OT: Career advice

[Kane One]

Agree to some extent. There are quite a few awful ones here too.

My biggest problem is that they are ALL looked at as they are some sort of experts.

They're also sneaky. They do virtually nothing for the first 3/4 of the development cycle. Then they put in 20 hour days to get the work done. They're then treated as heroes for getting everything done on time. It means there's no ability to properly estimate work. It also means business partners think they can cram more work down the tech team's throats.

When they become your core team, you can kiss job effectiveness and job happiness out the window.

Been in meetings since 9 AM with them. I don't even think I'm in the US any more.

God, GET ME OUT OF HERE!!!!

This is spot on. The worst part about this is where I'm at, the previous director of my department was an Indian woman described perfectly as your post. We have like 150 different WinForms apps that she had our department make when so many of them do pretty much the exact same thing; pull accounting data from Geneva (the accounting program we use), do some calculations and sign-offs. Now our new director (yeah, because this lady was finally fired) has some common sense to kill as many of these apps as possible. I started here for her last few months, but my guess is business users would say "we need some program that does X, Y, and Z" and she'd just have the offshore developers drag-and-drop some piece of shit WinForms app and finish it in a couple weeks with no testing at all.

 

[SnowblindNYR]

It took me like 30 years to realize "oh LA is to film as NY is to finance." LOL.

In any event haven't been around these parts much. New job is kicking my $#% every day but I'm learning and hopefully people appreciate my hustle there. Still have a long way to go.

It took you 30 years to realize that? There's this little place called Wall Street, haha.

 

[Vinny DeAngelo]

Hello Finance ppl,

I’ve had a couple recruiters reach out to me about commodity trading roles. Is that real? Or do they have shitty prop firms for the commodities market too?

Also I have a middle/back office role now. Is it possible to do that kind of work in NYC? I’d like to live in the city for a couple years but I currently work for a small AM firm in south Florida.

 

[Kane One]

Also I have a middle/back office role now. Is it possible to do that kind of work in NYC?

Yes we have middle and back offices here.

I’m in the middle/back office IT department.

 

[Vinny DeAngelo]

Yes we have middle and back offices here.

I’m in the middle/back office IT department.

I just know all the big banks are moving those Ops roles out of the city... CS has a ops location in Raeleigh, ML is in Jacksonville, GS in SLC, etc.

I think I’ll put in another year at this firm then move to NYC and see how my chances go

 

[Kane One]

I just know all the big banks are moving those Ops roles out of the city... CS has a ops location in Raeleigh, ML is in Jacksonville, GS in SLC, etc.

I think I’ll put in another year at this firm then move to NYC and see how my chances go

Check out hedge funds too.

 

[Vinny DeAngelo]

Check out hedge funds too.

I feel like Hedge funds are harder to find. Is there like a special place I should be looking for jobs? I always just check out the scene on LinkedIn and indeed

 

[Kane One]

I feel like Hedge funds are harder to find. Is there like a special place I should be looking for jobs? I always just check out the scene on LinkedIn and indeed

Put all relevant experience you have on LinkedIn and maybe try changing your location to NY so you get more exposure to NY recruiters.

 

[HFsNumber1Heel]

It took you 30 years to realize that? There's this little place called Wall Street, haha.

LOL I don't know your age but I'm in my 30s and I never really paid attention to stuff like that. NYC was also a much different more gritty and artsy place back in the days. When I was going to concerts in HS at Irving Plaza/Roseland/Hammerstein there seemed to be more bands playing more record stores stuff like that. I used to play in smaller venues around the NYC area mostly in the burbs and I remember the smaller places in Westchester, LI, Queens, Brooklyn, etc. Also Manhattan is very polished and corporate now. I work there and I'll once in a blue moon go to a Rangers game or concert but it's not really my scene. I get in and get out. That may change a little after I'm more settled but generally I like it quieter.

The music and artsy stuff is all in little clusters in BK now.

 

[SnowblindNYR]

LOL I don't know your age but I'm in my 30s and I never really paid attention to stuff like that. NYC was also a much different more gritty and artsy place back in the days. When I was going to concerts in HS at Irving Plaza/Roseland/Hammerstein there seemed to be more bands playing more record stores stuff like that. I used to play in smaller venues around the NYC area mostly in the burbs and I remember the smaller places in Westchester, LI, Queens, Brooklyn, etc. Also Manhattan is very polished and corporate now. I work there and I'll once in a blue moon go to a Rangers game or concert but it's not really my scene. I get in and get out. That may change a little after I'm more settled but generally I like it quieter.

The music and artsy stuff is all in little clusters in BK now.

I mean NYC is what you make of it. Maybe if you're artsy you don't pay attention to the Wall Street guys. Business is where I spent all of my career and education so that's my world.

 

[HFsNumber1Heel]

I mean NYC is what you make of it. Maybe if you're artsy you don't pay attention to the Wall Street guys. Business is where I spent all of my career and education so that's my world.

I agree with what you say. I was in bands most of my teens and 20s. I really thought I'd have a career in the music industry down the road. It's still a goal to be involved down the road. It's changed so much in the last 4-5 years so it's alien to me.

 

[NCRanger]

LOL I don't know your age but I'm in my 30s and I never really paid attention to stuff like that. NYC was also a much different more gritty and artsy place back in the days. When I was going to concerts in HS at Irving Plaza/Roseland/Hammerstein there seemed to be more bands playing more record stores stuff like that. I used to play in smaller venues around the NYC area mostly in the burbs and I remember the smaller places in Westchester, LI, Queens, Brooklyn, etc. Also Manhattan is very polished and corporate now. I work there and I'll once in a blue moon go to a Rangers game or concert but it's not really my scene. I get in and get out. That may change a little after I'm more settled but generally I like it quieter.

The music and artsy stuff is all in little clusters in BK now.

Except it's like that everywhere.

Music venues in Charlotte are being torn down for "luxury" apartments. The only places for live music in the city are technically "corporately owned" so it's $10 for a beer at would should be an "intimate venue". Live music and artsy stuff just isn't high on the list of things younger people seem to do these days unless it's an outlet to be "seen".

Oh, and there are exactly THREE record stores in the ENTIRE city.

 

[HFsNumber1Heel]

Except it's like that everywhere.

Music venues in Charlotte are being torn down for "luxury" apartments. The only places for live music in the city are technically "corporately owned" so it's $10 for a beer at would should be an "intimate venue". Live music and artsy stuff just isn't high on the list of things younger people seem to do these days unless it's an outlet to be "seen".

Oh, and there are exactly THREE record stores in the ENTIRE city.

Boston is VERY good with record stores and live music. I visit family there a few times a year. So is LA of course. San Diego, Bay Area (although super expensive), Austin, and especially Nashville are all good.

So there are places.

Yeah and don't take this the wrong way if you are a millenial (I'm technically one although I don't consider myself one); they are very smart people. Technical skills, knowledge of language, worldview is much better than my tweener generation, however for someone who is really into music/movies/etc. just as much as hockey/fitness they don't care about it generally speaking. It makes it tougher for someone like me to enjoy stuff outside of cities I mentioned. People complain about the Garden not being as lively, that's because NY doesn't have the characters and souls it did. At my heart I'm an introvert who posses as an extrovert and I never tuck my shirt in or wear a button down when I'm not being paid to do it.

 

[SnowblindNYR]

I'm really excited, I'm supposed to do a financial model for a big initiative the company has. It was THE thing the CEO mentioned in the town hall meeting. I won't go into details, but I've wanted to build a financial model for a while and was worried since technically this is a junior role they wouldn't trust me with it, despite my MBA/years of experience/excel skills. Possibly a great opportunity.

 

[CasusBelli]

I'm really excited, I'm supposed to do a financial model for a big initiative the company has. It was THE thing the CEO mentioned in the town hall meeting. I won't go into details, but I've wanted to build a financial model for a while and was worried since technically this is a junior role they wouldn't trust me with it, despite my MBA/years of experience/excel skills. Possibly a great opportunity.

What kind of model? DCF?

And congrats on the opportunity.

 

[SnowblindNYR]

What kind of model? DCF?

And congrats on the opportunity.

Thanks!

I don't know, part of me hopes it's a DCF because that's legit. Part of me is a bit nervous because I am extremely rusty with that stuff. I haven't done a DCF in like 3 years. But all of this stuff is readily available. I still probably have my finance notes somewhere (hopefully in digital form).

BTW, there's a press release on this with quotes from senators and everything. It's a pretty big deal.

Edit: Something tells me it won't be quite as complicated as a DCF, but I don't know for sure. I'll know more later today as I'm meeting with the CEO.

 

[CasusBelli]

Thanks!

