4 ms·

Any tips on getting those entry level reporting job at banks who pay 150,000 USD? I'm 23 so I'm willing to leearn.

walshemj 12y ago
work in wall street or the City supporting traders and their ghastly self written excel POS - and expect to get the "I have a pair of shoes that cost more than your entre wardrobe" gibes
etrevino 12y ago
The programmers aren't entry level, but the work they're doing is entry level (in difficulty and maybe in quality). I've worked for a bank before and the environment (for this level of work) is stultifying. I just fell into the work, though, and I left after a couple of years. I wouldn't know where to seek it out. HOWEVER, I can give you a little bit of advice on what skills might be a little bit useful. You want to learn to create reports/data portals for something like Oracle Business Intelligence Suite, SAP's Business Objects, or IBM's Cognos. Bank of America used to use Oracle's solutions, but as I understand it they're moving over to Business Objects. For the rest, I can't say, but there are a lot of companies that want these skills.
- bglazer 12y ago
  Oh good god I do Business Objects work right now. I wouldn't wish that on anyone. Not even for 150k.
  - etrevino 12y ago
    Well shit. I start a new job working on it ... on Monday. Any suggestions for books on it? They're training me, but the more I can learn on my own, the better.
    - bglazer 12y ago
      I'm mostly self-trained. That's probably a part of the problem. The utterly broken way that my team decided to build the reports probably doesn't help either. Sorry, no suggestions for books. Do you know if you'll be working with Crystal Reports? Or directly with the Business Objects API? Either way they're both very, very poorly designed and implemented. Good luck I hope you're getting paid well.
      - mattfrommars 12y ago
        How long will it take to become proficient enough in SAP Business Objects which can get you hired? If entirely self taught
        seestheday 12y ago
        Honestly, it wouldn't take you long to get the skills if you could get access and were a decent programmer already. One of the problems with these sorts of systems though is that it's not like they're open source and easily available outside of the enterprise. Want to set up a testing instance and just play around or build something? They're either not available or horribly crippled. If you can get into a company that is doing it already and you can get access, you will have an easy time learning it (but it's not exactly fun).
- mattfrommars 12y ago
  I did look into SAP modules and thought about learning them but how do I market myself after learning the fundamentals? Don't they require some sort of computer degree? How do I gain professional experience which the job opening might require? That thought made me abandon learning SAP.
kalkin 12y ago
I knew a very smart guy who got a job like this. After a couple of years he threw it away and moved to Brazil, after teaching himself Portuguese by hanging out in soccer forums and IRC channels. He teaches English now.

work in wall street or the City supporting traders and their ghastly self written excel POS - and expect to get the "I have a pair of shoes that cost more than your entre wardrobe" gibes

etrevino 12y ago

The programmers aren't entry level, but the work they're doing is entry level (in difficulty and maybe in quality). I've worked for a bank before and the environment (for this level of work) is stultifying. I just fell into the work, though, and I left after a couple of years. I wouldn't know where to seek it out. HOWEVER, I can give you a little bit of advice on what skills might be a little bit useful. You want to learn to create reports/data portals for something like Oracle Business Intelligence Suite, SAP's Business Objects, or IBM's Cognos. Bank of America used to use Oracle's solutions, but as I understand it they're moving over to Business Objects. For the rest, I can't say, but there are a lot of companies that want these skills.

bglazer 12y ago
Oh good god I do Business Objects work right now. I wouldn't wish that on anyone. Not even for 150k.
- etrevino 12y ago
  Well shit. I start a new job working on it ... on Monday. Any suggestions for books on it? They're training me, but the more I can learn on my own, the better.
  - bglazer 12y ago
    I'm mostly self-trained. That's probably a part of the problem. The utterly broken way that my team decided to build the reports probably doesn't help either. Sorry, no suggestions for books. Do you know if you'll be working with Crystal Reports? Or directly with the Business Objects API? Either way they're both very, very poorly designed and implemented. Good luck I hope you're getting paid well.
    - mattfrommars 12y ago
      How long will it take to become proficient enough in SAP Business Objects which can get you hired? If entirely self taught
      - seestheday 12y ago
        Honestly, it wouldn't take you long to get the skills if you could get access and were a decent programmer already. One of the problems with these sorts of systems though is that it's not like they're open source and easily available outside of the enterprise. Want to set up a testing instance and just play around or build something? They're either not available or horribly crippled. If you can get into a company that is doing it already and you can get access, you will have an easy time learning it (but it's not exactly fun).
mattfrommars 12y ago
I did look into SAP modules and thought about learning them but how do I market myself after learning the fundamentals? Don't they require some sort of computer degree? How do I gain professional experience which the job opening might require? That thought made me abandon learning SAP.

kalkin 12y ago

I knew a very smart guy who got a job like this. After a couple of years he threw it away and moved to Brazil, after teaching himself Portuguese by hanging out in soccer forums and IRC channels. He teaches English now.