How One Portfolio Manager Pivoted to AI-Powered Fintech: Erick’s Journey

The finance world moves almost as quickly as tech. But for Erick Alvarez, a portfolio manager at an asset management firm, speed wasn't the issue, but the routine.

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"I did a little bit of code in finance, and I honestly just wanted a lifestyle change, to jump ship and go into tech," he explains. While many might have pursued a traditional computer science degree, Erick had already tasted success in finance. The pull toward tech wasn't about escaping what he knew, but combining it with something new.

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After graduating Codesmith’s Software Engineer + AI/ML Immersive this is precisely what he is doing now as a software engineer at an AI-focused fintech company in New York.

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Choosing Codesmith Over College

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"I was deciding between going down the finance or the tech route, and I was just getting more success in finance. I just opted to go down that route.”

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But it was the intersection between the two fields that really fascinated him. "I've always been interested in finance and in money. That sounds crass. But it's really interesting to learn about the markets, interest rates, how things are changing on a macro level, how that impacts people on a macro level, and seeing how that's automated or changed over time with the change in technology."

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Instead of spending years in a degree program, Erick chose a different path. Friends who had attended Codesmith shared their experiences of using the program to fast-track their career change as well as their job search success stories. 

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"It worked out for them so I thought, 'Hey, I'm willing to put in the work. Hopefully it'll work out for me’, " he says.

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The Reality Check: Job Hunting in a Tough Market

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Graduating from Codesmith’s Software Engineering + AI/ML Immersive in August of last year meant entering one of the most challenging job markets for software engineers in recent memory. The honeymoon period was brief.

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"It was pretty tough. I took a month's break first and then got back on it. I picked up a contract role that I heard about through a friend's post on Instagram. They were reposting it from someone else themselves, so definitely the network effect there."

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That contract role lasted four to five months before the company ran out of funding. Erick was back to square one. 

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What followed was another two-month search, complicated by a costly mistake: "I spent six weeks working with an external career coaching company who said they'd automate the process of sending out applications and networking for me. The reality was, they didn't do much of a better job than I could have done myself."

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But that contract role wasn't wasted time. "The contract role gave me experience working with AI—RAG, Vector Databases, and how AI works on a high level—and that familiarity really helped in the interviews with my new role."

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The Gauntlet: Six Interviews and Counting

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Landing his current position as a software engineer at an AI-driven fintech company required running a marathon, not a sprint.

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"It was difficult. One of the most difficult things I've done in my life, just from the amount of persistence and resilience needed," Erick recalls. 

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The interview process stretched across 6 or 7 sessions: phone screen, technical interview, and a final round of four interviews, plus additional conversations with key company figures.

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What set him apart wasn't just technical skill. "In regards to what sold me as a person, my attitude, I'm really eager to work and to build something and to learn and to collaborate. That attitude really shines through. And just being authentic, I'm here to work. I'm here to learn. I'm excited about things that are changing."

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Where Finance Meets Code

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His new role tackles a problem he understands intimately. The company works with private equity funds to improve their data analysis.

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"We work with private equity funds to automate and optimize their research process. So if you're a private equity firm and you're looking for different deals, part of the nature of working with private companies is that a lot of their metrics aren't really standardized."

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Unlike public companies with regulated reporting standards, private companies present a data puzzle. 

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"The result takes a lot of time to sift through what's available—earnings calls and other metrics, for example—and package them for comparison to other companies. So a company can look at the data side by side and decide what to invest resources in."

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His finance background proved invaluable, though the interviews remained heavily technical. "They were primarily tech-focused, 85% tech to 15% finance. They asked 'What's your experience with portfolio management, what did your previous role entail, and what did you learn there?'"

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Building Beyond the Bootcamp

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Erick’s Open Source Project (OSP), moleQLar, from Codesmith focused on GraphQL visualization - taking PostgreSQL databases and automatically generating visual schemas plus resolvers. 

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But while job hunting, Erick didn't sit idle. He pushed further by building another product.

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"I haven't finished it, but essentially it's a tool that allows for automation or speeding up the design system creation process in Figma." The project evolved into a browser-based UI for creating design systems, complete with a Figma plugin for seamless integration.

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These projects showcased initiative, but more importantly, they demonstrated his ability to identify real problems and build solutions.

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The Art of Negotiation

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When the offer came, Erick didn't just accept it. He reached out to Codesmith’s Eric Kirsten for negotiation advice. The guidance was simple: "Just to make sure you're not leaving anything on the table. If they say no then you don't leave anything on the table."

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The conversation took an interesting turn. When asked for more equity at startup rates, the company explained his request was "more for a very senior role." Erick pivoted: "So I asked if they would be able to make up for the difference in the equity with a salary bump, and they offered me a 7% increase." He ended up with an offer for $160,000.

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The Real Secret: Relationships Over Applications

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After sending out over 250 applications, with six emails per application, and tracking them across two different systems, Erick discovered what actually worked.

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"The biggest change that helped was to lean on building relationships with people. I just stopped sending out applications and pivoted to relationships first and foremost. Even if a company didn't have any openings, I'd look to build a relationship before asking about jobs."

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His successful application came through Y Combinator's Work at a Startup platform—a resource he learned about through Codesmith. But getting noticed among over a thousand applicants required strategy. "I followed up with an email to the hiring manager twice more. It's really just being persistent. Follow ups were the leading cause of any interviews I got."

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Full Circle

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Today, Erick works as a software engineer with a front-end focus, though he expects to touch backend systems too. 

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"I like the front end more because it's easier to see the benefits of the work that you put in,” he says. “But, I like having familiarity across the stack."

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His journey from portfolio manager to software engineer wasn't just a career change, but a strategic pivot that leveraged his existing expertise while building new capacities.

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Ready to make your own career pivot? Learn more about Codesmith's Software Engineer + AI/ML Immersive and join a community that supports your transformation from day one.

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