Programmers throughout the United Kingdom have a variety of industries in which they can work. IT consultancies and firms that contract professionals to corporations can be lucrative and dynamic. Defence, aerospace, and engineering firms need programmers who are interested in learning about their specific needs and developing IT solutions appropriate for these needs.

However, one of the best areas of entry into the job market for a young programmer is in the financial service sector. Programmers need to understand what prospective jobs in financial services require before taking the leap into this lucrative industry. One aspect of financial service programming jobs in the United Kingdom is creating proprietary systems. Banks and financial advising firms need to have a variety of programs to keep track of funds, account information, and other data.

While some banks contract out these services to outside IT firms, many have hired programmers to develop in-house systems. Programmers who are hired to create these systems often have to complete their technical work and then provide training and the new system to employees. In this way, programming jobs in the financial service sector can be interesting and engaging for an IT professional.

Perhaps the biggest aspect of the programming job in a financial services firm is providing updates and corrections to IT systems. Programmers often monitor transactions in real time to determine if there are any glitches or bugs that need to be fixed in the system. As well, programmers will usually run a variety of diagnostic tests and assessments on a system daily to determine if any problems develop as data accumulates in the office network. Programming jobs in banks and financial advising firms are often about patience, reviewing systems, and keep an eye out for the smallest of problems. Finally, programming jobs in the financial services sector often require efforts at outreach to non-IT professionals.

Bank personnel, financial advisors, and stock traders alike are more familiar with their specific job responsibilities than IT issues. As such, programmers who are fixing problems or installing new updates need to keep professionals updated on what is going on. Programmers often need to send out e-mails or go around to individual workers affected, depending on the size of the office. In these communications, a programmer has to explain why the system is down or what they are doing that is causing a slowdown in the network. However, programmers should also explain the consequences of updates to help keep their colleagues in the loop.

Steve Bishop is the Managing Partner of Damia Group. The company specialise in information technology jobs and UK recruitment solutions as well as IT jobs in Europe.