not accepting spot in rates vol so I can do a masters in stats from t10

got a spot on rates swaps/vol trading desk. I accepted but might reneg because I just want to make my skills better and be able to fully perform the data analysis process from scraping to fitting to tweaking etc. yes I learned it in college, but in college everything fits perfect assumptions and data is not missing etc. Idrc about missing out on the earnings because I know the future earnings is better but if this is a really dumb decision then please let me know.

 

This sounds kinda dumb but I’m not in industry so who knows.

csnt you read some books? Been a big believer that education is a rip off public library knowledge wise 

 

have you tried kaggle competitions? I use those to work on my data chops. Tbh I get what you are saying about stats, but shouldnt you be able to develop that with practice on datasets?

 

I agree, but most hedge funds now want very good quantitative skills. I really want to be a top performer and be able to analyze all sorts of data because the edge is really analyzing as much alternative/normal data and fitting good models on it… I know for sell side and market makers it doesn’t really matter but I just want to have optionality in my life and just be more knowledge. I actually like data analysis

 

I mean do what you want man, the job environment is not great right now though so don’t assume the door that was open to you today will be open in a year when you finish a masters. If you are going to do a STEM masters the “prestige” doesn’t matter in the same way as an MBA, as it really is about what you learned. Obviously you’d want it to be a good name regardless, but being able to apply what you learn in real time on the desk is the best option. Otherwise you are shooting for the same roles with the same experience as all the other STEM/MFE grads.

 

As a math major, I strongly advise you against it. You have been given a rare opportunity so take it.

Plus, do you really think your lecturers will take the time to make you understand things step by step? No. If I were you, I would take some online courses for beginners and learn at your own pace. You won’t absorb everything during your masters degree as you will be focused on getting your coursework done, which mainly consists of stupid essays these days.

 

There are no essays in the curriculum… I also did math so I know that part lol. I’m not attached to this seat at all. I don’t care if I don’t become a rates vol trader. I want to just become the best version of myself before I enter the workforce

 
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If you want to do options market making at a prop shop or something, then that's a reason to get a grad degree to re-recruit. If you just want to do rates on the buyside, they'll look more favorably at an extra 1-2 years on a rates sell-side desk than 1-2 years getting a masters in stats.

We had an employee at our firm who wanted to do this, and we ultimately wound up accommodating that person (basically waiting for 1 year for this person to finish their masters), but it wasn't seen as beneficial. If anything, leadership was a bit annoyed and the only reason we didn't let this person go is because he was well liked prior to wanting to do his masters and it would be too much trouble going through another 3-6 month process. 

Honestly, I think the whole idea of the buyside wanting really quantitative people for rates is mostly a crock of shit. You need to be reasonably numerically fluent and have a good intuition for estimating probability distributions, but that's really it. There are only so many hours in a day/week and you can only be good at a limited number of things. Better to focus on understanding your market/product better and outsource the quant/stats/programming knowledge to someone else (as that's more commoditized anyway). 

 

I’ll say this having worked in structured products with people who have quant masters and PhDs. These people’s education did not make them better producers of P/L. The best person I worked with had a physics PhD and he was just insanely smart and creative. He learned everything about finance on the job and was a good programmer beforehand. Now I’m not saying additional formal education is useless, but rather that it might not be needed in many cases. Now there is a case to be made about branding as sort of a career hedge if things go south in the near term, but your lack of more education isn’t going to prevent you from becoming successful in the long run. 

 

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