I have an opportunity to move from a large U.S. bank doing IT work in C# to a well-known software vendor doing support work on trading systems in C and C++. Do you think it would be a smart move for me if my goal is to eventually go to the front office in an investment bank?

Without knowing the name of the vendor, it is hard to tell much. Looks like a good move though. Making trading systems or interface is a high paying job (relatively speaking).

Thanks for the insight cryptic26.The vendor is SunGard which is well-known in the industry but the job is more on the side of supporting the existing product. I will need to read and diagnose C and C++ though. I am worried about moving from a development position where I create new but boring applications to just diagnosing what I consider to be much more exciting systems. I don't want to get labeled as a "tech. support" guy when searching for my next position.Thanks in advance for the responses!

QuoteOriginally posted by: astoria1938The vendor is SunGard which is well-known in the industry but the job is more on the side of supporting the existing product. Which product you will be supporting? Is it Brass?

Yes. But would that make it the right move? I feel that maintaining a full-time development position (full life cycle) is better experience than just supporting a production system. But is it the right move if the product exposes me to trading applications?

astroria1938: I don't want to get labeled as a "tech. support" guy when searching for my next position.There are different types of tech support. There is the type where you are basically the person at the call center telling people the equivalent of "please reboot the machine." There is the type where you are basically the person that tells the developers what to program and gets to do very high level negotiations about product requirements. There are product support positions that are in between. You'll need to figure out which one of the categories it is. One sign is the salary. Are they giving you a salary increase over your current position, or are they making some vague and likely false promises about the the future?astoria1938: I am worried about moving from a development position where I create new but boring applications to just diagnosing what I consider to be much more exciting systems.As well you should be. If you are just only diagnosing, I don't see this as being a useful career move. If you are actively involved in requirements, fixing, and customer relations, this may be. One other sign to see if this is a good job or not, is when the customer calls, do they call up an 800 number or do they call your cell phone. Do the clients know you by name? If the clients have your business card in their rolodex, this is good. If they don't, this is bad. astoria1938: Yes. But would that make it the right move? I feel that maintaining a full-time development position (full life cycle) is better experience than just supporting a production system. But is it the right move if the product exposes me to trading applications? One good way of checking is to talk to a person that is going a similar job, and try to figure out what they do. If they get to go on sales trips and are in development meetings, this is good. If they are stuck in some call center, this is bad. Exposure to applications software is good, but you need to make sure that it is the right exposure. If you get involved in gather and negoiating requirements as well as preparing documentation and training, this is good experience and career advancing. However, there are tech support jobs from hell, in which you end up in some call center, telling the fiftieth person to press button A rather than button B, and dealing with an irate client, who is mad at you for not helping with his problem, which you can't do because you don't have the power to do anything.

QuoteOriginally posted by: astoria1938Yes. But would that make it the right move? I feel that maintaining a full-time development position (full life cycle) is better experience than just supporting a production system. But is it the right move if the product exposes me to trading applications?You better stay in your current role. You will be supporting a product written 25 years ago mostly in C.

A long time ago I did the reverse - moving from a trading firm (one with more modern products than Sungard) to FO, so I have some experience of this type of move.I would recommend sticking it out, and trying to move internally if your current role isn't interesting to you.Compensation, ability to move up the firm etc. are all quite restricted in software firms, especially if you are on the IT side. Talent is not rewarded as well as it should be. A developer can come up with something that adds huge value to the product, but since they are so far away from the end user / the final sale, that often goes unnoticed. Much better to be in sales in this type of environment.Within the FO there are a greater range of things to do. Some of those jobs will be terrible. Some will be interesting, some will be far, some close to the money (P&L). Often (not always though, it depends on your firm) moving will be a lot easier if you already have a foot in the door, which you do.Find out which FO teams do stuff that interest you. Try and get involved with them in any way you can - socialising, providing support, whatever. Get your name out there in the bank - make sure every customer you deal with has you in high regard.

What they're saying is true.Brand yourself not as tech support but as a consultant (that's what I actually did). As a consultant you add more value. I never dealt with any code here.These were my roles doing support a few years back.Title: Client services consultantRoles: Solve client problems, conduct training, do system upgrade and reimplementation (you can potentially get part of the revenues here), participate in sales and pre-sales, proof of concept demos, etc.... Build client relationships.If you do full time development, you have no interaction with banks and practitioners.If you do support, you still keep contact with bankers. Keep them happy and they might offer you something someday.Coming from an IT firm before going back to banking, I can tell you that the work environment is pleasant compared to most banks.

Thanks everyone for the information. I am still thinking about it since their offer is more than what I am making now, but not by much. The better opportunities for the future may be right under my nose at my bank.twofish, the client would know my name and there is another group that provides level I support that handles the "reboot" issues. I would most likely be fixing problems code-wise but the BA work is done by another group. I would be checking in the fixes and it would be included in the new versions. It sounds like a position between your two described categories.