QuoteOriginally posted by: davidnQ: just out of interest davidn, how much c++ programming (years) have you got under your belt ? A: <1Q: how would you class yourself programming wise (intermediate / expert / world class ) ?A: Intermediate with great potential. I've written CAD and CAE models for years and am world class in that realm.Q: have you tried for quant developer roles, roles that are more biased towards programming / integration of quant models ?A: yes.Q: how many interviews have you had ?A: zero.Q: have you read and studied the likes of Mark joshi's / wilmott's books ?A: avidly.Q: did you graduate from a so called ivy league uni (i guess this only matters "sometimes" for getting an interview) ?A: nope, graduated from the anti-physics school , i.e., school of cold fusion, University of Utah. BS in Mechanical Engineering.
http://topdocumentaryfilms.com/heavy-wa ... d-fusion/I took the CQF out of a great interest and on my own dime. I'm not at all diappointed in the material or delivery. It was wonderful. I'd do it again in a heartbeat. I knew it would be a long shot to actually get a job and obviously my timing could have been better. I hoped for at least a head nod, though. I haven't lost all hope, but reality is beginning to set in. I've started applying for the 120k+ USD/yr engineering positions I'm well qualified for in addition to the $70,000 positions in model development and trading support. I still hope I land a job in the industry as it'll be easier to log that first 10,000 hours with it as my day job, versus a hobby and outlet for risk taking.davidnthanks. from what i've seen the only doors that are open with someone with your background (good knowledge of quant fin) are those with good c++ skills. i've even seen jobs asking for no finance knowledge but good math and c++. i've never seen any jobs just wanting quant math for a long time. see alexsdad comment on the basics needed, c++ basicswould be good if you could back up your c++ with some implementations (some open source app or trading app using excel and yahoo.finance or those computer projects from joshi's book )also if you can make that sort of money doing mech eng, why bother with it, just do it as a hobby, see if you can beat the market armed with your CQF knowledge.