I worked for an investment bank (think MS, GS, JPM) in their tech department, building apps used by traders, so I think I was as close to "front office" as tech

I worked for an investment bank (think MS, GS, JPM) in their tech department, building apps used by traders, so I think I was as close to "front office" as tech worker can get. Some found it hectic, but for me it was pretty fun answering traders' phone calls and complaints about why a certain column is in the red and why this and that number is fucked up, trying to calm this guys down and figuring out what the problem is at the same time. The coworkers were also encouraging too, so if one got upset at a trader, others would cheer the one up. Having said that.... I now work for a tech company in west coast (think FB, Google), and I have to say I like it a lot better here. The reason being that you are treated as an employee that generates value for the company, as opposed to someone helping the important people (in my case, traders) generate value for the company. Now you have all these staff working to accommodate your needs, and at the same time the work is a natural extension to some of the CS theories you learn back in school.