Man, I'm trying to change asset classes and it's been pure hell
- If you're lucky enough to get your resume picked, you're going to be speaking with an interviewer who has no idea what you do, so right off the bat communication is against you
- The interviewer is going to ask you questions about his/her asset class that you can't find from a book. then mentally assessing you vs 5 other candidates who already know the asset class.
- Some firms will make you do a takehome, which takes even more time
Any advice on changing asset classes would be appreciated
I am interested in getting tips (not that I am trying to change asset class) too.
To me, if you want to play in a different league, you just have to brute force it by knowing as much as (if not more than) competing candidates who already know the asset class. I doubt there is any other secret to it.
Even more important than answering the interviewer's technical questions -- you have to overcome the questions in the interviewer's mind: "*why* are you switching? Are you just bored of the old asset class and you'll get bored of this one too? How do I know you're committed to this? Are you switching because you were unsuccessful at your previous asset class? And why should I match your previous comp where you were an expect in your old asset class since you won't be an expert in the new one? You know what, even though you answered all my technical questions correctly, there's too many unknowns with you, so I'll play it safe and hire someone else."
I switched asset classes once. The most important thing is you need to be able to tell a plausible sounding story about why this is a natural transition. "Actually, there's a lot more overlap between my old asset class and the new one than it seems, because they both are unusually reliant on such-and-such; and my prior role I worked with the thus-and-so desk on a joint project, which is where I gained exposure to this new asset class and realized I found it more interesting. I'm obviously not as much as of an expert on it as you are, but I do understand [some buzzword about the asset class] pretty well, and there's enough overlap with my old asset class on [something they both have in common], so yeah, I think I know this class reasonably well".
If you can say that speech convincingly in the first 5 minutes of the interview, then you'll still probably mess up a lot of the technical questions that he asks, but at least now the interviewer will grade you less harshly ("well, he doesn't seem to understand XYZ, but he does seem to know the basics, so maybe I can take a chance on him...")
EDIT: on the other hand, here's the bright side -- your OP makes it clear that you have been lucky enough to get an interview a couple times, so that shows that funds are willing to consider you even if you are switching asset classes. That means it is possible and they are willing to do it, so that should give you hope and courage...
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