Working in Citi

blondey11

Hi guys,

Is anyone working or know someone who is working/has worked in Issuer Services Operations team? Any thoughts? Is it one of the better departments to work in or is like the rest of the areas in Citi - horrible to work for?

Any help much appreciated!

fedfan4ever

How is the IT department at the moment. I got a call for a database developer in the Citi Securities and Fund Services group. The reviews look scary - so would like to know how this particular department stands of late. Would appreciate any help !

Thanks!

Nelly1234

Turned down a job offer here for Citi as I got a better job! I wonder what it's like to work there now!

NoxNox

I got an interview with them coming up, anyone got an idea if the first few posts are still accurate on what it's like to work at? I'd happily take more money but not if it's at the cost of my sanity.

ac10

NoxNox wrote: »

I got an interview with them coming up, anyone got an idea if the first few posts are still accurate on what it's like to work at? I'd happily take more money but not if it's at the cost of my sanity.

I worked for them and left (ran)the place is horrible to work, all about culture, managers on power trips and staff constantly trying to outdo each other. High turnover in staff and also the company is all about current performance and not development. Most of my former colleagues have sinceeft. Salaries are very good but expect to be on this wage for a few years they actually only receive a small budget for pay increases each year 10 out of 200 got raises of 200-1000 one year.

I left for lower paid salary and can honestly say I am far happier and also am now on more money than I was in cities.

scamalert

Tried to apply for Data IT role in one of the US branches here,don't know if this is phenomena of US corporations in general,but can say that i did read up on reviews of others that worked in US branches and its completely filled with negativity from unreal load,to power tripping management.

As said it might look good on your CV but otherwise its hell to work for,even thou i didn't get position as expected as lacked qualifications and experience,some places are best to be avoided.

Dr.Winston O'Boogie

Been offered an interview for the Dublin branch, worked for several fund admin places in Dublin and to be honest as much as everyone seems to be complaining about Citibank in this thread are they not all the same? Long hours mostly, all the corporate stuff, stressed out employees, short lunches?

Baby01032012

Dr.Winston O'Boogie wrote: »

Been offered an interview for the Dublin branch, worked for several fund admin places in Dublin and to be honest as much as everyone seems to be complaining about Citibank in this thread are they not all the same? Long hours mostly, all the corporate stuff, stressed out employees, short lunches?

Be warned you may have got me on a bad day I have also worked in quiet a few fund companies and this ( current) is the worst. Culture with Citi is a huge thing that you don't get elsewhere. The job itself is incidental, to succeed in Citi you need to spend 99% of your time influencing the right people and getting the right exposure. You will be promoted for the amount of work you can offload onto someone else. Networking is Citi's most important or most promoted thing.

RainyDay

Baby01032012 wrote: »

, to succeed in Citi you need to spend 99% of your time influencing the right people and getting the right exposure. You will be promoted for the amount of work you can offload onto someone else. Networking is Citi's most important or most promoted thing.

Sounds like most multi-nationals, including two in completely different industries from my experience.

veganrun

Looks like I will be getting an offer from Citi in Belfast. I interviewed there recently and didn't have any negative feelings afterwards but starting to have second thoughts now after reading this thread!

Dr.Winston O'Boogie

Baby01032012 wrote: »

Be warned you may have got me on a bad day I have also worked in quiet a few fund companies and this ( current) is the worst. Culture with Citi is a huge thing that you don't get elsewhere. The job itself is incidental, to succeed in Citi you need to spend 99% of your time influencing the right people and getting the right exposure. You will be promoted for the amount of work you can offload onto someone else. Networking is Citi's most important or most promoted thing.

