A Conversation with Leslie Hawla from Fidelity Investments
Leslie Hawla, Associate Systems Analyst, is a recent graduate of Fidelity’s technology development program, Leap. Read about her journey to Fidelity, her participation in LEAP, and her current role.
Q: Share with us your journey to working at Fidelity.
I started with Fidelity the summer after my Junior year of college as an Asset Management Technical Intern. Here, I provided test support to an agile team that developed & supported the company’s internal Equity Trading and Market Data applications. From there I applied to Fidelity’s Leap program and was offered a position to start with the program the September following my college graduation.
Leap is Fidelity’s 4-month technology on-boarding & training program, based in Raleigh, NC, which allows associates the opportunity to further develop their technology skills through integrated classroom and team/project based learning. During the Leap program, I met regularly with my Leap manager to discuss my interests, technology strengths, and past experiences. These meetings helped to determine which full-time role would be the best fit for me within the company.
Upon completing the program, I was placed into my current role as a Systems Analyst within Fidelity Brokerage Technology. Here, I have the opportunity to help support all of FBT through dynamic reporting, Product Model engagement, and working daily with our FBT Agile Enablement Office as their Scrum Master. Through this current role, I’ve had the chance to engage with almost every Brokerage Technology team in some way or another, allowing me to get a ‘taste’ of all the different types of work that FBT does.
Q: If someone is interested in system analysis, where should they start?
My advice would be to see if your high school or college offers any intro to computer science/coding classes. If not, my second recommendation would be to check out any of the online coding tools, like Codecademy. I’d also talk to peers, friend’s parents, teachers, etc. that you may know who work or have worked in the tech industry. This was how I got my start. In high school I took a Visual Basic and an AP Computer Science class per my dad’s suggestion and I’m incredible happy that I did. I loved how hands-on it was, forcing you to think critically & solve complex problems. Had my dad not suggested taking these classes, I’m not sure I would have ended up in this career as these classes were not part of my standard high school curriculum.
Q: What was the LEAP program like?
Leap is a development program designed to equip recent IT grads to become ‘best in class technologists’. Upon completing the program, associates are placed into a full-time role within Fidelity’s technology organization.
The best way I can describe this experience is that, for me, it bridged to gap between college and the full-time work life. For those 4 months, you live with your Leap peers down in Raleigh, NC, splitting your training between college-like classroom based learning and an internship-like project. Outside of prepping your tech-skills for your full-time job, this program also teaches you how to adjust your life to working 40 hours/week, networking/socializing with co-workers, and about Fidelity in general. The absolute most important and lasting benefit of the Leap program is the network of talented individuals & friends that you gain. I cannot count how many times I have reached out to members of my Leap network for help with new technologies, help in understanding a different Business Unit of Fidelity, or simply to get together and hangout after work. In fact, I just took a week-long trip to Costa Rica with one of my closest friends that I met through the Leap program!
Q: A typical day at work…
Due to the nature of my work, I don’t often have a ‘typical’ day at work. My team’s purpose is essentially to support Fidelity Brokerage Technology in any way necessary. The most ‘typical’ part of my day is my team’s daily stand-up where we provide updates to the team and answer three questions: ‘What did I work on yesterday?’, ‘What am I going to work on today?’ and ‘Do I have any blockers preventing me from doing my work?’ After that, I’m likely reviewing Product Model Roadmaps, working with our Agile Enablement Office to remove any impediments & supporting them in driving FBT’s agile efforts, or building out a Tableau report to help support our FBT community.
Q: Are you working on any interesting projects?
The most interesting project that I’m working on at the moment is our FBT Product Model project. Here, I get the opportunity to meet with product managers and guide them with creating their multi-year product roadmaps. Not only do I get to help them and answer their questions, but I in turn get to learn more about what they do and what areas of Brokerage Technology they support.
Q: What do you enjoy most about your job?
The two parts of my job that I enjoy the most are how different my day-to-day is, and the people that I work with. My team has taught me so much about Brokerage Technology, agile, reporting, and how to manage all of the different types of work that we do. I am very grateful for them.
We would like to thank Leslie for sharing with our team and Fidelity Investments for not only supporting technologists of all identities but also for supporting the empowerment of its future technologists at events like TechTogether hackathons. If you enjoyed what you read, follow TechTogether on Medium and subscribe to our mailing list below!
