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Pamela
I joined Fidessa in June 2006 as a customer facing Business Analyst after completing a BSc Computer Science in University College Cork.
While at University I gained as much experience as I could by getting part time roles in Ireland. Most of these involved developing software/websites for small companies. However, I was lucky enough to come across a role in a local company which involved gathering client requirements and helping bridge the gap between the business needs and what can be implemented through technology. I knew from that point that this was what I enjoyed most and was looking for this type of position when I came across Fidessa’s website.
I knew very little regarding the financial industry at the time, despite some work experience in development at an Investment Bank, but there were lots of opportunities in this industry so decided to investigate a bit further and apply for the position.
The role I applied for seemed a perfect match. As a customer facing analyst you get exposed to a variety of customers and businesses. The variety means you get a real insight to how the industry works and where the industry is going. The people also seemed really easy going and passionate about the product and the company. I knew I had made the right choice.
The first couple of months involved a steep learning curve, but I picked things up really easily in Fidessa as everyone wants to share their knowledge and everything is explained really clearly. I am the type of person who wants to know why things do what they do and I was given every opportunity to ask questions and get the information I needed. I was given a great amount of responsibility early on and got hands on experience even in the early months. I was surprised by how much more I knew after even 6 months and had a great sense of achievement which I hadn’t had at the Investment Bank.
The most significant point in my career so far has been my involvement in the upgrades to support the new London Stock Exchange TradElectTM platform in 2007. Everyone in Fidessa pulled together to get the product ready to support the changes and all clients needed to be upgraded. I was given the task of identifying the client impact of the changes made and helping to get the customers and the customer facing staff up to date with the changes. I had to give a lot of demo’s and help put together training slides/leaflets to help the users and staff become familiar with the changes. Most importantly though I got a real insight to how the London Stock Exchange works and gained a large network within Fidessa which has really helped with other projects I have worked on since then. There is a real sense of team work in Fidessa, everyone pulls together to get things done. Our implementation and development teams were fantastic and really helped me with the many questions I had.
Since then I have been involved in many similar projects such as the MiFID changes this year. There is always something new happening in the industry and I don’t believe I will ever be allowed to stop learning, nor do I want to.
Recently, I have been promoted to Team Leader and now have a great team working with me to help our customers businesses move forward with Fidessa. My role now includes a lot of planning and keeping an eye on the big picture. However, it still includes getting involved in specifying changes which may be needed in the product to meet customer’s requirements and helping new clients get the setup they need when taking Fidessa for the first time. It is a very exciting time for Fidessa, the product functionality is continuously growing and I am getting more experience in foreign markets and advanced trading flows which is interesting.
I would highly recommend the Business Analyst role to anyone who is looking for a new challenge everyday.
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