Technology, not trading, but still need advice.

Hello,

First time posting here...etc etc.

I am a software engineer. I have a BSc in Software Engineering and an MSc in Mobile Computing. I've worked for 3 large multinational companies and have about 4 years experience as a Software Engineer...all for mobile phones. However I would like a change. I would like to work with software for companies involved in finance (very woolly I know). I do not want to be a trader. I do not necessarily want to write trading software (although I wouldn't rule this out).

Most jobs I meet the software eningeering requirements, but then fall down on the "knowledge of financial markets / tools / products" side of things.

I am fortunate enough to be able to take a sabbatical at work, and was thinking of finding a 2-3 month course where I could learn enough to start apply for some jobs.

I found this (FTMA1, FMTA2)

http://www.lsbf.org.uk/programmes/postgraduate-certificates/certificate-in-trading-and-analysis.html

Questions:

1. Am I even tackling this problem correctly?
2. Does the qualification seem to cover the correct areas?
3. Does anyone have some general advice to help me make a change?

Many thanks.

Not sure if thats the right one

Yeah, I thought that was a little bad of them too. I assumed it's meant to be "enable", but the 'e' and 'u' aren't exactly close to each other on a keyboard.

Well, for completeness I should add that I have enrolled on the course and will post back here what I think of it. I should reiterate that my primary goal is to acquire knowledge. Any industry recognised qualifications would be something I hope to move onto after grasping the basics.

I work in the technology part of a large broker (sys admin). We develop our own software and have deployment teams for the software. Their experience is generally software engineering and throughout their job they liaise with traders, managers, sys admins etc on the testing and deploying the software. A few have gone on to other teams now or have become managers. I reckon that would be a good foot in the door for you and on the side try to do a diploma/masters in finance if you wish to go down that route.

For many years I ran a computer systems application development company. The key to our success was working with the customer to understand his technology and language before writing the specs. In fact, our proposal was usually the user manual. We put ourselves in his world rather than dragging him into ours.

The lesson, I think, is that if you are smart (most good software engineers are) you will quickly pick up the customer culture and language, learn to talk and think in their language and produce applications superior to those that do not.

The question is, if you believe in this approach, how do you accomplish it. One thought is to volunteer to work for low pay or free (you are on paid sabbatical, I presume) at a customer organization and immerse yourself in it. Tell them up front what your goal is. You would be surprised how many will welcome a vendor with a customer-centric attitude.