From Product Engineer, through Quant and Business Analyst to becoming a Solution Engineer - navigating the IT career with Slawomir Kleeb

03.10.2024, 06:66
with Slawomir Kleeb & Greg Tomasik

 

Your professional experience shows quite some variety. Would you mind walking us through it and how each step led to another?

I can imagine one would think that. Especially when would you see my full CV. It started very early with building models. Planes, gliders, kites. And not just building them, but taking part in competition. Or maybe even earlier when I started to drive tractors at my parent's farm. Since we were living in a town and farming on the countryside, I was lucky to attend a very good primary school. Module building workshop was in the same building where we had a flat. Adding to the luck, my primary school had chemistry teacher being the best in voivodeship (polish name for state or canton). So of course (because I have no idea anymore why) I started extra classes on chemistry, physics and mathematics.

Year 1994 resulted in polish champion title in time flight of rockets and being in the 4th place in chemistry Olympics. From there it went further in playing with chemistry, physics, models and tractors. Till I went studying. I wanted both physics and chemistry, so I ended up on medical physics. Always having fun. Then in third year I was so fascinated with experimental physics, that my future diploma professor contacted me if I would like to do research with him. The trick was to change specialization into solid state physics. So i did. Then started fascination with coding just to get things done more accurate and faster.

This brought me to Switzerland. And again I came to code in C++ and ended up learning how to code in Matlab. And then came back after finishing my Masters in Poland, for a Doctorate studies in Switzerland. Yes, Doctorate not a PhD, because ETH Zurich does not have rights to give you Philosophe Doctorae title. As always, I did not care. Only fun matters. And after all that, I just realized something. All that fun was because I love to learn new things. And I love to solve Problems. And I am not good at postulating Problems. Guess what: a good scientist needs more of the latter. Being also fed up with night shifts and beam-times and working in labs without sunlight (synchrotron business…) and playing in a mixed volleyball team in Switzerland, I have chosen to try something else. I thought finance would be complete opposite. Almost got hired in a private equity fund. But ended up in ABB Semiconductors. That was pure heaven for my analytics soul. So much that I ended up creating tools in Excel for others, taking over Databases in Access. Specializing in legacy systems. I just can read any code in any language.

This brought me to a realization: I am born analyst and data is everything. From there, it was just easy to switch. The only problem is to convince your potential boss that this is not a problem. So from there I took over a legacy reporting system by Credit Suisse. Till they finally started to implement a new one. Where would not need someone like me. Then came SUVA. A lot of SQL and C#, and XLST and SWIFT (the financial message, the language came later - many recruiters still do not get the difference). Plus there was an issue: commute was huge and the boss of my boss did not believe in home office. So I switched to Lenzburg and IT. Hahaha you read it correct.

After all those years, I have finally ended up in an IT department. I am neither physicist (although educated as one) nor IT guy (although what I do since all those years is IT). I am an analyst. From Lenzburg I switched back to my boss from Lenzburg. Because he left and first I though one person does not change anything. I was wrong. So in doubts, there are no doubts. In the meantime, I was full working in compliance of finance. On IT side. Because of my boss, I started to work as ITSM in a small spin-off company. And when he quit, I decided to learn my lessons and switch too. From being everything, like ITSM in a small company does everything (pc support, coding, DevOps, client contact, triage of tickets, working with product owners etc), to ITSM solution engineer. Till the best job ever. I would not do it from the beginning. But what I am doing now, is combining all the experience and knowledge I have gathered. You have an ITSM system from one of the top suppliers. And it runs within an organization of 40k employees within 70 sub-companies. My group is around 10 people, being responsible only for the ITSM system.

I am born analyst, it is just like switching from one batch of datasets to another. So I just wanted to try something completely different from science. And have fun.

 

Which role was most fun & enjoyable so far?

Of course, the last one. Because the more I learn, the more fun it gets. But it was every single one of them. At the time. Because our life is like a Markov chain. You cannot do what you do now without all things you did previously. Sometimes there are also some funny coincidences.

Or maybe they are not coincidences. So I remember at ABB we had a looking for a better system for control of production. So since we had SAP and some MS Access homemade database with tones of excels (ok there was cornerstone and minitab but only for the numerical data and not for some strange manual rejects), the natural choice was to ask SAP for advice. SAP suggested Business Objects.

