A job with a mix of Finance and IT

TNGL

TNGL

TNGL

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Hi guys, looking for a bit of guidance. I'm not sure as to what I want to do with my life, but I have a keen interest in both finance and IT. Are there any, fairly high paying jobs, which involve Finance and IT? I've tried using Google, but both fields seem to be so diverse, that I'm starting to struggle.

So, what jobs involve both Finance and IT, which pay fairly well?
 
IT support or development in a bank (I am an IT support manager for the investment banking arm of one of the worlds largest banks and the salary is reasonably good).
 
billysielu said:
IT purchasing
Financial programming

It would help to know what your background/qualifications are, and what you consider high-paying.
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If he has to ask that question the answer is probably unemployed / none and £20k

To add something useful, finance is likely to be higher paid than any IT role unless it's management
 
You might need to narrow it down a little bit further or at least if you can highlight what skills you've already got that would help. For instance do you have any experience in programming/working with any big or well known accounting packages? IT and finance both cover a multitude of potential options so just knowing what you can do/are planning to learn is a big step to deciding what may be a good option.

For instance there used to be a contractor at work who wrote a number of reports using VB to interrogate our financial accounting and recording system, some quite complex work there in terms of getting from the raw data to a useful output but I believe it is reasonably well remunerated and they've now gone to work for a major bank. However you've probably got to have a fair bit of experience to be able to set up in such a position.
 
Well, I'm going to be doing my A-Levels next year and that's why I'm looking for guidance, as if I find a job in IT and Finance which I think I'd enjoy, that'll help me in choosing my A-Levels. I'd consider high paying at around £50k+, however, I realise that many first jobs, don't pay that much.
 
Been there, done that, really good fun

What you really want to do is be a Finance systems developer

You will need a large company and its a pretty specialist role, basically you will be supporting / developing key finance systems. They tend to want studying/qualified accountants so that you understand the implications and requirements without them needing to spell them out.

There was an agency I used to use years ago, called system accountants I think it was.

Its quite a difficult field to get into, as you need to have some background in both roles typically, I was accountant and had done A level computing and basically due to interest had done some programming etc.

I sat between the IT (pure techies) and Operating Finance team, and over a few years the role switched from being within Finance to being within IT due to the technical skills.

Pays very well if you can meet the requirements as there a very limited people who can fulfil both roles well.
 
Any job is high paying if you work hard enough and are good at it. There are very few high paying jobs that are easy to get into.
 
Jobs that would pay a fresh faced university graduate £50,000+ are probably few and far between! I'm led to believe algorithmic trading is very lucrative, but the roles require a high degree of technical competency and I imagine the competition for jobs is exceptionally competitive.
 
I work for an IT consultancy that has a small finance department where we offer consultancy in a range of SAP finance products. Not my team but you have to have a finance head to understand most of it.

A lot of the big consultancies have similar departments (Deloitte springs to mind).

You need to have a degree as a minimum in most of these.
 
semi-pro waster said:
For instance there used to be a contractor at work who wrote a number of reports using VB to interrogate our financial accounting and recording system, some quite complex work there in terms of getting from the raw data to a useful output but I believe it is reasonably well remunerated and they've now gone to work for a major bank. However you've probably got to have a fair bit of experience to be able to set up in such a position.
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Yes this sort of thing is going to be more like the normal level of IT integration someone working in finance can achieve. Must be warned though a lot of companies wont go so far, it can become a nightmare when things change if fairly complex code has been relied upon and needs to be changed.

Larger companies will insist on this sort of thing being controlled eg via documentation and code verification.

Its very interesting work to do if your equally interested in IT and Finance, eventually though it becomes just more of the same.

What I would suggest is getting a job in finance, an assistant accountant type position (not audit type work) and then become very strong on Excel and Powerpoint. Over time you stand a chance to become the expert and then projects and work that requires those skills will more than likely come your way. So basically finance is the day job and try to specialise in IT.
Its almost impossible to do it the other way, ie work in IT and add anything with finance skills.
 
Deloitte are supposed to be excellent for their internships and summer placements. If you're serious about this sort of job it would be a good idea getting in touch with them (or similar companies) to try and get work experience as early as possible.
 
Tingle said:
So, what jobs involve both Finance and IT, which pay fairly well?
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Any number of roles - from the IT perspective then Business Analyst or Developer at a bank or financial software firm might be what you're after. Pay starts at about £35k for a fresh grad up to low six figure sums for experienced people/contractors and junior/middle management types.
 
SiD the Turtle said:
I work for an IT consultancy that has a small finance department where we offer consultancy in a range of SAP finance products. Not my team but you have to have a finance head to understand most of it.

A lot of the big consultancies have similar departments (Deloitte springs to mind).

You need to have a degree as a minimum in most of these.
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Typically the people doing these sorts of role are ex accountants who have some skills in project management and technical ability as well. They are there as they relate very easily to the people they are working with developing a system / implementing a solution. Pure techies tend to struggle with the accounting concepts.
Its basically the same as I did but I worked for a specific company as opposed to a consultancy firm (my job title was actually business consultant)

Its a pretty hard field to get into though since the people are normally recruited directly from pools of already proven people, ie people they come across doing the day job when providing consultancy. I have certainly never seen anyone taken into one of those types of situation to be trained up who hasn't already got a good strong grounding in the subject matter, but its possible it happens in some of the major consultancies.
 
Really OP you need to quantify what you mean by IT and by finance

Eg its possible to get a job in a bank or financial services company doing IT, but its not really a mix of finance and IT its just doing IT in a financial environment.

Finance and IT are fairly happy bed partners actually now since most financial based roles be they accounting or working in a FS company have a fairly high degree of IT involved.

If you give us a bit more specifics as to what you want in IT and what you want in finance we can possibly give you a more focussed approach

Oh and quantify what you deem to be fairly high paying...
 
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robskinner said:
Really OP you need to quantify what you mean by IT and by finance

Eg its possible to get a job in a bank or financial services company doing IT, but its not really a mix of finance and IT its just doing IT in a financial environment.
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If it's a generic techie role then yes - same as any other business that requires IT types.

Banks will however develop and maintain proprietary software and will need people to configure and support third party software. These are areas where you can combine finance and IT knowledge - not just accountancy either but also knowledge of financial products, markets etc...

You could be speccing stuff for bond pricing, risk management, fx trade capture etc..etc... Generally you won't be a jack of all trades but will concentrate on a particular business area.

The op does need to clarify what he means though - whiter he's talking about accountancy/finance dept in some company or if he's talking about 'Finance' in the wider sense.
 
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