Java Software Developer, a job for you?

Angèle is Junior Java Software Developer at BNP Paribas Fortis. After a post-graduate internship in a start-up, she joined the bank in November 2020. A surprising choice? Angèle has no regrets at all. She explains why.

BNP Paribas Fortis 1 - start-up 0

“I already had a positive image of BNP Paribas Fortis, and that has only been confirmed,” says the young Frenchwoman, who has been living in Belgium for over a year. “I thought to myself: the biggest bank in Belgium can’t afford substandard IT tools. So before I applied, I explored the Easy Banking Web and Easy Banking App, because I knew I would probably be working on those platforms. And what I saw convinced me. So I jumped into the BNP Paribas Fortis adventure and am absolutely not complaining,” smiles Angèle. “The sheer size of the IT department shows that information technology is crucial to the bank. Digitalisation is high on the list of priorities and there are many different projects on the go.”

“Working in a start-up is also fun, of course, but you are under enormous pressure there,” Angèle confirms. “Thanks to the small structure, you are sometimes the only IT specialist there. At BNP Paribas Fortis, I found myself in an environment that encourages continuous learning and personal development. I am surrounded by a large number of IT colleagues with very different know-how and expertise, from whom I learn a lot. The bank also offers many interesting training courses. Moreover, despite the unusual Corona context, I was given an excellent welcome . It’s a big company for sure, but one with a human face.”

New ways of working

Another asset of BNP Paribas Fortis, according to Angèle, is the “agile” way of working: small, multidisciplinary teams (developers and testers, but also business people) are responsible for a series of applications from start to finish. They have to release a first version of a product as quickly as possible and then let it evolve based on the feedback of customers and users. “A very dynamic approach, which gives a lot of responsibility to everyone,” explains Angèle. “In my ‘squad’, there are ten of us, with a wide variety of profiles. We work on the basis of fortnightly ‘sprints’. That’s both fun and efficient!”

Direct impact on the customer experience

One thing is certain: Angèle loves her job, as it’s one in which she can develop to her full potential. “The coolest thing is that all the functionalities that I develop with my colleagues have a direct impact on the experience of the end user: the customer. Since I started here, I have worked on very interesting projects, such as the integration of the new Visa Debit card into all investment products, and the adaptation of various applications to the European MiFID 2 directive, to make them more transparent. It’s a really exciting job!”

Would you like to follow in Angèle's footsteps?

View our job offers and apply!