Just a few years ago, if you told candidates from JPMorgan Chase’s Technology Analyst Program that they’d be working at a bank after graduation, they wouldn’t have believed you. After all, they majored in information technology and information management systems—not finance. So what changed? We’ll let them answer that. This three-part series takes you inside the tech careers of JPMorgan Chase employees. Today, meet Technology Analyst Kelly Halberstadt.
What do you do at JPMorgan Chase?
I recently finished the Technology Analyst Program, which is a program for recent college grads. You join as a Software Engineer or Infrastructure Engineer and then you go through a six-week hands-on training with your team. At the end of the training, you are placed in a specific job area. I became an Agile Scrum Master on the Home Lending team, where I make sure new technology releases launch smoothly. With Agile being a big focus, I am responsible for coaching team members, helping write user stories, planning releases and more. I also support events like Code for Good, a series of 24-hour coding challenges where students work alongside employees to solve real-world problems for social good organizations.
If someone told you a few years ago that you’d be working for a bank, what would your response have been?
In college, I didn’t realize the depth of opportunities in financial services. I met with recruiters and did a lot of research to understand where my technology background would be a good fit. Then I started as an intern at JPMorgan Chase and discovered there are so many departments to choose from and there are opportunities to experience different tech careers. This was really important to me. Seeing all sides of technology has benefits, and I’m glad I could experience this at JPMorgan Chase.
Can you share an example of how JPMorgan Chase helped you grow as a professional since you joined?
My manager is fantastic. We have weekly one-on-one meetings to talk about what I want to do with my career and he encourages me to network with people. There are also lots of opportunities to keep learning and growing—whether they are formal training programs or informal one-on-one sessions with mentors.
What would you say to someone who’s skeptical about a technology career at a bank?
You’re working on products and services that customers use every day. I can see the things my team works on get pushed to the My Chase Mortgage site every month. Whether it’s cloud development, big data and analytics or cybersecurity, we’re constantly innovating and evolving, and there’s always a new project on the horizon.
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