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I think it really matters which part of a bank you end up in... I've heard some horror stories about back office roles, but I work on a front office trading system and it's the most technically challenging, interesting and plain old geeky role I've ever had.

how did you get in?

Someone in IT at a large bulge-bracket bank once told me that the reason tech was so shoddy despite the amount they spent was because by the time they did something the "right" way, the market opportunity was gone, or regulations changed and the old rules didn't apply anymore. So fast was much more important than good.

And if you think that's bad, you want to see the insurance sector! Data loss is good for insurance businesses in the long run...