I don't know, part of me hopes it's a DCF because that's legit. Part of me is a bit nervous because I am extremely rusty with that stuff. I haven't done a DCF in like 3 years. But all of this stuff is readily available. I still probably have my finance notes somewhere (hopefully in digital form).

BTW, there's a press release on this with quotes from senators and everything. It's a pretty big deal.

Edit: Something tells me it won't be quite as complicated as a DCF, but I don't know for sure. I'll know more later today as I'm meeting with the CEO.

Congrats all the same! That's a hell of an accomplishment -- keep up the solid work, mate!

 

[SnowblindNYR]

Congrats all the same! That's a hell of an accomplishment -- keep up the solid work, mate!

Thanks. This was billed as an entry level role (though I have an MBA and like 7 years of experience). So it's nice that they trust me on it. Of course, I know nothing about this project, it may be a bullshit small part of the whole thing.

 

[CasusBelli]

Thanks. This was billed as an entry level role (though I have an MBA and like 7 years of experience). So it's nice that they trust me on it. Of course, I know nothing about this project, it may be a bull**** small part of the whole thing.

I'm sure you'll wow them; feel free to reach out, though, if you want a hand or some tips (I don't mean that condescendingly). Always glad to help a friend.

 

[SnowblindNYR]

I'm sure you'll wow them; feel free to reach out, though, if you want a hand or some tips (I don't mean that condescendingly). Always glad to help a friend.

Thanks man, I really appreciate it. I have good math skills (not genius level, but this is corp fin, not MIT's math PhD program), good excel skills, and some background in finance. I should be fine, even if I need help here or there. I'm happy though because I've wanted a corp fin role for a while. So if this project is legit, then it might be a nice gateway.

 

[Machinehead]

Just got some really nice news.

The tentative Fall 2019 schedule has me teaching three courses again. Two consecutive semesters with at least three courses qualifies me for health insurance!

Also they have me signed up for 205 which I currently don't teach, so they're expanding me a bit.

 

[SnowblindNYR]

And I started it, it's interesting but I don't have a clue what I'm doing, haha.

 

[SnowblindNYR]

This is the initiative that I'm working on. I'm forecasting the P&L. Great opportunity.

Menendez praises Hispanic chamber partnership with World Business Lenders | U.S. Senator Bob Menendez of New Jersey

 

[NCRanger]

Glad to hear some of you are moving forward. Always good news.

My situation has gotten worse. It's annual review time. My review. Perfectly fine, except that I was called "confrontational" once because I dared to question why QA was only 82% complete with testing on the last day of testing, and what they're plan would be if they found a defect in that last 18% of testing. Because I dared asked the question everyone wanted to, I'm the bad guy. I also dared ask why we need to go through the effort of putting together a plan for targeting zero defects from our developers when our developers are forced to code things in less than half the time they need, and they have no time for peer review, code review, and unit testing. Being Captain Obvious is bad when your manager is Captain Oblivious.

Anyway, my bonus was cut to where my total compensation this year will be less than my total compensation last year. Talk about message sending. I guess my manager wants unemotional robots who will produce the same quality of work 24/7 without fail. In theory, I would have been better off if I was just let go.

So, basically, I have zero motivation to do anything above bare minimum.

Ramped up my job search this weekend.

Anyone know anyone who needs either (this is all the stuff I do here):

Senior Level Business Analyst
Technical Systems Analyst
Release Coordinator/Project Coordination
Team Lead of all the above (and or Manager)
SCRUM Master
Project Manager

Consider relocation to almost anywhere. West Coast, DC area, and Illinois no.

 

[aufheben]

Anyone who uses LinkedIn, be cautious with anything related to someone you don’t know, particularly if you are currently looking for a new job (it really shouldn’t be used specifically for that anyway.) The site is filled with phishing and scams these days.

This sounds obvious, but people are much more easily taken advantage of when they are looking for work, especially if you are young and inexperienced with the job search/hiring process. The scams are continuously becoming more extensive and realistic.

On a semi-related note, be smart with your passwords, especially with cloud-based password managers like Keychain, SafeInCloud. Do not use the same password twice, for anything. Again this sounds obvious, but you don’t have to be engaging in shady online activity or accidentally opening a link in your inbox spam. Last summer my dad had a cracked iPhone screen repaired, and two weeks later, all his information was hacked, phone carrier, bank accounts, etc.

Also if anyone is looking for a Graphic Designer in the North Jersey/NYC area, hit me up . Been freelancing since 2016, ready for a bit of a change.