Coding Role at Japanese Bank in the City
Discussion
I've been a .NET developer for the last 16 years and have had a number of senior and lead roles in that time.
My current role is in finance in the public sector, the salary was pretty good when I started but after 5 years of 1% pay rises it's now not so great. I've not applied for any promotions as our organisation is intensely bureaucratic so I'd end up spending 3/4 of my time in meetings rather than doing the side of the job I enjoy.
The difficulty with coding is that without moving into contracting it's hard to find a local role paying much more than 50k.
Having had a particularly frustrating day in the office I opened up one of the various job advert emails which had a .NET role working for a Japanese bank near St Pauls, the requirements look like a good match for my skills and the salary is 80k.
While it will involve a fairly nasty commute it looks like it could well be worth it for the extra compensation.
Does anyone have any experience of working in this kind of role for a bank in the city?
One friend who works as a quantitative analyst and moves in that kind of circles suggested going for it but that those kinds of roles expect an 8am start and long hours.
My current role is in finance in the public sector, the salary was pretty good when I started but after 5 years of 1% pay rises it's now not so great. I've not applied for any promotions as our organisation is intensely bureaucratic so I'd end up spending 3/4 of my time in meetings rather than doing the side of the job I enjoy.
The difficulty with coding is that without moving into contracting it's hard to find a local role paying much more than 50k.
Having had a particularly frustrating day in the office I opened up one of the various job advert emails which had a .NET role working for a Japanese bank near St Pauls, the requirements look like a good match for my skills and the salary is 80k.
While it will involve a fairly nasty commute it looks like it could well be worth it for the extra compensation.
Does anyone have any experience of working in this kind of role for a bank in the city?
One friend who works as a quantitative analyst and moves in that kind of circles suggested going for it but that those kinds of roles expect an 8am start and long hours.
It all depends on the team you’ll work in. It could be some back office/admin application, soft deadlines, not much urgency, if it breaks who cares. Or it could be live trading -don’t go home until you fix the critical bug - production releases at 2am type stuff. The salary is reasonable, so I suspect closer to the latter, if it doesn’t have any managerial aspects (maybe a discretionary bonus is included in that?)
Apply anyway, there’ll be many interviews for the one role and even if it’s not for you, it’s good experience for the next one.
Apply anyway, there’ll be many interviews for the one role and even if it’s not for you, it’s good experience for the next one.
There is a wide range of types of investment bank. I worked in both Front Office and IT in a US bank, a German bank, a Dutch bank a UK bank, a Canadian bank and a Japanese bank (near Bank so could be same as your vacancy?)
Each was very different. Some people say that the worst two nationalities of bank to work for are French and Japanese but that was not my experience.
I have quite fond memories of the 3 years I worked at the Japanese bank.
It was pretty low stress. Support areas did not have a particularly long hours culture. It was quite process driven - quite bureaucratic. Some international banks are run from their domestic head office - but with this bank it had a large degree of autonomy in the day to day running (not so in policy though). As with many Japanese banks in the UK they had Japanese in post who were nominally heads of the business areas but in practice their western second in command was the real head.
It did not have a typical laddish Front Office - the area I worked in was Derivatives so think French boffins rather than Wolf of Wall Street.
If your vacancy is in this bank I would class it as a good gentle first entry into the City.
I left there about 6 years ago - and they were divesting themselves of several business areas so I'm not sure what is left now,
The salary you have been offered does seem a bit on the low side for a senior-ish role but there maybe a bonus on top. Outside Front Office I seem to remember bonuses were calculated using a formula so would have been in the 10 to 20% range.
I will PM you the name of the bank.
Each was very different. Some people say that the worst two nationalities of bank to work for are French and Japanese but that was not my experience.
I have quite fond memories of the 3 years I worked at the Japanese bank.
It was pretty low stress. Support areas did not have a particularly long hours culture. It was quite process driven - quite bureaucratic. Some international banks are run from their domestic head office - but with this bank it had a large degree of autonomy in the day to day running (not so in policy though). As with many Japanese banks in the UK they had Japanese in post who were nominally heads of the business areas but in practice their western second in command was the real head.
It did not have a typical laddish Front Office - the area I worked in was Derivatives so think French boffins rather than Wolf of Wall Street.
If your vacancy is in this bank I would class it as a good gentle first entry into the City.
I left there about 6 years ago - and they were divesting themselves of several business areas so I'm not sure what is left now,
The salary you have been offered does seem a bit on the low side for a senior-ish role but there maybe a bonus on top. Outside Front Office I seem to remember bonuses were calculated using a formula so would have been in the 10 to 20% range.
I will PM you the name of the bank.
Edited by sas62 on Tuesday 20th March 13:48
Thanks for all the helpful responses,
The email from sas62 shed some more light on potential clients and some insights into their culture.
Suprised at 80k being considered low, been rather used to Brighton salaries and have worked with some gifted devs on less than half that.