As much as I take everyones opinions onboard in this thread when it comes to fund admin I have been warned off nearly every job in Dublin from someone or other for nearly the exact same reasons as listed in this thread. BNY Mellon, State Street, JP Morgan, Northern Trust, Citibank, all the same apparently. Seems you are damned if you do and damned if you don't.

veganrun

Anyone here worked at Citi in Belfast, specifically in the software dev or test areas? If so, what is it like?

dutopia

Anyone here worked in IT in Citi Dublin? I'd love to speak to someone about what it's like to work there. Please reply or PM.

reidlos

I have just finished at this place and IMHO the worst place I have ever been. This I do not say lightly as a professional with over 15 years experience. I have read the posts to this thread with interest and I would say the critics are 100% correct.
Utterly dreadful place to work - no leadership and every man/woman/creature for themselves. The net result is a truly disfunctional organisation that operates on dihonesty to itself and its staff. If you want to see the true nature of everything that is wrong with an employer then go down to 1 North Wall Quay!

Cloonty is very accurate in their assesment of the place. Thank God I got out and am looking forward to a new job with better pay!

stefanovich

pakb1ue wrote: »

I dont know the exact figure but some people have been so kind to put up their salaries on GlassDoor.com

Operations Analyst
2 Citi Salaries in Dublin (4 in Ireland)
Range:€23k-€35k
Avg. Salary: €29,126

So a graduate would be on the lower scale of that.

That's fairly ****e money especially for Dublin.

JustTheOne

reidlos wrote: »

I have just finished at this place and IMHO the worst place I have ever been. This I do not say lightly as a professional with over 15 years experience. I have read the posts to this thread with interest and I would say the critics are 100% correct.
Utterly dreadful place to work - no leadership and every man/woman/creature for themselves. The net result is a truly disfunctional organisation that operates on dihonesty to itself and its staff. If you want to see the true nature of everything that is wrong with an employer then go down to 1 North Wall Quay!

Cloonty is very accurate in their assesment of the place. Thank God I got out and am looking forward to a new job with better pay!

How does the work manage to get done with such bad features?

reidlos

The work gets done in a fashion, but often late and with poor results. Everything is done on the cheap with poor resourcing leading to stressed staff who are leaving in droves. They have cut everything to the bare minimum.

Believe me - Citi in Dublin have a nasty habit of promising the world and not delivering to clients and staff. They have got away with it in the recession- they are cheap service providers and in the last few years staff have put up with it.

My exit interview told everything - I was one interview of many that day and they seem powerless to understand why they have a problem with morale. The day I left 5 fairly senior people asked me to look out for something for them.

If you want a job with slim future prospects, and poor job satisfaction - Citi is for you!

Baby01032012

reidlos wrote: »

The work gets done in a fashion, but often late and with poor results. Everything is done on the cheap with poor resourcing leading to stressed staff who are leaving in droves. They have cut everything to the bare minimum.

Believe me - Citi in Dublin have a nasty habit of promising the world and not delivering to clients and staff. They have got away with it in the recession- they are cheap service providers and in the last few years staff have put up with it.

My exit interview told everything - I was one interview of many that day and they seem powerless to understand why they have a problem with morale. The day I left 5 fairly senior people asked me to look out for something for them.

If you want a job with slim future prospects, and poor job satisfaction - Citi is for you!

Agree totally, I'm a current citi employee. I've 15 years experience mostly in various fund companies in Dublin and Citi is the worst in every respect. In terms of customer service and way employees are treated. Project managers with no people skills are put in charge of people simply because that is seen as only way to progress.

St1mpMeister

So, I'm looking at an IT contract role in Citi. What's working life like there for an IT contractor?

Berserker

St1mpMeister wrote: »

So, I'm looking at an IT contract role in Citi. What's working life like there for an IT contractor?

Not sure what field you are in within I.T. but I am a developer and know to avoid the place like the plague. A recruitment agent rang me about contract work there last week and the agent was not surprised when I told him that I wouldn't be interested in the position.

I know people who have worked there and as per a previous poster, everything is done on the cheap, morale is awful and the standard of project management is woeful. The rate of turnover of staff is very high, which should also set off alarm bells. To be fair to Citi, they are one of many companies which are run in this fashion. The company I work for at the moment which is new to the market here, is more of the same.

St1mpMeister

Berserker wrote: »

Not sure what field you are in within I.T. but I am a developer and know to avoid the place like the plague. A recruitment agent rang me about contract work there last week and the agent was not surprised when I told him that I wouldn't be interested in the position.

