Serving the Quantitative Finance Community

 
User avatar
lazarus15
Topic Author
Posts: 0
Joined: April 1st, 2015, 5:06 am

Is it realistically possible to become a quant

March 2nd, 2016, 2:12 am

Hi, I would be graduating soon with a master's degree in computer science with a strong focus on machine learning. I have a decent background in probability and statistics and I am trying to learn as much as I can. I would be joining in a machine learning role at a top tier Silicon Valley company. I was wondering what my chances would be to get a job/interviews as a quant at hedge funds if I try after a year or two. I've gotten software engineer offers in the past but I am not really interested in that. The thought of doing a PhD in ML also crossed my mind but is a PhD absolutely necessary for quant jobs. A PhD is something that I would like to do, but my concern is the time commitment. If my chances are low in getting a quant job, what can I do to improve them.
 
User avatar
londoner
Posts: 1
Joined: January 28th, 2008, 2:52 am

Is it realistically possible to become a quant

March 2nd, 2016, 3:20 am

Why do you wanna work at hedge funds as a quant? You might not do more interesting work there, and the pay is highly variable or not better than the Silicon Valley.
 
User avatar
lazarus15
Topic Author
Posts: 0
Joined: April 1st, 2015, 5:06 am

Is it realistically possible to become a quant

March 2nd, 2016, 12:04 pm

QuoteOriginally posted by: londonerWhy do you wanna work at hedge funds as a quant? You might not do more interesting work there, and the pay is highly variable or not better than the Silicon Valley.The idea of working on algorithmic trading models/strategies or time series data seems more interesting and exciting than classification or clustering problems. Also I feel quant jobs would use more math and would be intellectually more challenging. The initial pay might be comparable at Silicon Valley, but it plateaus very quickly, unless you get the timing right (by joining the right company at the right time).
 
User avatar
mtsm
Posts: 78
Joined: July 28th, 2010, 1:40 pm

Is it realistically possible to become a quant

March 2nd, 2016, 2:22 pm

You are in much better shape with your background than you would be with a financial engineering background. People have a really hard time understanding that on one hand the financial derivatives industry has shrunk very dramatically post-2008. Many existing jobs deal with validation and other regulatory crap. Don't go into that space, it's dead. And on the other hand the algo trading space is a possibility, but it's quite competitive. I'd say that the problem there is that you need to be in a well-capitalized organization for this to work and then you need to be successful. It's a possibility, but there is a steep curve. I'd focus on non-finance if I were you.