So I started to look for "regular work" (whatever that is) so I could compare what I’ve been earning to what I could earn in the 9-5ish world. I eventually got an offer from one of the largest banks in Canada. It was a Project Management role.
What I discovered during the past years was much of what I was doing happened to be called Project Management. I never know that there was a formal name of it, I was just working for clients! I started to document all of the projects that I had been working on so that I could get my PMP certification. As it turns out all of this PM and documentation was useful as the Bank hired me to start immediately.
Now you may be thinking, after working for myself and at smaller companies, that a large structure like a bank would not be compatible. Fortunately for me, the area of the bank that I was working for was somewhat like "black-ops" within the bank. We would do non-standard programming, communication protocols, file translations that were not "officially" supported by the bank. If you wanted something done and done quickly we were your team.
My role was to manage the many projects that came into the group and get them done in a timely fashion. It was something that took into account most of my skills. People and project management, communication.
The projects that I worked on varied in nature, multi-tasking and concurrent projects were an absolute necessity. Some projects were small taking only a few weeks to complete to those which were more complicated taking many months and require out of country travel The bulk of the projects involved the electronic transfer of funds through a variety of file formats. This included OFX, EDI, ACH, EFT and others.
Occasionally I would take on other projects that were not the standard type. Once such project involved making creating an XML format (using BizTalk) to transfer funds (and verify an account holder’s physical address) for playing online lottery games. This wasn’t for some off-shore gaming company, this was for a government sponsored lottery corporation (ie New York State Lottery Corporation).
Overall the bank exposed me to a variety of formal SDLC methodologies such as Agile and RUP. I honed my PM skills and exposed myself to other banking systems and technologies.
Showing posts with label project management. Show all posts
Showing posts with label project management. Show all posts
Monday, August 11, 2008
Friday, August 8, 2008
Yea! I’m a Business
I hope that I’ve not boring you with too many details about my past experience. This blog is after all about my trying to find a job! So what type of clients did you think I would go after when I started my business? Yes, correct investment companies. What can I say, I like the industry and they felt comfortable dealing with someone who understood their business. I was now educating people about the internet.
Here are some of the personal milestones that I accomplished while running this business:
Created the first site in Canada that allowed investors to access their accounts and place orders through the internet. This was done before E-Trade Canada opened up its doors here. Now almost every investment company and mutual fund dealer does this. I did it first!
Designed a new back office system based on internet technologies for a brokerage company.
Conducted the first internet broadcast of an Annual General Meeting in Canada. This is now common place for public companies.
Over the course of my business I designed and managed the development of dozens of companies, mutual funds; publically traded entities; mutual fund dealers; brokerage firms. I got some decent press too, understanding that it would lead to more business.
Being a one person operation was challenging, but I quickly learned to delegate and hire contract workers to complete specific aspects of my projects. However business was to come to a screeching halt.
The majority of my business came from interfacing Mutual Fund Dealers back office to allow for client access/trading. There were three companies in Canada that sold held the mutual fund back office market. I developed interfaces for all three by reverse engineering the databases. After a while the software companies took notice and decided to make their own interface. Needless to say this put a serious dent in my income!
D
Here are some of the personal milestones that I accomplished while running this business:
Created the first site in Canada that allowed investors to access their accounts and place orders through the internet. This was done before E-Trade Canada opened up its doors here. Now almost every investment company and mutual fund dealer does this. I did it first!
Designed a new back office system based on internet technologies for a brokerage company.
Conducted the first internet broadcast of an Annual General Meeting in Canada. This is now common place for public companies.
Over the course of my business I designed and managed the development of dozens of companies, mutual funds; publically traded entities; mutual fund dealers; brokerage firms. I got some decent press too, understanding that it would lead to more business.
Being a one person operation was challenging, but I quickly learned to delegate and hire contract workers to complete specific aspects of my projects. However business was to come to a screeching halt.
The majority of my business came from interfacing Mutual Fund Dealers back office to allow for client access/trading. There were three companies in Canada that sold held the mutual fund back office market. I developed interfaces for all three by reverse engineering the databases. After a while the software companies took notice and decided to make their own interface. Needless to say this put a serious dent in my income!
D
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