New IS banking Job

[rkelly95]

I may have this IS job at a big bank, does anyone have any advice to give me on what to look at the most to prepare for my interview? I don't know what kind of software they use yet, except access, but thats easy. I might need some pointers. I know this is vague, sorry.

 

[carp]

A bank using Access sounds like a very small bank. If they are using Access, I would guess they're probably using the rest of Microsoft Office for a lot of their other requirements.

Questions I would have would be along the lines of:
- How do they interact with the outside world?
- Do they have problems with table locking?
- Do they have an internet presence?
- Do they have any plans to migrate to a more industrial-grade database? If so, which one/when/what's the migration plan?
- What kind of network are they using?

 

[rkelly95]

Thankyou for replying, the bank is citizens, I don't know if you know it? the thing is I am getting in because of a connection I have, that all fine and dandy, but I don't know what they are going to do with me. I have been brushing up on my SQL and reading about ETL tools, But I have not exactly worked at a real company doing things with their systems, although I could talk for hours about the stuff. I went to the site, that did not give me much info. take a look if you want, maybe you will see something I havent

http://www.citizensbank.com

thanks

 

[carp]

Well, by looking at a couple of the openings they have listed on Monster, I found this:
============================================
Proven support skills on HP-UX, AIX and Solaris platforms as well as a firm understanding of NT/2000 and NetWare operating systems.
Demonstrated scripting skills with Korn and PERL. Familiarity with mainframe concepts and connectivity to mainframe/UNIX via SNA a plus.
Hands-on experience with enterprise backup products (Legato Networker), NTFS setup and user/group setup relative to backups. Familiar with HP MC/Service Guard, high availability concepts to include SAN’s, EMC, Oracle, Apache and STK storage devices.
============================================
I would say you may run into more than just Access!

 

[rkelly95]

I would say so..................thanks.......next job ..., I hope they can control their laughter at the interview.

 

[carp]

I wouldn't get discouraged just yet. The information I found was for an Admin job, which might not be what you were going for. It's possible that they have an opening for somebody who knows how to make Access do what they need it to do, and that could be you. If you submitted a resume and got an interview, then they must see SOMETHING. Very few companies can afford to waste their time setting up interviews just to amuse themselves.

Worst case - they give you a polite "You just aren't what we had in mind." Relax, go in armed with knowledge about their system, and go for it! In the meantime, you might want to spend some time on Monster seeing if you can find more information; I just looked at two listings and found that information. There's probably more, and you might be able to discern how to sell yourself well. The link from their careers page brings up all of their openings on Monster.com.

Good luck!

 

[AIXSPadmin]

I am a Sys Admin for a Fortune 400 company and have used AIX for 8 years and SP for 3.5 years and work on IBM's new 1600 clusters. I also know and use TSM, Apache, iPlanet, WebSphere, and DB2 daily, and know some Oracle. I also know shell scripting and Perl and C programming, as well as SANS and EMC and Shark.

Also in my previous job i worked doing RPG, OCL and UniVerse database management and have done conversion from a System/36 environment to the UniVerse environment. Also had to do NT as well as networking and for gosh sakes had to even learn the phone system and do some of the wiring for it.

Am I qualified for a job? *smiles*

Not looking but couldn't resist!

 

[carp]

Not if they're looking for an Access guru. But I'm sure you could wing it!

 

[pmrankine]

rkelly95,
on the website there is a section for history; it mentions that they are closing a deal to buy another bank in Jan 2003 ("expected to close in January 2003 with a conversion scheduled for the spring of 2003.&quot - this may affect the job you are going for, maybe you should ask about it in the interview.

prankine

 

[rkelly95]

Thanks everyone, you have been a big help, I will take all of this into consideration.