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 | | | | What will I be doing? There are a variety of roles at American Express, your specific role will depend upon both your own aspirations and the needs of the business: - Analyst Programmer - Designs and builds software applications in support of business needs on a variety of technical platforms.
- Business Analyst - Works with colleagues in business units to understand business needs and develop the logical design of business solutions.
- Project Manager - Manages technology projects from the identification of business needs through to the implementation of a business solution.
Take a look at what some of our current graduates are doing...
Sophia Rainford My name is Sophia Rainford and I graduated from the University of Kent in 2007 with a first class honors degree in Philosophy and Computing. I applied for the technologies graduate scheme in my final year of my undergraduate degree and was successfully offered a place on the scheme in September 2007. The scheme provides me with real hands on experience in a variety of technology related roles while at the same time allowing me to continue to pursue my passion for the academic world by studying for a MSc in Human Centered Computer Systems at the University of Sussex.
The first role I performed at American Express was as a Business Analyst on a delivery project in the Merchant Services International team. During my time in this role I developed a variety of skills vital to the success of any project such as the ability to effectively chair and minute meetings. After my first four months in the team I was given the opportunity to travel to New York for the start of a new project where I met a number of influential business partners. My initial role on the project was as a Business Analyst. As my confidence grew and the opportunities presented themselves to me I was able to take on a Project Management role, overseeing a top initiative which spanned across several work streams.
After spending 12 months in my team I decided that the time was right to experience a different part of the American Express organisation. Having had a taste of two different roles, I was eager for a new role which combined the skills I had learnt as a Project Manager while at the same time allowing me to continue to remain technical. I have now secured my second assignment rotation in Global Network Services Technologies as an Advanced Payment Analyst and am looking forward to the new challenges ahead. Since joining the American Express technologies graduate scheme I have developed a number of key leadership and delivery skills which will stay with me throughout my career. Studying for a MSc has allowed me to be more creative and innovative in my everyday job as I am able to see how the academic world can benefit the industry. At the end of the two years I will have two years experience in three different technical roles within a Blue Chip organisation, a MSc in Human Centred Computer Systems as well as the development of a number of soft skills which will be vital to my success in the future.
Jeremy Rosenberg My name is Jeremy Rosenberg and I graduated from the University of Nottingham in 2008 with a BSc in Psychology and Cognitive Neuroscience as a mature student. I started working for American Express as part of the graduate programme in September 2008.
My first, and current, role is to carry out research for the Strategy and Solutions Development team, essentially looking at innovative and new technology and how this might be used by American Express to improve its Merchant (the businesses who accept American Express cards) business. This is a really interesting area which covers topics such as social networking and mobile technology, areas I never thought I would be involved with in this job.
I've had a very positive experience at American Express, despite it being a large international company they have a very good reputation when it comes to looking after their employees. I have had a lot of support from my team, when it comes to agreeing what projects I'll be working on and how this fits around my university work and lectures. There is also a large support network from other people on the programme and graduates from previous years who still work at the company. This means there is a lot of understanding within the company around our development and there are always people there to offer help and advice.
Catriona Hamilton My name is Catriona Hamilton and I graduated from Edinburgh University in 2004 with a BSc Hons in Computer Science and Management Science. I started working for American Express as part of the graduate programme in September 2004.
Since joining American Express I have worked in both the development and operations environments. My first role was as a Business Analyst in the Interactive web development team where I learnt a number of skills, from interpreting business requirements, how to incorporate the latest technologies into the existing architecture, to running a project team.
After spending 18 months in Interactive I decided I wanted to broaden my experience and venture into the Operations side of the organisation. I worked in the Infrastructure & Maintenance team for 6 months as a Program Manager, overseeing a number of initiatives designed to improve the stability of American Express's operating environment. At the end of the 2 years I am happy to say I was offered a permanent job as a Project Specialist in the Infrastructure & Maintenance team and am thoroughly enjoying the ever changing world of Operations. As well as obtaining my Masters in Information Technology for E-commerce, I have, with the support of American Express, also been able to work towards and gain professional certifications including; Sun Certified Java v5.0 programmer and ITIL Green badge.
Sanjay Singh My name is Sanjay Singh and I graduated from Bristol University in 2005 with a BEng (Hons) in Electronics Engineering. I started working for American Express in September 2006. My first assignment at American Express was as an Application Developer for stand-alone applications made for call centers. I really enjoyed this role as I worked in a small team as it fully utilized the technical and programming skills that I learnt at university. After four months I was able to change my role to become a Network Engineer. This provided me with the opportunity to broaden my skills and learn about new technologies in other areas. One of the best parts about my role is that I get a chance to try out new systems and analyze its impact on the American Express environment. In this role I have had the chance to work on big infrastructure projects, one of which was to provide voice and data capabilities to a brand new American Express building recently opened in Brighton that uses new technology to save considerable costs. Since joining American Express I have also successfully gained a CCNA (Industry standard Networking certification) and I'm currently working on attaining the Java Certification. The benefit of this scheme is that after two years at American Express combined with MSc in Information Technology you will be able to stand out from other candidates when applying for positions.
Lizzie Brown My name is Lizzie Brown and I joined the American Express UK Technologies Masters scheme in 2006 after graduating from the University of Sussex, with a degree in Experimental Psychology BCs Hons. I knew that the programme was right for me as it provided the opportunity to gain hands on work experience within a global organisation, in addition to continuing my academic development to a Masters level.
My first role was as a Business Systems Analyst in the Strategy and Solution Definition team where I was actively involved in a number of International projects. Whilst in the team I was given the opportunity to travel to Canada and present a technical solution to the senior Business sponsors which was a fantastic and exciting experience. When working on another project I also attended a meeting in Paris to gather compulsory legal and compliance requirements from the French Tax Authorities. This was a very serious matter and I was given the responsibility to be the single point of contact to represent the development team which was a challenging, yet rewarding experience.
After 12 months I was ready for a new challenge in a different role so I joined a group called International Payments as a Program Manager. In this role I was responsible for overseeing a number of projects, managing Business partner requirements and funding for website enhancements across EMEA. I was in this role for 6 months before I took on my next challenge as a full time employee.
I am proud to say that I was offered a permanent job as a Senior Business Systems Analyst in Global Merchant Services at the start of 2008, and have since completed my Masters in Human Centered Computer Systems. I thrive on the working environment at American Express Technologies as it is dynamic, fast paced and exciting. There are a great number of opportunities to get involved in and the people are supportive and encouraging. Question
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