Tag Archives: recruitment

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Leaving Murex… Things to consider

Leaving Murex, that’s often a topic that comes back at the coffee machine. I think it is in people’s nature to consider all options and ensure that they always keep doors open. But some are more willing to jump ship, I think it is important to know why you want to leave and consider what your next work place could bring you.

1. Money and work conditions

This is maybe the least relevant. Murex offers great salaries and working conditions (paid leave or other benefits). Usually people do not want to leave as they believe they won’t get as much elsewhere. Except if they decide to go for contracting jobs, which sacrifice job stability for higher incomes.

2. Career potential

This one is already a little more relevant. Murex offers great career prospective but as the company is relatively flat in structure, people can hit a cap with little perspective of going further up. Mostly career driven people tend to use Murex as a stepping stone and would not stay for long in the company.

3. Challenge

This might happen actually, after a long time in a company, things become routine. As discussed in a previous post, Murex people enjoy being challenged. In a way, we could call this one intellectual boredom. I think it is actually a frequent cause for departure where people need the thrill of discovering something new.

4. Bad atmosphere

Because of Murex quite lengthy recruitment process, I think it is quite hard to get to a point where the atmosphere within a team or with one’s boss is too hard to bear. If it does happen, it’s best to tackle the problem directly and see what can be done to improve the situation.And if it can’t be done, I’d advise at changing team rather than changing company.

This should sum up the reasons that would push one to leave. Note that many Murexians are actually quite pessimistic about their chances of finding a job elsewhere. Given that most are actually quite brilliant and highly capable, that’s a bit sad.

When it comes to opportunities they have usually 3 main destinations:

A. Customer side (Banks, funds, …)

This is quite common especially if the person has been working with the bank for some time. Banks offer a wide range of job opportunities, along with long career opportunities. As the underlying knowledge is the same and as Murex consultants have very desirable knowledge for the bank, it is actually a great match.

B. Consulting firms

Second option is to capitalize on the Murex knowledge and move on to a consulting firm. More responsibilities, potentially more independence with a shot at being partner are the most frequent reasons for choosing that destination.

C. Other software firms

This is maybe one of the least obvious ones. I believe Murex is one of the best software vendors to work for. Going to another one only makes sense if it means a jump in career or if their software is very capable on a domain that is your passion/expertise. Otherwise the reasons that pushed you to leave Murex are likely to be even stronger there once the honeymoon period is over.

There are other destinations but they’re more on a case by case basis and very specific to people.

What about you? Did you leave Murex? Why? Where did you go? All comments and feedback welcome!

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Scoring a job with Murex

In the continuation of the previous post, here are details as to how the interview process works and what is expected of you.

The level required by candidates is actually very high, this ensures people who can learn quickly but also it builds a company spirit where you are surrounded by very good people. This is very motivating.

For graduates (or non senior positions), one of the first things that happens during the recruitment is a knowledge test. Depending on the type of job you’re applying for, the test might vary. Without detailing what the tests can be about, the idea is to test what you should know (maths, financial questions if you studied finance, programming if applicable, etc…) but also how do you think and if you have the good reflexes when faced with a problem.

So for more junior people, revise what you have studied and also try to understand what Murex is about (this website and Murex website will be good sources of information).

If you manage to get a job, you will receive trainings from Murex about basics (what’s a rate curve, what are the different type of options, what are accounting entries, etc…) the idea is to ensure that even if you are not working in a particular domain, you have a basic knowledge as to what it is. The trainings then move to specificities of Murex and how the software works, the internal processes, etc…

While the training takes 6 weeks to 2 months, Murex tends to consider that the investment in someone starts to pay off after 18 months, once you build confidence and knowledge. There will be lots of things for you to do prior to that but you’ll be well assisted to insure you learn as quickly as possible.

As 18 months is a significant amount of time, it is important for Murex to recruit the right people, hence the focus put on the recruitment process.

For more senior positions, this is of course on an ad hoc basis given how well your skills are transferable.

More questions, feel free to comment or go to the forums and I’ll try to answer them