Learn to code or nah?
Dear WSO,
I am a sophomore looking to get into finance like IB and PE. People say you should learn to code and understand AI stuff or you'll lag behind in the long term. What do you have to say about this? I generally agree AI will largely affect our life in the near future and so ones with a specialty in the area will be successful but I'm not sure if I really need to learn how to code (or even double major comp sci for that matter) because everyone else says you should. I want to hear what you guys think. (BTW, I do not enjoy coding and programming. Didn't love it when I tried to learn C by myself)
Thanks!
Coding is not relevant in an IB/PE context beyond MAYBE writing a VBA macro. I wouldn’t waste your time on it beyond getting your feet wet. Would put that time toward networking instead.
Thank you very much.
Learn to code. You are a soph in college. Why wouldn't you pick up the most important skill for the next 25 years? Sure - it's not directly relevant to IB/PE, but god I hope you aren't in IB/PE for the rest of your life. Also why would you learn C as your first language??? Learn Python.
If you are here wanting an echo chamber of people telling you not to code, then this is not it. Learn to code - suck it up
Hey, thanks for the response. And yeah I guess trying C first instead of Python was a mistake lol. Anyways, they say coding is the most important skill like you did but I'm not really convinced by that particular narrative. There will always be experts in coding and programming stuff so I guess learning to code in my spare time won't really provide me with that significant edge. Don't know maybe in 20 years coding will be something every employer will require but I doubt so. I'll sleep on it thanks!
I really urge to actually start coding and you will see that it isn't as black and white as you make it out to seem. Of course you won't ever code a full app or ML algo to solve the markets, but there're so many small applications and problems that can be much easily done with a simple python script. In my past two internships alone, I've been able to distinguish myself from others this way. Finally, you're only a sophomore. You have so much uncharted territory left with your career, so why not make this relatively simple investment?
Learning to code is important, but knowing how to solve questions are more important, you can pick up the language in a day but start with python first though cuz it's pretty much English so it's more hands-on.
Current junior going to be interning at in IB at a BB this summer. If you are interested in IB focus on doing what you can for that role. Network, get relevant internships, read books on finance, learn to model, follow finance news, ect before learning to code. Coding won’t help you in IB so focus on getting to your goal. After you get your goal, sure maybe some coding could be good. Personally am taking coding classes now that I have an internship.
I’m not sure what you would fall behind on with not knowing how to code. There isn’t much use for coding in IB if IB is your long term goal. If you have any future interest in going into the tech industry it definitely can’t hurt getting ahead now. Would agree with the posts above that you might want to get more essential stuff out of the way first before you take on learning something like Python. Definitely can’t hurt to know how to do it, can be super useful, just not sure how much I agree with the idea that you will fall behind long term without it.
I will try and give a different perspective here.
1) What do you think the response of most people in Sales & Trading would have been if a person EXACTLY in your position but aiming to go down the S&T route had been asked this question in 2005?
2) Sales & Trading, Advertising, (Strategy) Consulting have, are and will be undergoing serious changes - ALL of these areas used to or still do pride themselves on being relationship heavy. Oh, right....
3) How long do you think your career span will be and what portion of it do you expect to be in IB/PE, realistically?
4) What do you lose by hedging yourself? The issue is not “learning to code”. The issue is that in mature markets like US and UK, it is very difficult to be an inter-disciplinary professional. Ideally, you’d major in CompSci, work as an SDE, DS or something and then move into IB/PE/Consulting without an MBA. You then get to experience it and decide whether your operational expertise translates well and if you wish to continue.
Anyway, this topic deserves a complete thread.
Good luck!
Hey thanks for your input! I'm not sure I follow your S&T logic tho. But for now, I have no interest in starting in a tech-related field, definitely I wanna start from finance but heck who knows I might later wanna start/join a VC that focuses on AI stuff. Thanks!
No problem. What I mean by the S&T point is this: back in 2005 or so most S&T professionals would have played down the value of learning to code. They would have said that their roles are: relationship based and there is no technology/not enough technological advancement to automate significant parts of their jobs.
My point is that technological advancements move very rapidly and anyone who says that IB/PE is impervious to it is primarily basing it on their impression* of the current** technology available.
*impression: this is important because most people on this forum have not studied CompSci and the few who have minored in it, have not worked on any Digital Transformation projects with Cognitive Overlay. Hence, they are reliant purely on secondary information, op-eds, etc.This is why I talked about the lack of inter-disciplinary professionals - people who have gone the CS (FT experience, not just degree) to IB/PE/CONS route will be able to tell you better.
**current: this may rapidly evolve to lead to a culling of the ranks, or it may not. No one knows with certainty but what we do know is that there are examples aplenty of other areas/sectors/industries. What may not look commoditise-able one year (e.g. S&T a decade ago) may start looking not so impervious soon after.
Coding can be a very practical skill. Start with a language that has extensive library support like node.js or python.
That being said, AI/ML is largely a meme, and most of the applications I've seen of it are inefficient, expensive solutions to problems with deterministic solutions. ML is in many ways an intellectually lazy way for people with bad understanding of problems to try to solve them.
There are some brilliant applications of both. Chatbot technology is impressive at both Google and AWS. Facial recognition tech has come a huge way. Image segmentation was an unsolved problem at the start of the decade and now we can do quite complex realtime segmentation. But overall there are few pioneering AI/ML companies, and they all heavily leverage PhDs. Do not spend your time here.
I wouldn't waste my time on it. IB / PE doesnt require coding and if you switch jobs after that, you're not going to be recruited for your coding abilities. Besides, if you're learning it on the side, you'll be below average at best.
You're going to work 80 hour weeks in IB, use this time better i.e. learn a new language, travel, go on dates or pursue personal interests.
Ahhh good question! There's roughly 250 decent PE jobs post MBA yearly. If you think you can snag one of them, no need to learn how to code. If not... hmm, seems like every job these days requires some sort of familiarity!
optionality is always important. People think they want to do X, only to get to X and find out X sucks. Or they may fail to get to X after all. Point is, college is when you can pick up a multiplicity of skills that can make you valuable in the future. To that end, don't just take A coding class. Take several coding classes. Study Mandarin too while you're at it. Get a diverse toolbox because you really have no idea what your future is going to look like and what skills you need. CS is great because it opens up many doors - including VC, PE, software buyouts (staff that guy, he knows a bit about code), etc. In this game you need to be able to stand out, and varied skills will help you. And let's say you don't get your peach IBD job, or get laid off. Then what? Picking up a coding gig here or there could pay some bills. Plus you may fall in love with coding and it would open up new horizons.
Delectus sequi perferendis natus quia. Dolorum corporis quia sed qui enim modi ut.
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