I really thought my decade of experience at Bank of America would put me ahead of the crowd when it came to getting a new job. Now I see why so many former employees come crawling back as consultants over and over. I was terminated over 5 months ago and while I've landed 6 interviews, nobody has hired me (most never call me back). And it really comes down to the fact that there is the Bank/Merrill way of doing things, and that doesn't translate to the rest of the world. Most companies are way ahead of us technology-wise. Everyone has switched to Azure or AWS, and is using SQL/Windows 2K12 and 2K16 or are heavily into non-Windows platforms. Nobody is using any of the automation tools we use. And very few companies have the type of division of labor Bank of America has. In the real world, people want you to know everything and do everything. It is pretty embarrassing in interviews saying, "Well we have DBAs who do that.... well we have a SAN team... oh, well we have a network team... oh we have a security team that does that... oh we have a patching team..." Being a subject matter expert in one area, especially in proprietary software and a few old versions of software nobody else in the industry uses, makes you pretty useless to other companies. And I feel like they can sense that I am broken goods, coming from a fear factory like Bank of America. All I am saying is, if you get laid-off, it may be very bad for you. Your transferable skills diminish every year that you stay. I really thought I'd waltz into another great gig, but man, I'll be lucky if I can get a job making half of what I made when I left Bank of America. You're damned if you stay there and you're damned if you leave. Don't be like me! Get out while you still have some self-confidence or marketable skills!
10 replies (most recent on top)
while u were sitting on ur fat *ss helping BoA destroy the US economy, others were coming up with new and better ways of doing things and improving the economy.
Yeah they just want you to volunteer all the time or attend all hands with stupid games. Yet no time for training or development.
Maybe OP did not have time to learn anything new because the company does not encourage you to learn new things or provide any adequate training even when related 100% to your job.
"If you are a veteran technology employee, you may be unhireable if you get let go"...
-
might be you were let go because you weren't leveraging your decade+ expertise
-
might be that you were let go because you couldn't and wouldn't adapt
-
might be that you were let go because you blame other folks for your issues
-
might be that you were let go because you have a serious self-confidence issue
With 10+ years in the industry - you should be knocking it out of the park. Unless you learned nothing and wanted it handed to you.
Try hitting up other banks or companies that have your skillsets.
I worked at 3.5 years before I was laid off in June. I reasonably lucky, that I worked in two different groups before I was let go. It has taken me nearly 6 months to receive an offer. Hang in there.
BAC takes the division of labor a step further. It ensures that it is not totally dependent on any one individual in all areas so that anyone can be replaced like a spare part at any time. Hi-tech and any form of productive creativity cannot flourish in this type of environment and so progress and innovation are dead here. The overall function is like a machine churning on towards its own obsolescence.
It may take a while but if you are willing to learn new skills and new ways of doing things, there is always hope. I took a consulting gig while I looked so I could be choosy and I was fortunate to land a great job before severance ran out. I found that Feb/March was when all the good job openings started showing up. There is life after Bank of America and with the right skills you can make just as much if not more than at BAC and you don't have to deal with the constant stress and toxic environment. Best of luck to you!
Everyone is moving to Azure and AWS, we are moving to the great oracle cloud. FYI, Oracle itself doesn’t use it’s own cloud
You honestly thought a decade in finance at BAC would give you the upper hand?
What do you think will happen to all those quartz developers in a few years?
The key is keeping up with latest trends while working on th backup plan.
Wow...: