software industry -> financial services industry?
i have a pretty strong background in the software industry. i'm thinking about moving to the financial services industry, either immediately if i find a great opportunity, or once the current turmoil subsides and more opportunities become available.
my questions: (1) what would you consider to be the best firms out there for people from software background? and (2) do you have recommendations for headhunters who specialize in these people?
i'm interested in very well-compensated positions in the industry, both software-oriented ones and non-software ones (if i can get any!). feel free to PM me. thanks.





What do you want to do in
What do you want to do in finance? Actual finance (IBD/S&T) or more computer-related things (like risk management or ops)? If you want to get into IBD, Goldman, Morgan Stanley, Credit Suisse, and Merrill Lynch are probably the best for technology M&A. Given your knowledge of software but not M&A, you'd likely go into a coverage group.
How old are you and what is your finance experience? It will likely be difficult to go from software ->> finance overnight. You may need an MBA or an 'in' with someone at a bank where you can leverage that to move to a new position. I did meet a bunch of higher-level people at Credit Suisse who were former software engineers or worked in management at software companies who moved to banking, but I think most of them either went back for their MBA or had finance experience at the software company.
It's definitely doable but not exactly common.