It's early days and I've got a chat with the recruiter tomorrow, will update when I know a bit more.
Been over 5 years since I had a job interview so will see how rusty I am!
The email from sas62 shed some more light on potential clients and some insights into their culture.
Suprised at 80k being considered low, been rather used to Brighton salaries and have worked with some gifted devs on less than half that.
It's early days and I've got a chat with the recruiter tomorrow, will update when I know a bit more.
Been over 5 years since I had a job interview so will see how rusty I am!
I work in IT in banking and have done for about 11 years, currently working for a large American investment bank. I used to be a .Net developer for the same company, but am currently working as an IT Business Analyst on a contract basis.
I'd say the salary depends on the kind of team you're working in. If you're working on a reference data system for example, that kind of salary is about right. But if you're building front office pricing and risk systems, I'd say it's on the low side.
Does the role have a corporate title (AVP, VP etc.)?
I find it an interesting industry, I've mostly worked with front office pricing and risk systems for derivatives trading across a couple of different asset classes and there's always stuff to learn. The only problem is that these days most of the work stems from regulatory requirements, rather than a company's appetite to make more money or grow the business.
With regards to working hours, I do 9am-6pm but will occasionally work late near a big project go-live or if there's a critical issue that needs resolving. I would say I've worked late about 5 times in the last 18 months, but it depends which bank and team, everywhere is different.
I think I know which bank you're talking about, I'm actually just up the road from their office near St Pauls. PM me if you have any more specific questions.
I'd say the salary depends on the kind of team you're working in. If you're working on a reference data system for example, that kind of salary is about right. But if you're building front office pricing and risk systems, I'd say it's on the low side.
Does the role have a corporate title (AVP, VP etc.)?
I find it an interesting industry, I've mostly worked with front office pricing and risk systems for derivatives trading across a couple of different asset classes and there's always stuff to learn. The only problem is that these days most of the work stems from regulatory requirements, rather than a company's appetite to make more money or grow the business.
With regards to working hours, I do 9am-6pm but will occasionally work late near a big project go-live or if there's a critical issue that needs resolving. I would say I've worked late about 5 times in the last 18 months, but it depends which bank and team, everywhere is different.
I think I know which bank you're talking about, I'm actually just up the road from their office near St Pauls. PM me if you have any more specific questions.
Edited by XJ75 on Wednesday 21st March 12:54
I've been in banking IT for 20 years now at senior leve and I've had enough of it happy to take a pay cut to leave and get out of industry, last 5 years been sh*t no pay rises, work load increasing massively, then brit exit to top it off. Worked for European, American and Apac banks in terms of order of who I would I prefer to work for it would be European, Apac and American. The commute from Brighton sound long I do just over 1hr door to door on a good day on a bad day it can take 3hrs don't under estimate the toll a long commute can take on you. I know I sound very negative lol but that been another result of working in this sector.
Personally I would say see if you can bag a contract in the city first see if you like it / can handle the commute and take it from there, a lot of banks do offer contract to perm as well and you will get a far better offer perm salary coming in this way than straight to perm.
Personally I would say see if you can bag a contract in the city first see if you like it / can handle the commute and take it from there, a lot of banks do offer contract to perm as well and you will get a far better offer perm salary coming in this way than straight to perm.
I'm not looking forward to the London commute, unfortunately, if I want to progress my career and compensation it looks like it could be inevitable.
Felt like I fluffed the telephone interview, was probably far too self-deprecating/modest/honest and a bit nervous. Usually fairly good in interviews but never had this long in the same job so more than a bit rusty.
The recruiter asked for an updated CV which I've provided and on the strength of that has scheduled an online technical test for Monday. So all good news and encouraging to know I can at least get considered for a city role with the finance and technology experience I have.
I'm curious to see how I do in the technical test, in my experience you've got 3 types of coding: academic, real world and interview. There is a very little overlap between them and being good at interview is a skill in its own right.
Would have liked to have had some time to prepare and refresh my memory on the usual candidates but I'm travelling up to Oxford for a friends birthday and doubt I'll have time to do much over the weekend.
All good experience though
Felt like I fluffed the telephone interview, was probably far too self-deprecating/modest/honest and a bit nervous. Usually fairly good in interviews but never had this long in the same job so more than a bit rusty.
The recruiter asked for an updated CV which I've provided and on the strength of that has scheduled an online technical test for Monday. So all good news and encouraging to know I can at least get considered for a city role with the finance and technology experience I have.
I'm curious to see how I do in the technical test, in my experience you've got 3 types of coding: academic, real world and interview. There is a very little overlap between them and being good at interview is a skill in its own right.
Would have liked to have had some time to prepare and refresh my memory on the usual candidates but I'm travelling up to Oxford for a friends birthday and doubt I'll have time to do much over the weekend.
All good experience though
272BHP said:
If you don't mind let us all know what the technical interview entailed.
I have had a few now and they have all been different - online coding test, mini project and another was just face to face questioning. It would be interesting to know what a city company is doing.