I know people who have worked there and as per a previous poster, everything is done on the cheap, morale is awful and the standard of project management is woeful. The rate of turnover of staff is very high, which should also set off alarm bells. To be fair to Citi, they are one of many companies which are run in this fashion. The company I work for at the moment which is new to the market here, is more of the same.

Right, sorry should have clarified it's a developer role. You mention that your other company is similar is this also a financial company? Perhaps it's an endemic problem with financial companies.

Any thoughts on the working-life of a developer within Aon Insurance? Got a possible interview with them too.

grahamor

I've been in Citi almost 3 years and personally believe that it's all about the team and project you are part of. I work in a small team (<10 people) and am much happier than I've been in smaller tech companies.

It can be challenging for some new hires to get used to a more controlled environment. There are also some benefits to this as there's huge focus on testing and code quality.

St1mpMeister

Well I do like structured code and coding environments.

Is it agile development, or just basically "here's a task, let me know when it's done" ?

Also from what I've read "lunch-hours" are non-existent?

grahamor

St1mpMeister wrote: »

Well I do like structured code and coding environments.

Is it agile development, or just basically "here's a task, let me know when it's done" ?

Also from what I've read "lunch-hours" are non-existent?

Depends on project but mostly Agile. We work in 2 week sprints and it's really satisfying from a getting stuff out the door perspective.

That's simply not true about the lunch hours. You are entitled to morning, lunch and afternoon breaks no matter what, even for contractors !

My team is hiring so PM me if you want to know anything else !

Berserker

St1mpMeister wrote: »

Right, sorry should have clarified it's a developer role. You mention that your other company is similar is this also a financial company? Perhaps it's an endemic problem with financial companies.

My company is within the bounds of finance too. It is more of a consultancy/resourcing firm which only becomes apparent after you join. I have just under ten years' experience in the sector and have noticed a significant increase in the level of dissatisfaction within the sector from a developer's perspective.

St1mpMeister wrote: »

Any thoughts on the working-life of a developer within Aon Insurance? Got a possible interview with them too.

Never heard anything bad about them to be honest. Hours are respectable, staff are competent and work is relatively interesting.

grahamor wrote: »

Depends on project but mostly Agile. We work in 2 week sprints and it's really satisfying from a getting stuff out the door perspective.

That's simply not true about the lunch hours. You are entitled to morning, lunch and afternoon breaks no matter what, even for contractors !

Good to hear something positive about them. If they have a good understanding of the Agile methodology then it makes life so much better. A huge proportion of people's gripes that I hear relate to a flawed implementation of Agile.

As for lunch breaks, they are non-existent where I work.

St1mpMeister

Berserker wrote: »

As for lunch breaks, they are non-existent where I work.

I never understand why people put up with this sort of thing, when there are so many better IT jobs out there.

Is it hard to get out of a contract?

St1mpMeister

Anyone have experience of BNP Paribas for an IT dev role?

Might have a somewhat different culture to the US financial companies.

Berserker

St1mpMeister wrote: »

I never understand why people put up with this sort of thing, when there are so many better IT jobs out there.

Is it hard to get out of a contract?

I am full time perm. Fell for all their spiel hook, line and sinker in the interview and switched from contract work. Wasn't the only one to be fair. They only take on perm staff where I am. I need to stay here for at least six months or it may reflect badly on me when I go looking for a new job.

St1mpMeister wrote: »

Anyone have experience of BNP Paribas for an IT dev role?

Might have a somewhat different culture to the US financial companies.

A friend of mine worked there and it's more of the same to be honest.

St1mpMeister

Berserker wrote: »

A friend of mine worked there and it's more of the same to be honest.

Wow, so general consensus is: avoid the Financial Services if you are a dev?

Berserker

St1mpMeister wrote: »

Wow, so general consensus is: avoid the Financial Services if you are a dev?

There are some decent companies out there in the area but they are in the minority. People's (flawed) interpretation of the Agile methodology seems to be the root of an awful lot of the problems I have come across. It is particularly poor in the sector.