The presentation was from guys who recently bought by SAP together with the tool. ABB decided not to buy it. And then I have forgotten it. But now since February 2024 I am learning Business Objects, just because I need to migrate it to BMC Dashboards. It was very often like that. I have started learning to code at high school. I did 2 semesters of C/C++ at the first year of studies. Then forgot it for two years.

The same with German. I hated learning spoken languages. German was forced on me as a second language. I said I will never use it. And 30 years later, I am living in the German part of Switzerland. Working every day in German. You never know what of you have learned, will be useful and when. And you still need to decide what to do.

I have always used actual cases. I have learned how to setup and administer Linux just because I did not have money for a router and got a free switch from a colleague. We had already three Windows computers at home, and it was a pain to always keep one running for the internet DSL modem. Not a Problem nowadays - you get a wifi ADSL modem from any provider for free. But the knowledge of Linux was useful. Last year I needed to set up discovery appliance from Linux image. So to get it up into network I have used my 22 years old skills.

I have learned how to code XLST at SUVA, just because the only guy who knew it was on vacation, and it was urgent. Credit Suisse could not agree with UBS how to swift Hongkong Yuan. Ok, it would not be a problem nowadays. Although, the biggest fun individual task I would list is the investment reporting platform (CAIRE) at Credit Suisse. Made from scratch was using own language. You could not google it. So I took all the code I found (120’000 lines) and learned the language.

In the end, I have created a C# library which was generating a script in the language from GUI used by client advisors. It was boring to keep doing some monkey work for them by moving some tables and charts around in those reports. There are multiple dimensions. Always. The most fun role, task, achievement, group, boss.

 

What were the core skills that were most transferable between different industries and jobs?

Analytics, adaptation, programming

Analytics. Ease of learning new things, analyzing new data, new system. And the most important, extrapolating your existing knowledge into new cases. This is what helped me during studies in Poland. Whenever I did not know the answer, I would elaborate and use different fields of physics to try to answer the question. At that time we had like always oral exams and sometimes written. So question answer type of thing. And this is actually adaption already. Never give up. Try different approaches to a given problem. Do not be scared of failures.

As JFK said, “we have chosen to go to the moon and do other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard”. Have the goal in focus, but do not forget that life is a marathon, not a sprint. Be prepared for the future, even if it is unknown. Learn how to waste time. Without wasting time, you will not learn efficiency. This is where we come to programming.

Computer is such a great invention. And still so many people use it in such a primitive way. I have seen things in my life. You do not want to hear them. And in fact, I am not allowed to talk about them. Trade secret is taken seriously in Switzerland. Generally speaking, people use computers as hammers. Literally. I find it a petty. So i got an automation and efficiency fanatic. But also because since I remember I always had more to do then I had time.

So you learn to prioritize, automate and optimize processes. And everything is a process. Loading dishwasher, baking bread, processing emails etc. I have realized my brain works like after 3 times doing the same things it wants to get rid of it. Plus, I have learned a lot of languages. I mean a lot. Like, I can speak in four languages, but I can code in more than 20. Ok, it depends on how you count them. But for me C, C++ and C# are as different languages as python or java. Or better say they are more like dialects rather than languages. Maybe twenty-two years in Switzerland thought me that.

 

How does a work of a Quant Analyst differ from a Business Analyst also working in a Bank?

It depends on the definition and the way how I was doing the job. I am not a person who is fixed on my job description. So I can imagine I have never worked as a pure business analyst. And as a quant I have worked in back office. This is already a very special job. It was more of an automation, optimization, support role with both business and IT skills needed. Less focused on pure quantitative analysis, as the term was meant to be.

And I was working as a quant analyst in an asset manager and not a bank. And as a BA in a Bank, being also core banking system provider. Somehow, nothing in those both companies and roles was as it was meant to be. And in the Bank in the end I took over my Boss systems when he left, just because no one else was willing to, so they needed to give me the developer tools. And in the end, they get rid of those systems after I left.

Somehow in the industry, it is easier to get a new system instead of learning an old one. Therefore, not a lot of people will understand the feature I have. This is one of the difficulties I have in looking for jobs. I need to find a potential boss willing to believe and trust or even understand the potential. And then just give me the rights. Which rights you may ask? ALL OF THEM. Because in the end I will get them. I always do. So just do not waste your time on me needing to get them.

