Trading tech/Quant Career path
So, with IB and most other FO roles, there seems to be many cookie cutter career paths that you can easily search. However, I cannot seem to find anything for a career paths in the trading tech/quant strats. If say you were to get an internship in one of these type of roles during undergrad (think two sigma, DE Shaw, Millennium, Citadel, Point72), what kind of roles/jobs would you expect one after the other (grad then say 3-5 years then 10+ years)?
I assume it's still pretty wide open because of the nature of technology, but im curious nonetheless.
Unlike the traditional IB->PE->business school->hedge fund path you read about a lot here, if you're doing well in quant finance, you don't really need/want to move at all. Occasionally you see people move from one firm to another, but that's usually only if they have some compelling reason to (they hate their manager at the old firm, the new firm is paying above market rate for experienced talent to build its desk in x product, etc.). That being said you have decent "exit ops" if you wanted them, but largely less in finance--the data/software skillset you acquire is in large demand at tons of companies now days. But if you're doing well, your firm will compensate you extremely well and there's no better "track" to be on.
Within the firm if you stay a while it really depends firm-to-firm. Some are more hierarchical in nature but some are flatter.
You could just go up the ranks on the desk the same way a non quant trader would. PM or strategist just with quant methods. Exit ops can be pretty much anything. A math and programming skill set is probably the most versatile foundation to have across all industries right now. Any fin tech startup would need people like that.
Thanks for the response guys. I guess I will have to see after this summer which path best suits me. What if the internship was less about trading, but more about the trading platform?
quant trading career advice (Originally Posted: 02/16/2010)
I was graduated from one of the top schools with MS in Numerical Math, during my masters I worked on developing a library of numerical methods, mostly dealing with PDEs (c/c++ and fortran). I have good knowledge of statistical analysis, worked with time series (mostly weather forecasting models). I was part-time developer of corporate software (databases/erp-systems) and eventually worked as a system integrator for a big multinational corporation(). After the graduation I tried to land a job in finance but without much success – it was 2007, investment banks only started opening offices here in Moscow, I got a couple of interviews with major IB but they didn’t hire anyone (well maybe they did but that’s what I heard). Now I want to give it a 2nd shot. As I have more financial freedom now, I’ll gladly accept even unpaid internship to make transition smoother. My ideal position would be in quant trading but here in Moscow we don’t have hedge funds, presence of IBs is very limited and the whole finance industry is not very well developed (no entry-level positions). I believe I can get work permit in UK (I can score enough to qualify for the point-based immigration program), so can I realistically expect to get a job?
My strongest skill is Math, so maybe I shall try applying for quant developers positions?i’ve read a couple of books – Mark Joshis’ books, Wilmott on Quant Finance, Hull’s Derivatives, Fabozzi’s Fixed income so I’m familiar with the subject. As I said unpaid internships are also perfectly fine with me. Or shall I take a chance on prop trading?? I’m still quite young - 24 years old
bump
you're in the wrong place for quant trading advice. this forum is geared toward ibanking types
I would recommend you check out wilmott.com. It's a lot more useful if you're into quantitative stuff.
Anyways, here are a few observations from when I went through FT recruiting last semester: There are 2 kinds of quants. Support quants who build models that provide analytics to traders, PMs e.t.c, and Front Office quants, who build algorithms that trade or use quantitative analysis to form discretionary trading judgments. The latter, which it seems you're more interested in, usually require either advanced knowledge of CS algorithms, a phd in a quant field, or extremely good math skills. If you leverage your math skills and show sufficient interest in finance, it should be possible.
Also, can't go wrong with Joshi and Wilmott. Just wanted to throw thisone more book into the mix if you haven't read it already. Since you want to do trading, I think it might be useful.
As well as Quantnet.
Generally, to get into quant trading at the BB I work for, you need to have a PhD in Math, Physics, CS, Econ, or Finance. If you're truly exceptional, maybe you can get in with an MFE after several years of work as a financial engineer.
Check out nuclear phynance as well--it might be helpful.
Any advice to aspiring/job hunting/prospective quant traders about to graduate from college? (Originally Posted: 08/16/2016)
There's a LOT of advice out there about trading. It tells you how to select securities, when to short, and so on. But there's a downside to having so much advice, you don't know what to follow.Some of the questions a relative newbie like me could have :
IS it good to have a Bloomberg Terminal certification? Should you have written a trading algorithm before applying for full time? How many should you have written ? In what language? Is there any preference of programming language among the HFT community? How stupid is it to write a speculative trading algorithm? Where should you implement that algorithm? Brokerage of choice? How do you make sure it impresses a propreitary trading firm? Last but not the least, how hard is it to switch from trading to IB?
That's a lot of doubt, and there are tons of answers for all of them online. But it will be really helpful if the experienced community here could throw some light on some of these questions.
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