We Talk Coding

In Banking which field has a better future: IT application/system development or Risk Management?

I am in the process of my next career move. I enjoy working in banking environment. Currently am a good application/system/database developer. A friend of mine pursue me get in the risk department. He told me Risk has better future in Bank. And it pays much more than IT too.

Public Comments

1. Not sure what you mean by Risk Management. In project management terms...risk management is the process of identifying scenarios or situations that could impact the cost, quality, or targetted time for completing your project. Then you identify which of these situations most likely would occur and then come up with ideas to manage the impact of the situation. IT development...pure development and coding...is becoming a commodity with offshoring being a popular trend. There will always be companies that don't trust the offshoring model and if you are talented, you will be able to find jobs. However, coding jobs are not paying what they used to pay and it's less glamorous of a job than it was a few years ago. If you are talking about Risk Management in the terms I described above, I would think that if you became saavy at it, you could find jobs across industries..construction, banking, IT, etc... Good luck!
2. Both fields have a good future. Risk Management, if you are referring to managing customer's financial risk, will likely lead to a better financial future. The reason is that there are only so many IT jobs that are very big in nature (CIO). Management and director type jobs pay well, but not insane. Risk management, on the other hand, implies you are helping companies juggle $100's of millions in funds, and protect these funds from the inherent risks in the world (interest rates, cash flow timing, liquidity risks...etc). It is obvious that the value added in that role is much larger than that of IT, and insane paying positions more readily available. However, it is a considerable different skill set than that which you already do, much heavier in hardcore mathematical finance.