Awhile ago, while trying to get into quantitative finance, it seemed like you had to be extremely lucky for somebody to even have a look at your resume. Right now, looking 'from the other side', I find it extremely hard to find somebody suited for the summer job in our London office. Do all smart PhD guys just stay in academia or I am very bad at finding them? Contacting schools does not seem to work. Maybe there should be a dedicated forum for internships, it would perhaps help both sides.BTW, the position is still available - in case anybody dares to disagree with the above...

Is that because you firm has set a very high entrance standard?

It's because all of the Ph.D. guys end up dealing with annoying HR drones and HH's and just get disgusted with the system and find better things to do.

I often heard stories about applicants got refused by HR one day after submitting their CVs but got interviews later on when a HH contacted the recuiting manager directly.

QuoteDo all smart PhD guys just stay in academia or I am very bad at finding them? Contacting schools does not seem to work. I am still "on this side" (doing a postdoc at this moment). But, I know why it is not that effective to contact the university departments. First, some academics in pure science/engineering are still quite negative about the whole financial world. Some "rising star" junior researchers also have an attitude that finance is for the failed ones. You won't recommed your own student or fellow PhDs to try out one of the summer internship programs if say twenty percents of people are like what I just described.Second, funding is the priority in most universities nowadays. In some professors' mind, the questions are "What can you do for me in return?" "Any chance I can write a grant application out of this?". Because both answers are negative, they do not want to help out.Third, some departments (e.g. finanical maths etc) of course do not mind circulating your message around. But, I guess their good students already have good contacts (e.g. their project sponsors may well be your rival IB). And as usual, any program has some bad ones. You don't want them anyway...

QuoteOriginally posted by: astoAwhile ago, while trying to get into quantitative finance, it seemed like you had to be extremely lucky for somebody to even have a look at your resume. Right now, looking 'from the other side', I find it extremely hard to find somebody suited for the summer job in our London office. Do all smart PhD guys just stay in academia or I am very bad at finding them? Contacting schools does not seem to work. Maybe there should be a dedicated forum for internships, it would perhaps help both sides.BTW, the position is still available - in case anybody dares to disagree with the above...What is so unique about the job that it requires a PhD, smart or otherwise, or is that just the dross filter that you use. Maybe you need a new filter.

DY is not wrong, but the relationship with an academic needs to be handled with just as much care as someone in banking.They have a different perspective on what is a "good" candidate, and yes they have motivations, I'm rarely met with hostility when I say I'm pimping for banks.Also, at any one time a given academic is not supervising many students who are smart and possibly available.For instance one recently pointed me at a good signal processing guy, but warned me that he wan't much into money.Wouldn't shock me if he had to think hard to work out compound interest, so i've got to both persuade him, and help him educate himself.Many people studing finance PhDs are into academic stuff rather than directly applicable, and to sort through their backgrounds. Of course "applicable" is a poor indicator of actual ability of the student, and thenwe have the really entertaining game of working out whether they have the right sort of personality.Short version: Contacting schools ain't a trade, it's a process, and there is an economy of scale here.

Most PhD students are just not available for summer interns as their supervisor might not be willing to let them spend 3 months outside.For PhD students close to finish their studies, they tend to seek a permanent post.

i certainly had a couple of good students ask me for internships when i didn't have any...

Asto, you have a PM...

QuoteOriginally posted by: astoAwhile ago, while trying to get into quantitative finance, it seemed like you had to be extremely lucky for somebody to even have a look at your resume. Right now, looking 'from the other side', I find it extremely hard to find somebody suited for the summer job in our London office. Do all smart PhD guys just stay in academia or I am very bad at finding them? Contacting schools does not seem to work. Maybe there should be a dedicated forum for internships, it would perhaps help both sides.BTW, the position is still available - in case anybody dares to disagree with the above...What is the chances that you will retain the person for a year or two? It won't be ethical to dump the person. By the way, here is a man who cann't copy the BS equation because he never wrote a line on differential equation. His cost to comapny is 8 times than mine. How do you think I rescue myself from this situation. Oh, I, we just came to know about the figures two days back. It was by the grace of a mail from finance department which landed up in another mailbox. I am a little shocked though. So much money for doing what? I think we do most of the work!!! Is it the norm in the industry that houses pay obscene money to people just because they have been there for long? Just because the guys know how to hire a good trader? Just because they are good supervisor ( then, i think I can be the best supervisor in the world ) and dishonestly claim the money made AS PART of their own contribution to trading profit? Please educate me. Coming from a mixed background, I am not sure. But, I am sure there are not many like him in the world.cheers

QuoteOriginally posted by: StephenLiI often heard stories about applicants got refused by HR one day after submitting their CVs but got interviews later on when a HH contacted the recuiting manager directly.True. Happens all the time. In small places, the fuckers who have been there for long, run the show. The HR can never get a good guy in ( you may be one of the top Ph.D. guys) unless the MORON sitting as the head of the desk agrees to. I tried to get a guy in even if the guy knew more than me. My boss felt threatened!! What a shame!

QuoteOriginally posted by: mji certainly had a couple of good students ask me for internships when i didn't have any...Hi Prof,Can I have your e-mail address at the Univ? Can you pm me that. Not that I cann't find , but I thought it to be better to get it from you.cheers

<rant>Why a PhD though? Wouldn't it be better to take a grad and train him up for three years to know exactly what you need him to know, rather than take a guy who has spent 3 years doing something totally useless to you and then train him up to know exactly what you need him to know?(Accepting the exception of a PhD in derivatives pricing or similar)To me it seems like banks are encouraging people to do PhDs for no reason. You can't do a PhD in derivatives etc unless you studied it at undergrad, or have years experiance. You can't get the experiance without the PhD. So instead you know you really want to do quant research, but have to spend three years studying something unrelated for £10k p.a.Logic there anyone?</rant>