7 Things To Note About A Software Engineer Role At A Bank

# The Good, The Bad & The Funny

I’ve worked as a software engineer at 2 banks since I graduated April 2021, and here are some cool things to know if you’re planning to take a similar path (without revealing sensitive info).

1) Banks like to use their own docker/pypi/gradle/jenkins/etc

Banks need to ensure their data doesn’t leak out, so they usually use their own versions of many dev/devops tools. For instance, pip install installs from the bank’s own index url instead of the official pypi one.

Which can be a hassle sometimes (a necessary hassle though in the quest for data security). Some stuff that I can do in literal seconds on my own computer, I might need a full day to figure out how the heck the same technology works in the bank (usually it’s pretty weird)

But the good news it that the figuring out happens maybe once or twice, and after that you are kinda free from it.

2) Decent-ish work life balance

Whenever I meet my other software engineer/sales/product manager/etc friends, we usually chat a bit about our work-life balance in general. What I have found — my peers who are working at a bank tend to work less…