 

What exactly is the job of an ITSM Solution Engineer?

I am lucky to have a boss who hired me for the potential, not for a specif task. So I am his deputy in being product owner. I do requirement engineering. But more technical as he does it. So here I am also working on solutions. ITSM architecture if like. And since we use ITSM in full ITIL way, including CMDB, there is a lot of coordination between groups and departments. We are using an OOTB system with customizations if needed, so there is a lot of coordination between supplier and our needs. There are new features, migrations, quality assurance, analytics. I do not mind making my hands dirty. Last but not least, topic of automation. As much as possible. Everywhere it is possible. 

 

How does working at corporate compare to working at startup and working at a local government office?

I do not see any difference. Of course, there are technicalities. Although limitations in public sector do not differ to regulations of a private company. Swiss financial sector is regulated in one way, manufacturing industry differently. Public sector has other rules to obey. It is like a different language. You just need to know which language we want to speak, and the rest is clear.

You can always make it complicated. But I prefer to keep it simple. Like with home office. I was doing hybrid work staring from Credit Suisse. Before Citrix was implemented, I had a desktop machine at the office and laptop to move around. Since my reports needed constant connection to the corporate network and some of them took 12 hours, I was using my desktop as you use VM nowadays and my laptop was accessing it.

Instead of working long, I was just checking from time to time. Independent of where: office, train, home, car. I could keep my work-life-balance great. Maybe it was less visible to my bosses, but I did not care. They never asked why my working hours were so strange. The results were in focus.

 

What would you suggest to tech graduates who are planning out their career currently?

Firstly have fun. Learn. If you have to force yourself to get up on Monday and go to work, change the job. Life is too precious to waste it on stupidity. It is less important which language you learn, they all look the same. In the end. I have learned Turbo Pascal at school, C/C++ at the university. Early trials with Databases and SQL. Then came Matlab, VBA, C#, batch, bash, PowerShell, Python, XSLT, JSON, JS… Each of them has its own story. Applications I cannot even list anymore. Or I do not want to. It would be too long.

 

How did the analytics landscape change during your career, what trends are you seeing now?

More calculation power, but bigger datasets. Although I had 1.2 GB data Files 20 years ago. So it is not that different. Tools are better and easier to access. 20+ years ago you could not use, download or install anything. Now, PowerShell is part of Windows. No need to have windows and Linux in parallel. Plus virtual machines. Things you could only do as a geek, are now accessible to masses. AI is exploding because of that. I can imagine blockchain and crypto farms opened the path for extensive use of computer clusters. I think automation will be pushed further. And I am talking real automation. Like currently, I am migrating Business Objects into BMC Dashboards. Meaning T-SQL to JDBC SQL. It is clear what is the difference, I have all the sources to automate it. It just does not pay to do it for one time migration. And still I was looking for missing characters. I want automation where I do not need to type SQL anymore. AI is still far away from stealing my job. And I still need to improve its SQL.

But I see great potential in automation. And it is needed every. And yes, the current AI is not easy to use in places different from it is now. Not yet. But it will come. Pattern recognition algorithms are finally getting close to our brain capabilities. A lot of manual labor is still done by humans because of that. Humans are doing better decisions. Plus, it is too expensive to automate. Automation is bringing risks. So the secret lies in automating in such a way that you can monitor and control it. And adapt if needed. A lot of managers forget, or maybe have never learned, the DMAIC. Define Measure Analyze Implement Control. What is very often ignored is Control. You spent the time and money and implement it into production and never control the output. 

 

Disclaimer: This interview contains some AI-generated pictures. We can assure you that no GPU was harmed during prompt testing.

 

---

 

Slawomir Kleeb is an experienced analyst who enjoys tackling complex data challenges. With a background in both IT and business, he has worked with various tools and programming languages, including SQL, C++, and Python. His career spans roles as a Quant Analyst and Business Analyst, providing him with valuable insights into compliance and financial systems. Slawomir’s genuine curiosity drives his problem-solving approach, seeing each challenge as an opportunity to learn and grow.

 

Greg Tomasik, Co-Founder & CTO at SwissDevJobs.ch, GermanTechJobs.de & DevITjobs.uk. A Software Engineer with over 8 years of experience working at international companies. Involved in the recruiting industry since 2018, focusing on building transparent job boards for tech talents.