Is no experience still no problem?

A dearth of experienced banking technologists has made banks more than usually willing to hire from outside the sector. Is that about to change?

Not according to Paul Elworthy, associate director in the IT and banking finance division of recruitment firm Hudson. If IT budgets are cut as a result of the credit crisis, Elworthy predicts banks may become even more willing to accept people from outside the industry.

"You can't teach someone to be a great technician, but you can teach someone how trades flow. We're starting to see budgets squeezed a bit more than a few years ago, so instead of someone spending 70k they'll spend 50K on someone with less experience," he says.

Generalists are more likely to find opportunities in the back and middle office and in small firms rather than big firms with deeper pockets. "With technology it's pretty much guaranteed that you have to specialise unless you work for a small company of 10-15 people," Elworthy adds.

If you want to work on front-office trading systems, financial services experience and product knowledge remain a prerequisite. The bottom line, as Rory Ferguson, director and head of recruitment firm JM Group, points out, is that: "You can get away with good general [technology] skills in various sectors, but not investment banking."