Technology...Ohh!

Since this is the first month of being in ISB and since all the students in ISB have prior work ex, one of the typical questions that comes up in the first conversation with any stranger is, where you were working before coming to ISB. It’s amazing to see how bonds get created with this one piece of information.

Sample this.
A: Where were you working?
B: I was with XXX (for the sake of being politically correct!)
A: Oooh is it, I was also with XXX (You can almost imagine hearing a metallic sound in the background of the invisible friendship bond being created and sealed!)
B: Oooh is it, which client did you work for?
A: I worked for this beer manufacturing client on their SCM.
B: I worked for this underwear manufacturing client for their retail loan systems (Of course they wont say the word, they will say “Big retail house”!)

But my purpose is not to undermine the rich clientele of these software companies.

When somebody asks me this question, I say, I was working with “The Firm” (one of the best investment banks in the world)

Now there are three typical reactions to this answer.
1) The other person – “Technology?” with a frown on their face, as if saying “How could this guy have worked in the i-banking space?”
2) The other person – picture with an amazed and reverential expression, till I complete the sentence with “I used to work in their IMD technology division”. The moment I finish the sentence, the high opinion that they had formed about me would have come down more fast than the rate at which the quantity decreases with an increase in price in an elastic market (OK. I could not resist it, I was studying Economics ! :-) )
3) The other person – absolutely no clue and I have to explain to them that “The Firm” is one of the best investment banks in the world etc.. you get the drift right?

What I don’t understand is that, why working in the technology division of an IB makes you a less capable person as compared to an i-banker with the same firm. All I can say is that these people have no idea about what the technology folks in an i-bank do.
I do not want to rant and rave about the profile of a senior analyst in the tech department, but there are facts which should be understood.

Fact 1- It is as difficult to get into the tech division of an I-bank as to get into the business side.

Fact 2- The work you are doing is more techno-functional in nature than any other typical software company – tell me, if I am coding something which is related to how a reinvestment of a mutual fund should process, isn’t it far superior to say, converting oracle forms from one version to another? (Oh yes, been there, done that too)
If I am doing something related to how the original issue discount bonds amortization happens, isn’t is far superior to writing documentation for a loan originating system?

Fact 3- The professionalism and the culture in the technology division of an i-bank is as good as and comparable to their counterparts on the business side. Don’t believe it? Trust me, I have seen it.

Fact 4 -There are people in the technology divisions of an i-bank who actually write code for program trading and risk analytics – functionally rich things which you cant even imagine in a services company.
And more facts like these.

Just because you have worked in the technology side of an i-bank does not take away from you the fact that you were good enough to be recruited by them in the first place.
And getting in is not easy.

This post is not intended to be a self egoistic one, but just a reiteration of the fact that it does not matter which division you have worked, as long as you worked for The Firm (and no prices for guessing which “Firm” am I talking about)