Utterly destroyed after a weekend of overtime and a crazy busy day (deadline approaching on an important project) so I've delayed until Weds or ideally Friday. You really want to be fresh for these things rather than exhausted and code blind.I have had a few now and they have all been different - online coding test, mini project and another was just face to face questioning. It would be interesting to know what a city company is doing.
The test is a link to this site.
https://www.testdome.com
Starting to have doubts about the London commute, after putting my CV up on a couple of job boards I've been utterly bombarded. Phone calls started at 8 am and got so bad I had to switch my phone off at work. Currently, I have 17 answer phone messages and have only just cleared my inbox.
Given one of the roles I've had through is a lead developer position using my current skill set and is remotely based with 3 days a month in the office down the road I reckon I should see what I can get the right side of a 4-hour commute before going the city route. Getting up at 8.55am and being able to work in my boxer shorts and pop into the gym on my lunch break sound far more fun than a 6:00 am start followed by worse conditions that a battery farmed hen.
May have been blinded by the rate without thinking things through...
Bank software dev is hugely varied. You get small really competent agile teams and lumpen bureaucracy in different corners of the same org. Some areas have toxic cultures, others don't. My team is spread across three continents ... and Glasgow. We're heavily reliant on video conferencing. Since we're not in the same office to start with, we have a relaxed attitude to home working and the firm has invested in decent telepresence support so we can join TP meetings from desk phones in the office, mobile phones or home PCs. I do two days a week from home, and an early Tues morning/late back Thurs night trip to London. It's a big compromise, but I enjoy the work and the money is good.
I wouldn't worry too much about the commute.
Getting on at Brighton you're pretty much guaranteed a seat in the morning (and should also get one in the evening as it's much less busy).
Southern and Thameslink trains are **generally** all fine now, after the difficulties of the last couple of years.
There are also changes due in May and December this year which will increase the number of services.
Getting on at Brighton you're pretty much guaranteed a seat in the morning (and should also get one in the evening as it's much less busy).
Southern and Thameslink trains are **generally** all fine now, after the difficulties of the last couple of years.
There are also changes due in May and December this year which will increase the number of services.
I gave up on the Permie jobs with investment banks in favour of Contracting for them developing trading platforms (Equities world) and now I Consult for one of the grand-daddy of Fintech.
I found that when I did .net contract work, that the pressure was on for me to stay at the top of my game as there are 100 cut throat other contractors out there that will take my position. So you make the money, but you never spend it as the work life balance is skewed.
Now I work in Fintech as a consultant basically doing anything the client wants. It can be anything I have done in the past 17 years, so one-day Im a VBA dev, the next Im .Net dev or automated UI. So its like a mix of contracting and permie, bit of job security and I can move clients when I want.
My current role is Technical Business Analyst in the BigData arena for trading, this is a bit of everything for the client and whilst I can't really mention much more than that as it gives the name of my employer away, I have spent the last 2 years in APAC working for a few Australian banks and one in Singapore, implementing systems that I have helped build. I also have designed an automated UI testing suite and an automated reconciliation suite for the same systems... Just cause I can.
I will be leaving this side of the world and returning to Europe for a long-term roll in circa 6-8 weeks and can't wait, its yet to be decided if I will be client side or in our Fintech as R&D/troubleshoot expert.
I find that my APAC clients need to be wrapped up in cotton wool, whereas I can tell the European/US clients that a spade is a spade without them running off crying to someone that the consultant is a nasty man.
With anything in this industry, the work is not easy, but hugely rewarding and you get to play with the cutting edge tech, so if you like to be challenged then go for it.
I found that when I did .net contract work, that the pressure was on for me to stay at the top of my game as there are 100 cut throat other contractors out there that will take my position. So you make the money, but you never spend it as the work life balance is skewed.
Now I work in Fintech as a consultant basically doing anything the client wants. It can be anything I have done in the past 17 years, so one-day Im a VBA dev, the next Im .Net dev or automated UI. So its like a mix of contracting and permie, bit of job security and I can move clients when I want.
My current role is Technical Business Analyst in the BigData arena for trading, this is a bit of everything for the client and whilst I can't really mention much more than that as it gives the name of my employer away, I have spent the last 2 years in APAC working for a few Australian banks and one in Singapore, implementing systems that I have helped build. I also have designed an automated UI testing suite and an automated reconciliation suite for the same systems... Just cause I can.
I will be leaving this side of the world and returning to Europe for a long-term roll in circa 6-8 weeks and can't wait, its yet to be decided if I will be client side or in our Fintech as R&D/troubleshoot expert.
I find that my APAC clients need to be wrapped up in cotton wool, whereas I can tell the European/US clients that a spade is a spade without them running off crying to someone that the consultant is a nasty man.
With anything in this industry, the work is not easy, but hugely rewarding and you get to play with the cutting edge tech, so if you like to be challenged then go for it.
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