Ask HN: What's it like working as a finance developer? • Hacker News Board

Re: Ask HN: What's it like working as a finance developer?

#11

Post by veyron » Thu, May 12, 2011, 3:11 PM UTC

nandemo wrote: post #10

michael_miller wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What skills do HFT shops look for in a developer? Do they require finance knowledge, or do they "just" want a rockstar systems hacker who can optimize packet delivery latency by hacking the kernel?

Some people are making reports using Excel/VBA or Perl, some are building trading gateways in C++ from scratch, some are developing trading models (typically requires a PhD or a financial engineering master's). Take a look at the websites of the prop trading shops cdmcnamara mentioned. Mind you, getting a job at SIG, Jane Street, etc, is harder than getting a job at Google, Facebook, etc.

"Some people are making reports using Excel/VBA or Perl" "some are building trading gateways in C++ from scratch" "some are developing trading models (typically requires a PhD or a financial engineering master's)" "getting a job at SIG, Jane Street, etc, is harder than getting a job at Google, Facebook, etc." <-- its primarily harder because the competition is tighter and the work is very different from what silicon valley asks for.

Re: Ask HN: What's it like working as a finance developer?

#12

Post by cdmcnamara » Thu, May 12, 2011, 5:11 PM UTC

michael_miller wrote: post #5

cdmcnamara wrote: post #2

I completed an internship at a large bank this summer in their Technology Analyst program. They basically house all the technical people into technology and it ranges from IT people to developers. Within the world of finance front office > all and are treated like it and treat others like crap. If you're really interested in working in finance as a developer I would look into either doing quant development or working…

Curious, what was your role, if you don't mind saying? Were you a developer? Did you find the problems you were working on interesting? Would you go back?

I was a Summer Analyst (Intern) in the Technology Group. All the interns that were in this group with me were a majority of CS majors. Once you are in the Technology program you typically do a placement day in which you meet with managers from groups who are hiring and you pick your top 3 and they pick their top 3 and then HR does a "matching" process. I was assigned to a group where I primarily used Microsoft SQL Server Integration Services. In my opinion you didn't need to have a CS degree to do this. Some of the other interns were assigned to developer positions and seemed to like it. I turned down my offer to come back full time when I graduated and instead I will be working in the Bay Area at a startup as a Software Engineer, in my opinion this is a much better culture and environment and you are much more catered to.

Re: Ask HN: What's it like working as a finance developer?

#13

Post by cdmcnamara » Thu, May 12, 2011, 5:15 PM UTC

michael_miller wrote: post #4

cdmcnamara wrote: post #3

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The starting salaries in the Technology Analyst programs at large banks in NYC are ~65k.

That seems really, really low in comparison to Silicon Valley. The typical numbers I've heard thrown around are 90-100k for new CS grads, plus bonuses. Does "Technology Analyst" refer to 'IT guy' or 'developer'? Also, the salary seems really hard to live on in NYC(being from the area).

The scope of the Technology group ranges from typical IT stuff to development. In general there is another group closer associated to the Trading group along the lines of Quantitative Development. I believe all of these interns were Financial Engineering majors, none were CS majors (a lot more hardcore math involved). These salaries were closer to ~90-100k.