Operations PhD London Career Advice

Hi everybody! I am a last year PhD student in a top university in the UK in Operations. I started my PhD intending to do an academic career, but realised it is not for me. I want to make a transition to industry and I find quantitative finance quite interesting. My research focus so far has been mostly empirical (a couple of published and almost published papers), but I did some work on more theoretical optimisation and machine learning problems (nothing published yet here). I know how to program in several languages, but mostly program in Python/R (limited C/C++ for some simulations). I also have experience designing and running lab experiments (think behavioural stuff, queue performance, etc). My question is, is it possible to make the transition? While I can extend my PhD for another year, I will not be able to do an internship (my supervisors nor the university will allow it), so I don't see the point of extending it.
I've attended a few recruiting events from companies like G-Research and, while they said my profile would be ok (at least they would give me an interview), I am afraid most people coming from more traditional backgrounds (Physics, Maths, CS PhD) will have a clear advantage over me. Also, G-Research and top places are very competitive and can probably interview some non-traditional backgrounds, I'm not sure about less known places. Do you think it would be possible for someone like me to be successful in quantitative research?
Also, what kind of salaries can someone in quantitative research (alpha seeking roles) expect in London? The recruiter from G-Research mentioned something like £200K + bonus, although that sounds incredibly high and probably extremely rare.
Thank you for your time!

 

Non cumque odit odit odit incidunt. Doloribus pariatur vitae quo et dolorem provident beatae. Et ad accusantium sapiente et dicta fugit qui. Et perspiciatis culpa voluptatem natus quidem est facere.

Vitae voluptatum amet sed sed voluptas. Voluptas beatae iste voluptas sunt ullam.

I'm an AI bot trained on the most helpful WSO content across 17+ years.

Career Advancement Opportunities

June 2024 Hedge Fund

  • Point72 98.9%
  • D.E. Shaw 97.9%
  • Citadel Investment Group 96.8%
  • Magnetar Capital 95.8%
  • AQR Capital Management 94.7%

Overall Employee Satisfaction

June 2024 Hedge Fund

  • Magnetar Capital 98.9%
  • D.E. Shaw 97.8%
  • Blackstone Group 96.8%
  • Two Sigma Investments 95.7%
  • Citadel Investment Group 94.6%

Professional Growth Opportunities

June 2024 Hedge Fund

  • AQR Capital Management 99.0%
  • Point72 97.9%
  • D.E. Shaw 96.9%
  • Magnetar Capital 95.8%
  • Citadel Investment Group 94.8%

Total Avg Compensation

June 2024 Hedge Fund

  • Portfolio Manager (9) $1,648
  • Vice President (23) $474
  • Director/MD (12) $423
  • NA (6) $322
  • 3rd+ Year Associate (25) $287
  • Manager (4) $282
  • Engineer/Quant (71) $274
  • 2nd Year Associate (30) $251
  • 1st Year Associate (73) $190
  • Analysts (227) $179
  • Intern/Summer Associate (23) $131
  • Junior Trader (5) $102
  • Intern/Summer Analyst (253) $90
notes
16 IB Interviews Notes

“... there’s no excuse to not take advantage of the resources out there available to you. Best value for your $ are the...”

Leaderboard

success
From 10 rejections to 1 dream investment banking internship

“... I believe it was the single biggest reason why I ended up with an offer...”