Thanks for the input. Yes, I have another job to go to.

<t>My employer is laying off more employees. In the meanwhile, I decide to leave anyway. My question is -- should I ask my manager to lay me off or should I resign? If I ask my manager to lay me off, I can get $25,000 severance package. But HR record will show that I am laid off. I don't know whethe...

<t>What is the answer if it is a bulge bracket IB front desk quant developer (in C++, Perl, etc) vs. a mortgage insurance firm quant modeler (in statistics, SAS, etc)? I declined the offer from Goldman Sachs, but am still struggling between these two positions.My analysis is that working as a front ...

<t>The business analyst (BA) in our compay, a bulge bracket IB, is responsible for talking with the traders, understanding their needs, materialzing this in the form of requirement documentation, passing it to the IT team, and then responding back to the traders. Or retrieving data from the external...

<t>QuoteOriginally posted by: ZmeiGorynychI'd say learn matlab instead, or maybe R. The relative advantages of these two were discussed a lot in different threads in the software forums.SAS, SPSS, Stata, Eviews etc. may be good for statistics, but IMHO suck for everything else. Matlab (my personal p...

<t>QuoteOriginally posted by: movielovesell-side uses c++ and buy-side uses software. that's interesting if it's true.anyone knows the cause? i guess it is because sell-side does pricing a lot and so c++ is more powerfuland buy-side is mainly focused on data-analysis.I think you confused two things ...

<t>Which is the wise choice? I'm a Ph.D in Computer Science from a top-tier institute, and working as a Quant Developer in mortgage area in a bulge bracket investment bank in NYC. My long term goal would be doing some quantitative front desk role.Now I have two offers at hand. 1 -- Equity derivative...

<t>Some banks call desk quant as desk strategist, e.g., Goldman Sachs. This way, there is no difference. If each word points to its theoretical meaning, strategiest works on trading strategies, e.g., when to buy, hedging strategy. Analyst is too general. It can be a modeler on interest rate term str...

<t>More information is needed before I can answer this question. Which area in specific, equity, mortgage, credit? By "quantitative", how quantitative it is? How intensely will you interact with the front desk, since you said it is a IT group?QuoteOriginally posted by: BlackSwan2I was offered this r...

And there will be more and more people getting fired and desparately looking for his next job on the Street, e.g., people from Bear Stearns... So what you can do if, unfortunately, you get laid off?

<t>First of all, it is good for you to begin to look for your next job. Always keep yourself open to opportunities. Under normal situation, I would suggest you to move to your next job if you can get a decent offer, and do not use your offer to negotiate a better pay in your current company. Anyway,...

<t>I got surprised to know that you only get $200K. It seems to me that at least $250K or $300K is more reasonable for all these: (1) working on the front desk; (2) with 3+ years working experience; (3) Ph.D in engineering; (4) Master in finance; (5) very overloaded and assume quite a lot responsibi...

<t>QuoteOriginally posted by: tsqqqWhat if I need to pick up C++? Forgot most of it... How long does it take to have meaningful computing skills?You'd better pick up C++. Even though the C++ may not be needed in the position you are looking for or working with, people will still use C++ to test your...

<t>QuoteOriginally posted by: BlackSwan2The Quant I know all do a lot of codings. But it seems they have freedom to do whatever they want, like what language etc. QD ususally follow more software development methodology.This is correct. QDs usually develop in C++ and check-in code in ClearCase or us...

<t>QuoteOriginally posted by: StephenLiQuoteOriginally posted by: HinstingsThere is a list compiled by VAULT every year. From their 2008 ranking of the most prestigious banks, excluding hedge funds and commercial banks, here is a list that I think makes a lot of sense. Of course, it also depends on ...