Technology Architect
Bank of America

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Selina

Global Technology & Operations

00:02 My name is Selina. I work in technology at Bank of America but I’m a technology architect so I’m looking at technology strategy, understanding what are we, what have we built so far, what’s our capability, what are we planning to build, you know what’s our strategy for the future and how we’re going to get there so I’m looking at all areas across our trading businesses where we have technology and working with our teams of experts and developers to kind of harmonise that strategy and kind of have a route forward.
00:38 Technology is like the fourth industrial revolution, it’s very exciting to see technology change and also what it could solve for the future. There’s so many interesting problems to solve, many social problems to solve as well that we can change with technology so that’s why I’m really excited about my place in technology and also the future for it.
01:06 When I was growing up I actually wanted to be a fashion designer. I really loved art and that was the one thing that I could see on, on TV and in the news about this is a very creative thing to do, I love drawing, I love clothes so that’s, you know that’s what I saw and that even though you know my dad was you know doing technology  there wasn’t a natural thing that I was gonna, oh yeah I want to do tech as well and throughout school I did maths, I never understood the application of it. I wanted to explore computing and do that at university and I saw great they only need maths so brilliant, I haven’t done Computer Science A Level, it’s great, I, I can do it and looking back, I think I didn’t have any fear and I think when making choices you know don’t worry too much about it as long as you’ve got the requirements you know just, just go for it.
02:08 It wasn’t a well thought plan you know that I would magically get this amazing career, I had to get a summer job and I just applied to lots of summer internships whoever would take me and luckily somehow, I got a lot of rejections by the way, so it’s not you know, it’s not plain sailing, you do get a lot of rejections but I got um uh an internship offer at Goldman Sachs. I didn’t know who Goldman Sachs was, I didn’t know what an investment bank was, I didn’t know anything about financial services, what I did have was some coding ability.
02:42 Any work experience that you do the key thing is to make those connections, make those relationships with people so not only learning but you could use those contacts for the future.
02:54 I just enjoy what I do and I think if you’re passionate about what you do it’s very easy to be motivated so it’s about finding your passion, I think.
03:04 END OF TRANSCRIPTION

 

“I think if you’re passionate about what you do it’s very easy to be motivated.” Selina loved art at school and originally wanted to be a fashion designer. She also enjoyed maths and so decided to study computer programming at university. In need of a summer job, she applied for internships which opened the door to her career at an investment bank.

More information about IT business analysts, architects and systems designers

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ÂŁ57,200
average salary

The UK average salary is ÂŁ29,813

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37
average weekly hours

There are 37.5 hours in the average working week

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82%  male 
18%  female 

The UK workforce is 47% female and 53% male

Future employment

Future employment?

Description
? Workers in this unit group provide advice on the effective utilisation of IT and design IT systems in order to meet the business objectives or to enhance the business effectiveness of the organisation.
Qualifications
Entrants usually possess a degree or equivalent qualification, although entry with other academic qualifications and/or significant relevant experience is possible. There is a variety of relevant vocational, professional and postgraduate qualifications available.
Tasks
  • Liaises with internal/external clients in order to analyse business procedure, clarify clients’ requirements and to define the scope of existing software, hardware and network provision;
  • Undertakes feasibility studies for major IT developments incorporating costs and benefits, and presents proposals to clients;
  • Communicates the impact of emerging technologies to clients and advises upon the potential introduction of such technology;
  • Provides advice and assistance in the procurement, provision, delivery, installation, maintenance and use of IT systems and their environments;
  • Examines existing business models and flows of data and designs functional specifications and test plans for new systems in order to meet clients’ needs;
  • Researches, analyses, evaluates and monitors network infrastructure and performance;
  • Works closely with clients to implement new systems.
Employment by region
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Top 10 industries for this job
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Computer programming, etc 31893
Head offices, etc 11620
Financial services 10261
Legal & accounting 8839
Retail trade 8024
Auxiliary  services 6385
Telecommunications 4721
Warehousing, etc 3740
Public admin. & defence 3173
Information services 3139
Employment status
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