Tips on Moving from Traditional Engineering to Banking Easily
Many engineers find themselves considering a shift from traditional engineering roles to the banking industry, seeking new challenges and opportunities. While it may seem like a significant leap, traditional engineers possess valuable skills that can be leveraged within the banking sector, particularly in software delivery and process optimization.
In this article, we will explore how traditional engineers can contribute to the software delivery life cycle in banking and why their skills are highly sought after in this industry. Additionally, we’ll discuss the advantages of accreditations such as Six Sigma for engineers looking to pivot into banking and provide examples of how certain engineering roles in manufacturing translate to banking positions.
Process Engineering Contribution in Banking.
Process Engineers contribute to serving banking clients though developing efficient, functioning software.
In the banking industry, software development plays a crucial role in enabling efficient processes and providing innovative solutions to customers. Traditional engineers can bring their expertise and problem-solving skills to various stages of the software delivery life cycle. Here are some areas where traditional engineers can contribute:
I. Business Case: Firstly, the scope of work needs to be defined. Secondly the problem statement is quantified based on cost analysis and the cycles time of the process. This analysis is used to predict priority and the impact that the project might have on the bank. The business case analysis allows the engineers to predict the outcomes/results that could be expected from the Project.
II. Requirements Gathering and Analysis: Traditional engineers are adept at analyzing complex systems and identifying requirements. Their ability to understand intricate processes and translate them into functional specifications is valuable during the initial stages of software development projects. For gathering the requirements, Process engineers collaborates with Business Analysts, System Analysts and User Experience Designers to conceptualize the vision of the solution. All this Roles above make the composition of the design squad,
III. Solution Design: Engineers including the other members of the design squad, collaborates with solution architects and developers (the development squad) to define the technicality of how the software solution vision can be made functional and easy to build.
IV. Project Management: Engineers are accustomed to managing projects, ensuring timelines are met, and coordinating multidisciplinary teams. These skills are transferable to project management roles within the banking industry, where overseeing software development projects is critical.
A Day in a life of a Process Engineer in banking.
This are some of the things done on a daily basic to contribute to the system Development Life Cycle.
Start of day
The day starts with a stand-up meeting where we communicate what we achieved yesterday, what we will be focusing on that day and what we need help with. This is like the daily morning plant meetings. The only difference is that in software development the focus is on removing barriers to help you achieve your deliverables and Plant meeting also enable you/ provide areas of support to enable you to safely work through the day. Safety is key.
Mid-morning till mid-afternoon [ this can also happen over a week]
This is what happens in banking projects though the order is not as always depicted below.
- Hold Customer interviews to determine what the problems areas are. Our customers are the bank clients and the business stakeholders who will use the solutions we create.
- Perform Analysis of the “AS IS “data to evaluate the current efficiency of the system and process.
- Researching how the problem can be solved [YouTube, reading published papers, reading books, take a short course on Udemy, take a short course on LinkedIn learning or Coursera etc.]
- Putting the solutions in writing.
- Documenting a “To Be” process, predicting the process efficiency and also predicting the future turnaround time data.
- Attend co-creation sessions with fellow designers [ business analysts, system analysts, UX designers’ developers and architects] to derive solutions.
- Proposal of solution to customer and solution review. This can be multiple iterations as you collaborate with customer and fellow designers.
- Once the customer is happy, the software can be built.
Preparation for the shift from traditional engineering to software development.
The leap is not as big as it might seem. Here are some things you can look at to prepare you for the role
i. You had obtained a formal qualification e.g., Bachelor’s Degree: Manufacturing, Engineering, and Information Technology.
ii. Here are the courses you can take to prepare for your move into banking. These courses can be done through formal qualifications or online courses.
- Six Sigma Green/Black Belt and Design Thinking
- Business System Analysis, (This course is about how process engineering and system architecture aligns in system development)
- User Experience Design online courses
- Project Management Courses.
iii. Apply for the Role
- Research engineering roles on banking websites and evaluate if you have the correct experience.
- Apply for roles; surprisingly banking employees have diverse qualifications. I have come across Writers, Geologists, Food technologist etc. The common qualities banking employees have is creativity, customer centricity and high attention to detail to solve complex problems.
- Prepare and research the role for your interview.
Are you ready to make the Move?
Online learning has made it so much easier for anyone to acquire new skills and experience. Due to the lack of software development skills in South Africa and worldwide, there is a demand for digital skills. There is no better time for anyone to switch to software development than now in this age of the internet, exponential growth of institutions and digital disruption. Good luck.
