A master degree in Finance, and two years' working experience in market risk management. So what can be my career path?Some choices appear in my mind:1. Go to read a master of finance and become a quant? or 2. Keep working for more years, and become a risk manager? or3. Find some chance to go to front office?Which is proper?

QuoteOriginally posted by: WellfrogA master degree in Finance, and two years' working experience in market risk management. So what can be my career path?Some choices appear in my mind:1. Go to read a master of finance and become a quant?I'm confused.You say you already have a master's in finance and now you want to go and do another one ?Could you clarify please ?

He took a master degree, not a masterQuoteOriginally posted by: ppauperQuoteOriginally posted by: WellfrogA master degree in Finance, and two years' working experience in market risk management. So what can be my career path?Some choices appear in my mind:1. Go to read a master of finance and become a quant?I'm confused.You say you already have a master's in finance and now you want to go and do another one ?Could you clarify please ?

jaskaplan, to some extent, you are right. I graduated two years ago, and my master is not focused on quite specific area. That is why my question come out...

QuoteOriginally posted by: jascaplanHe took a master degree, not a masterplus one was in finance and the other in Finance

QuoteOriginally posted by: Wellfrogmy master is not focused on quite specific areaah, a more relevant masters.Maybe an MFE ?

QuoteOriginally posted by: WellfrogA master degree in Finance, and two years' working experience in market risk management. So what can be my career path?Some choices appear in my mind:1. Go to read a master of finance (PP's EDIT: MFE) and become a quant? or 2. Keep working for more years, and become a risk manager? or3. Find some chance to go to front office?Which is proper?each of these is possible and worthwhile.

Maybe some people in firms would want to comment on whether they agree or not. 1. Most large banks and other trading firms have pretty much developed their models and are now just trying to speed them up and get problems out. These will probably require only a couple of model development quants--i.e. research. [I wish I recalled the exact reference but a famous quant once said a firm needs at most one 'mathematician'---he explained he meant one who does proofs---and the rest applied mathematicans, numerical analysts, those with probability background, etc. Another level [I'll call 'Quant Programmers'] will be math/physics PhDs who may be as good as the 'Quants' but did not get into the firm when the 'Quants' team was being built. They will mostly program up what the 'Quants' developed, fix problems, speed-up applications, deal with users over problems. Their knowledge is critical and separates them from most of the IT programmers. There will be alot of IT programmers, some with PhDs in math/physics who like the 'Quant Programmers' might have been a level higher but were not at the right place at the right time or came in the wrong door---interviewed with IT people who may have even lied to them about what they would be doing [i.e. quant work]. These will work with the 'Quant Programmers' and the next level of IT programmers. Until they move up, they will tend to do alot of GUI. The last two levels may even get MS in MathFin, but it will be hard to crack the ceiling and move up. An exception to the staffing levels will be those firms that have the 'Quants' and 'Quant Programmers' work with the traders alot and have alot of 'one-off' or exotic products that need constant trader/quant analyst involvement. Of course this means the quants and traders can 'talk to eachother' and respect eachother. 2. Banks [even large] who are just getting or re-starting [or making a major move into] derivatives trading/research may hire like the good old days. 3. Small firms may hire one or two quants but they generally will have 'no one to talk to' and from what I've seen get very upset about their situation. Even then getting a job will mean being at the right place at the right time and sending out alot of resumes.

ppauper, thanks a lot for your kindness. Maybe I should take it easy and choose one way from the three, and then everything will be ok. But I think the aimed point is quite important here, considering those invisible ceilings and competition in this business. E.g., if I go to read a MFE( thanks for your specifying what I said in the first post, and that is exactly what I want to say) and become a quant in one day, maybe I can be a good "quant programmer"(just like what jfuqua defined), but that is the end, there may be no further development space any more. Jfuqua is right, chance and timing is quite important. My strategy is that I define myself first, and then go to find good chance. But I really got headache when trying to define myself.