else trying to recruit IT grads.
I don't know the financial industry well, but it sounds like they have some of the myopia problems that other old, big industries have when it comes to recruiting IT people. They look around and wonder why people don't want to work with them, and think if only they recruit harder they'll fix the problem.
IMO part of their problem is that their organizational cultures don't put a high priority on IT, nor do they necessarily give IT the autonomy they need to deliver value. So if you do succeed in hiring great people they'll get frustrated and eventually leave. The work is naturally not going to be as sexy as startup land or dedicated tech companies, but the bureaucracy is a killer.
The other side of that is that IT people aren't valued as much as managers and regular line of business employees, so naturally they're loath to pay at market rates for IT people.
- EC1 13y agoI work at a major north american bank as a mobile developer. Windows XP laptop from 2005, completely locked down so we can hardly do anything. We develop, strictly on that laptop, for 12 separate devices. There are 8 of us working in a 14' * 10' room, with no natural light coming in.
- avenger123 13y agoAre you an employee or an employee of the contractor (CGI, etc.) that's been hired to do the work?
- EC1 13y agoEmployee. For some reason, everyone else gets a large cube that they're going to hang onto for quite awhile, and we've been moved building to building 3 times within a year, all within shittier than the last conference rooms.
- waps 13y agoSadly, this probably is because your manager is "freelancing" on the mobile app on a shoe-string budget because it doesn't have support from most of management. The result is that it has to camouflage in some other budget. The way to win here is to ask your boss or your boss' boss for a nice, well paid, ideally somewhat privileged project in 6 months, then hold him to it. Or move to a decent company of course. Not necessarily saying anything about your particular situation, but I've seen this before.
- bagels 13y agoWhy work in those conditions?
- EC1 13y agoStability. Working on getting my own company/products off the ground, once that levels out, I'll quit. I'm looking to save around 25k to travel + use for rent for about a year and a half for side projects and to build my skills up.
- toomuchtodo 13y agohttp://careers.stackoverflow.com/jobs/remote http://careers.stackoverflow.com/jobs/remote EDIT: If you hate your gig enough, email me (email in profile) and I'll share whatever resources I can with you.
- dsernst 13y agonot seeing your email in profile. can you msg me: hn [at] dsernst.com
- hangonhn 13y agoYour theory actually matches my experience. I was at a hedge fund for 2.5 years doing tech. I was always a cost center. People there just didn't really appreciate you even though tech is so essential to what they do. We had more servers than people. Then I left and went to a software company and count this as one of the best decision I've ever made. Tech people in finance are so miserable, partly because people in finance are miserable and they pass on their misery to you if you're in a supporting role. Why do people go into finance? A lot of them do it purely for the money. I won't pass any judgment on that motive but in my experience you often end up fighting your own passions until you're exhausted. Doing software, especially now, is a good combination of both. Maybe I would have made more money in finance but I'm OK giving up some cash to satisfy my other passions and needs. After all, isn't that the purpose of money in the first place?
- nchlswu 13y agoAs a bank worker in a no engineering tech role, I think the myopia you describe is IMO a significant factor. From a retail banking perspective, many banks are starting to modernize their practices and play catch up for mobile. But most banks are stuck in rigid methodology, culture and solutions established in what I call the first generation of online banking. Projects are treated as continuations o this foundation and continue with antiquated development methodologies and back end technology. Since acceptable products get shipped, there's no business incentive to modernize.
- toomuchtodo 13y agoThis is why I moved from PNC (nice bank, but too slow to move on new features) to Simple.