I'm not sure if this thread belongs here or in the programming section. My apologies if the latter is the case. I'm looking to get some advice from programmers/coders on here who work for financial institutions. Based on your experience, what would you guys say is a realistic learning path for someone who wants to become a developer at one of these firms? The reason why I'm asking is because I'm learning to code with the goal of working at a hedge fund, investment bank or any similar institution. Presently, I work for one of the largest commercial banks and my goal is to either go to their wealth management side or one of the aforementioned institutions. I've tried to reach our I.T. department concerning this matter but that seemed to be a dead end. I understand that the best languages to learn for that endeavor is C+, Java and Python, but someone suggested that I learn the basics of Web Development before jumping into those languages. This guy's reasoning is that if I learned Web Development, that would make it simpler to get my foot in the door as a programmer. I took that advice and have so far learned HTML, CSS and am now studying Javascript. However, I kind of feel that I'm wasting my time. There's a nagging feeling within me which is telling me that I should really be focusing on those languages and if I do wanna add Web Dev to my skillset, use Python on the backend. So, this is where I turn to you guys. What do you all suggest that I do? Thanks in advance for any advice given.
Just my 2 cents, but.... The guys that get jobs at Investment Banks on the dev ops side are superstars. They got resumes with stuff like Math Olympiad, Programming Competitions, Ivy League Undergrad, Ivy Grad, Ph.D and/or top level credentials in various fields like aerospace engineering, EE, and Computer Science. In other words, technical elite and with a prestigious pedigree. Have you seen the salaries of these jobs? It's like 200k plus bonus. Your boss would be making at least 400k a year (MD at ibanks make HUGE money). There is no room for mediocrity at this level. How does your resume compare? A personal anecdote, I knew a guy who knew a guy that started a hedge fund. They guy was worth more than $100m before launching the fund. He said he was hiring "Harvard types" for the firm. That guy ended up getting indicted for tax evasion in NY federal court.
Now I think I know why the person with whom I'd originally spoken recommended Web Development, because I'm going the self-taught route. It seems that coding for a financial institution might not be highly possible going my route.
I only really know stuff about the industry because I was studying to become a trader for years. I just got addicted to studying the stuff. Banking, economics, finance, trading, treasury, equities, the history of markets, etc. Years started to go by while I was doing a degree in Math. So, I started looking into the kinds of jobs you can get with a degree in math and maybe even a graduate degree, some decent skills. It's basically ruthless competition. The ivy league guys are in debt because they didn't get scholarships (they weren't smart enough). But, they had money and so they still get to go to Wharton, Booth, Stern, Columbia... Basically, they are swarming the job market for anything that can move their resume forward. Once you go for prestige, it's prestige all the way. You have to have a career building string of employments after graduation. Anyway, I just like trading so I said phuck a bunch of prestige I'll just get the money by hustling and fund myself. Well, hard work paid off and now I got six figures and more than enough trading skills. TLDR: Shitloads of ivy league kids are desperate for good jobs so its a crap shoot.
How about you find some jobs on indeed.com or some other job site that sound appealing to you and post the links to the jobs here or screen shot their descriptions Based on that, perhaps we can offer better feedback in terms of how you should prepare. Also, check out this guy's channel. He got into Google after a six month coding boot camp. He is obviously an outlier but goes to show what is possible. https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCaO6VoaYJv4kS-TQO_M-N_g