Wall Street Firms Are Aggressively Hiring From the Nation's Top Technology Schools

NEW YORK, Aug. 29, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- The editors of Wall Street & Technology, part of the InformationWeek Business Technology Network, have announced the release of the brand's special report, Wall Street's Top Technology Schools, a ranking of the industry's favorite schools for hiring computer programming and engineering graduates – in time for the fall semester.

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As Wall Street & Technology's first annual ranking notes, financial services firms are hiring, despite the view that the U.S. economy is sluggish and that it's hard for new college graduates to get a job. In fact, top Wall Street companies are actively reaching out to the elite colleges to bring in the best and brightest graduates whom they can groom to fit their cultures.

Campus recruiting at the top universities in computer science, engineering and other technology-related majors has become increasingly important for building a leading-edge capital markets firm, technology executives tell Wall Street & Technology. With the rise of social media, mobile apps and other innovative technologies, firms are looking to the colleges as a rich source of young IT talent, and many are often competing with Google, Facebook and tech start-ups for top talent.

Steve Rubinow, CIO of FX Alliance, a leading independent foreign exchange platform who was interviewed for the Wall Street & Technology rankings, admits that he likes to "steal away" top people from other firms. But, he says, "I love to hire bright young people who are inquisitive and have knowledge about computer technology. They are not encumbered by the old ways of doing things. They bring in fresh ways of thinking."

Regardless of what degree they earn, or where they earn it, graduates must have certain skills to join Wall Street IT organizations. While capital markets CIOs and CTOs typically want IT candidates to know specific languages, however — Java and C++ are the most prevalent in the capital markets, says Rubinow — the so-called hard IT skills are not the only sought-after skills. Today, with the emphasis on collaboration and team and fitting into a firm's culture, the so-called soft skills are gaining greater attention.

According to the InformationWeek 2012 U.S. IT Salary Survey: Banking and Securities, median total cash compensation for IT staffers on Wall Street is $99,000 annually. "On Wall Street, technology is vital to the success of the business," says Greg MacSweeney, Editorial Director for Wall Street & Technology. "So it's no surprise that CIOs are looking for the best and brightest technologists to help build the next generation of capital markets technology."

Wall Street's Top Technology Schools of 2012 are, in alphabetical order, Carnegie Mellon University; Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT); Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute; Stanford University and Georgia Institute of Technology. Honorable mentions include Brown University, Rice University, Stephens Institute of Technology, University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign, the University of Pennsylvania, and Yale University. The report includes current information about each school's degree program.

The report can be accessed here: www.wallstreetandtech.com/career-management/240001408?cid=prn_release

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Wall Street & Technology's mission is to deliver accurate, thought-provoking and targeted content to the capital markets industry's top business and technology executives. The brand's coverage derives from two main drivers: the experience and knowledge of the industry's most senior staff of editors, and our close work with our reader advisory board and other leading securities industry experts. Wall Street & Technology's content helps business and technology executives gain a deeper understanding of the trends and technology that are shaping the market, including low-latency demands, back-office processing, data center efficiency, regulatory reporting, high-frequency trading, data and risk management strategy, and data security. The brand's content spans multiple media platforms -- digital publications, print publications, Web content, electronic newsletters, live events, virtual events, webcasts, video, blogs and more -- so executives can access information in the methods they prefer.

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Contact:
Greg MacSweeney
Editorial Director
Wall Street & Technology
212-600-308
[email protected]

SOURCE UBM TechWeb