I transitioned from the sleep-filled hours of studenthood into the 9-6(ish) world of software consultancy just over a year ago. I’ve meant to post an update around 3, 6 and 12 months after starting, sharing my experiences as a graduate in the wild world of consulting but, the classic procrastinator that I am, you’re getting one now. Take it or leave it!

My work laptop, blackberry, 3G dongle and a decent reading list

Day 1: Look at that reading list!

As anyone who’s likely to read this will know, I started a “graduate scheme” at Lab49 in November 2010. I use air quotes because no-one really knew what the scheme was going to entail and there were just two of us. There was a plan, a rather flexible one, but a plan none-the-less. We trained up in WPF, Silverlight, the favoured messaging middleware, Nirvana, mingled with Javascript & HTML, a brief flash of F# and a shitload of C#, data-binding and Reactive programming. It was a fun 3 months; we built out our own mini, modular trading platform in Silverlight and learnt a hell of a lot under the wings of John, Duncan and Keith. Thanks guys!

The new year came around and we began preparing for a new project. We were to develop an RIA SDP in Silverlight (That’s a Rich Internet Application Single Dealer Platform (that means shiny web-app built modularly)). So whilst we were only developing the FX trading module to start with we had to write it to support other modules over time. So a team of 4 (growing to 6) devs, 2 UXers, a designer and a blender was dispatched to [Tier 1 investment bank here]. It was a good team, we had our fun and got a good camaraderie going over our time there. The project was, shall we say intense? There were many late nights, I missed some of the most spectacular spring weekends and the delivery schedule was tight!

But by the end of the 3 months we delivered a spectacular piece of software, slick, functional (you’d hope so) and more importantly it was something I helped deliver. As a lowly graduate I got to architect parts of the system, had fun with the Rx I picked up and placed my stamp firmly on the code. There are design decisions in that code that were mine and the knowledge that they exist, work and will be run on a daily basis is awesome.

Over the summer I helped prepare a technical document exploring [Tier 1 investment bank here]‘s existing trading platform, coming up with options on how to roll out a new frontend in a scalable manner. Whilst no-one likes writing documents (the weeks spent staring at Microsoft Word! I think I got snow blindness at some point), it was a completely different role to development. Ripping apart an existing system, trying to identify integration points and exploring what would be required to achieve their plans for world domination commodity trading. Not the most gripping time in my first year, but in some ways it was nice to have a break from code.

That brings me onto my current role, developing a trading module for another SDP for [Tier 1 investment bank here] in Adobe Flex. It’s a similar setup to before, a bit smaller and a different set of guys. Being smaller I’ve found that there’s a lot more opportunity to architect the system. My ideas are all over the place, working perfectly (of course!) and it’s interesting to see the good structure play out and evolve over time. Working in Flex is a different beast, the challenges are different to before and the solutions are, well, sometimes downright cringeworthy.

The Gherkin, new home of Lab49. It's all very shiny!

So, what to make of my year in software consulting?

How’s the software? I’ve had a chance to work with new, shiny technology, been trained and cross-trained in areas I didn’t expect to be going near and have thoroughly enjoyed the software challenges that working in finance throws up. I’ve learnt I really do love architecting (I don’t care if I can’t verb architect) and seeing how software and data can be managed and flow through a system.

How’s the consulting? I’ve been exposed to several different Tier 1 investment banks (there’s that phrase again), have some insight into different areas of trading and worked some damned long hours too. It’s interesting being a small team creating something new and different whilst being in a room filled with other people working on the existing systems. The best thing is, so far, I’ve had the chance to work on two new projects and to be honest, that’s the most interesting place to be!

I seem to think I lucked out getting this job, I’ve really enjoyed my first year here and I’m looking forward to the next!

Anyone looking for a graduate position feel free to contact me if you want to know more, we spoilt them rotten and they’re finding it hard to find more grads that are as awesome as we were.