Heather, Quanteam UK Consultant since January 2017, explains her job as an eTrading Application Support Consultant, on a daily basis. Currently working with Quanteam UK on site at BNP Paribas in London, she faces trading floor challenges everyday, having to combine technical, business but also interpersonal skills.
What is your background and when did you start working for Quanteam UK? Why have you decided to move into Financial Consulting?
Before Joining Quanteam UK, I was a Post-Doctoral Research Fellow at The Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute in the field of Quantitative Human Genetics.
Although I greatly enjoyed what I did as a researcher in a computational and statistical field, I felt like I needed something more dynamic on a day-to-day basis and the trading floor offers exactly that kind of environment while also allowing to work and contribute to ongoing projects.
How have you managed to get recruited as a consultant by Quanteam UK, and to start working on such project while you did not have any Finance experience?
Quanteam UK had found my CV on a job-board specialized in Finance, after which they contacted me regarding a potential mission that could interest me and that fits my skill-set, despite the difference in background.
Working for Quanteam UK, what does it mean for you?
Working for Quanteam UK as a consultant means that I have access to different missions and opportunities, even having come from a very different background, and there is always someone to support any needs that may arise, whether it is training for client interviews as well as regular one-to-one meetings.
"We are exposed to a wide range of valuable knowledge, both financial and technological"
On a daily basis, what does your job “eTrading Application Support” involve?
As eTrading Application support, my job is to ensure the continuity of Front Office’s eTrading and minimize any application downtime that might arise for various technological or infrastructure reasons in both Windows and Linux environment. APS (Application Production Support) team is the Front Office’s first point of contact for any issues that arise in any part of the life-cycle of a trade and therefore we are exposed to a wide range of valuable knowledge, both financial and technological. On a day-to-day basis, alongside any production issues we solve or liaise with/relay to other relevant teams, we work on new projects and workflows that will subsequently be implemented on the Trading floor.
As a consultant, have you been able to develop your scope of responsibilities in your current project, and if so, to what extent?
Given the extent of different applications and products we support in Equity Derivatives, I was able to learn a lot of different tools and techniques. The most important and valuable thing is that a huge amount of the skills that I have gained in this role are transferable, such as handling different projects, communication, time-management as well as IT tools and techniques.
What are your professional expectations for the future, and career perspective with Quanteam UK?
I feel that there is still more knowledge to be gained from this role and I therefore wish to remain exposed to such an environment for the time being, after which I would probably wish to move to a more specialized area in the field and further refine my skills in such an environment.
Heather, Thanks a lot for your testimonial ! :)
If you also want to join, get in touch with our team !