I am from the UK. Il be attending a target (UCL, if anyone here has heard of it) for a masters degree in natural sciences. Il be majoring in Physical chemistry, minoring in maths & stats. Gcses are all A's and A*s, My A level grades are AAA (math, chem, bio with an A in AS history). During my gap year i have interned at a systematic trading hedge fund (and a stratergy consultancy if it counts for anything) and for the past couple years have been learning c# and c++ and can code pretty competently in them.
My main interest is in electronic trading, but I feel as though I really shot myself in the foot by not getting an A* in maths A level (it was 1 UMS point off), doing further maths A level and ultimately studying an even more quanty degree.
My worry is that for normal s&t desks, Ill just look like a guy really interested in technology, and then on the other hand, I really doubt I have any shot for places like Jane Street and Getco due to not doing further maths/getting an a* in maths a level/doing a traditionally quanty degree. My question is, am I just stuck in the middle? What are my options?
A-Levels really don't count on this level, it's the uni brand name what matters. UCL is a target as you have also mentioned (Jane Street recruits there anyway) so you won't have a problem landing first round interviews for BB S&T.
You are also going to have a shot for the top prop trading firms as you got a good school and a quant subject on your CV. That's all they care about when they give out first rounds but truth be told I would be much rather worried about the interview process itself (particularly at JS): it's all technical, several rounds, and questions are kinda difficult (without targeted prep it will be very hard).
Thanks for your reply. Yeah, I have heard about the crazy interviews. How do you feel i fare for standard s&t roles at BB's?
I'm not sure but the word is that it will be harder to break in to S&T from a masters degree because the higher pay they are required to give you, or something like that. Again it's not 100% information and I don't know if it's true how hard would it make things.
Nevertheless, get your CV in shape by the UCL investments society, craft a good story on why trading, and just prep for interviews. If you want to go into something like derivatives (kinda like the medium complexity, not too quanty, not too qualitative), I highly recommend you buying the guide at salesandtradingcareers.com (written by an ex options trader at a BB in London) because that is basically going to cut it at every interview.
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