Contracting in IT for an Investment Bank..

[aussieItman]

I got a job for European Central Bank in Germany, said banking experience essential and I had none. Said must have 3 years Reuters/Bloomberg experience and I had none, applied and got job. A lot of the time the job add is deceptive as to what they really need/want. In reality the job DID NOT require 3 years Reuters/Bloom.. I bullsh*ted on my CV and in the end they never asked me squat about R/B. Not saying lie on your CV, but sometimes they ask for stuff and in reality they don't need it.Hours there were really good and very very slack environment to work in. The permies there have 'life time' contracts which means if their job/role becomes redundant they are found another one in the bank with same salary. We had a senior server admin. working in the library on £90K plus

[interested]

I got a job for European Central Bank in Germany, said banking experience essential and I had none. Said must have 3 years Reuters/Bloomberg experience and I had none, applied and got job. A lot of the time the job add is deceptive as to what they really need/want. In reality the job DID NOT require 3 years Reuters/Bloom.. I bullsh*ted on my CV and in the end they never asked me squat about R/B. Not saying lie on your CV, but sometimes they ask for stuff and in reality they don't need it.Hours there were really good and very very slack environment to work in. The permies there have 'life time' contracts which means if their job/role becomes redundant they are found another one in the bank with same salary. We had a senior server admin. working in the library on £90K plus

I wouldn't have thought the ECB in Germany has anything like the culture of City investment banks, quite the opposite.

[BlasterBates]

It is true that the ECB doesn't have a lot in common with a normal bank. The continental banks generally are pretty sleepy and laid back compared to London. Now maybe its just foreign banks (from London's perspective), but I've dealt with several UK banks (from the foreign office so to speak) and London IT development does seem somewhat amateurish. i.e. you can't take the London IT managers claims of what they 're going to do seriously, and they give the appearance of being disorganised.

[weboo]

I have worked in IT for 15 years and within financial services for the last 5. Its very hard to get those roles that require say inv. banking experience...because they need someone to hit the ground running. However, there are such contracts that will consider people without industry experience as long as they can prove the techie know how and can adapt quickly.

Its worth lowering your rate slightly to get in the door if you can afford to. After a year, possibly 6 months, it will be far easier to get the other roles that perhaps required specific banking exp. that you had no chance of before.

I lowered my sights and went for 2nd line support roles, when I was already doing 3rd line and engineering. You could try taking this route, as its very easy to get recognised and banking is a small world.

At the moment, they are crying out for people in Switzerland and will definately consider people with no experience of banking...if you have no ties here, then its well worth a 6 month contract for the sake of your CV of work, plus the summer in Switzerland is glorious.

Good luck

[BlasterBates]

The Swiss pride themselves on not being stressed. In fact I've come to the conclusion that the Swiss enjoy high stress situations as it gives them a chance to show off how unstressed they are.

...ah...and another thing the Swiss are very careful with money, which is why banking exp. is completely unnecessary.

[weboo]

I think you will find that the swiss pride themselves on being boring and arrogant and think they are far superior to anyone else. I worked at a swiss bank for a while in Zurich & found them to be the major obstacles in and outside of work.

Don't let this put anyone off going to Switzerland as there are LOADs of expats who share this view and get on with every day life as it should be lived.

Some managers and depts prefer expat contractors or permies to swiss staff....so that tells you everything

[Fleetwood]

At the moment, they are crying out for people in Switzerland

Weboo,
Could you provide some sort of link to this wonderful Swiss jobs?
I don't see them during my searches on Jobserve.
My personal profile is gorgeous, pouting, pedantic bilingual English/French mainframe dinosaur, with some financial/EFT/settlements experience and I've always fancied working in Switzerland but haven't yet oh dear me the end.

[BlasterBates]

Hi Fleetwood yes there is mainframe work, just need to contact the swiss agencies. It might not appear on Jobserve. French would be an advantage, as there are contracts in Geneva and Fribourg, English is often OK.

The main banks in Zurich have mainframe work in your area.

[BlasterBates]

Strange you should say that Weboo, I find the way they speak German makes them sound like country "Yokels" to me, I mean not long ago Switzerland was a poverty stricken country full of farmers...but then again farmers whereever you are, and that includes Britain are funny bunch, so this might be interpreted as "arrogant". They're not like middle class British people, with their noses stuck in the air.

[BlasterBates]

Hi Fleetwood,

Try MBA, SwissLinx aint bad but a bit more tight fisted, steer clear of Elan though