I've been reading the career forum here for a while and and have recentlyregistered to get the Quant-guide from Dominic. I'm rather puzzled by the strong focus on either the northern US or Londonas the only possible places to get a job.As an example, my own "non-standard" CV has studying physics in Germany, getting a PhD in math-phys from Australiaand now looking for a quant-finance job in Korea/Japan on it. Does this already disqualify me for all of the jobs discussed here, oris just the view on Wilmott distorted because most of the users here actually do work in these two locations?There were no big (US-)investment banks touring my Australian campus, head hunters appearently seem to be only consideringCV's from people physically in London/northern US, and directly talking to the major companies is getting advised against in here, astheir quant groups are all in London or NY anyway.So, what would be the general advise to the people who previously asked here before about jobs in more exotic places like Hongkong,Singapore, Tokyo, Seoul, or people physically located in the rest of the world?

If you're puzzled as to why most quant jobs (and people who post on Wilmott) are in London/NYC then I'm afraid you may struggle with quant finance itself. Don't you think that the geographical 'distortion' is caused by a distinct lack in strength of quant activity in other areas?

I actually agree with the OP in that I am disappointed by the London/NY focus of quant finance. Personally I do quant work at a hedge fund in NYC, and while I do have a personal desire to live in another city (Boston/SF), 90+ percent of the quant jobs are in NY/CT.

Hi mutley,QuoteOriginally posted by: mutleyDon't you think that the geographical 'distortion' is caused by a distinct lack in strength of quant activity in other areas?Hm, answering your rhetorical question: no, I don't think that, at least not in that absolute way.And also, I'm neither dissapointed by any focus of finance, nor do I want to change 'the system', I'm really only interested in getting a job for myself at the moment As I said, I've been following quant finance only for about 6 months with interest. I'm not sure if there really are no 'quanty' jobs outside the major centers, or if there simply isn't a Wilmott-equivalent for these.While the major IB's etc. might have their HQ's in London or NY with all the glitzy innovations and supersalary package, there sure must be these other, not-so-high profile jobs out there? Possibly with sacrifice in terms of pay or career path? Or, if I'm totally wrong and don't stand a chance, I'd like to learn that NOW before I waste precious times I rather should've used to go down traditional path after all...Most discussions here as well as the quant-guide deal with the standard scenarios of either a youngish US-undergraduate wants an interview in NY, resp. a freshly graduated student from a London university wants a job in the City. I've been following all the help giving here to these (possible) majorities - that was very helpfulas a general guide line and much appreciated by me and many other I'm sure, thanks!But now I am looking for _extra_ advice how to get a foot in the door for someone with, for instance, my background and aims ('math-physicist from Europe,now located in Australia wants quanty type job in East Asia').Of course I think of myself as absolutely the right guy they've been looking for all along, and I only need a chance to prove it to them... everything as usual I'm actually hoping that quite a few of the people reading here have had experiences away from the norm and still ended up being employed. Maybe some of you could share knowledge and tips to the benefit of us all?(Here are a few things I could think of right now but feel free to post anything you can think of which might be of help)* how did you managet to get employed in a country different from your current residence (taking lower job/post-doc in new country at first? Apply to HQ of international bank and after 1-2yrs get send to local branch?)* Are there any other jobs (i.e. involving more-or-less technical quant-finance + hiring predominantly 'hard-science' PhD's + still paying 'reasonably well') which are not the typically major IB/hedge fund/energy companies?*occasionally in discussions here there are other pages besideds Wilmott.com mentioned (none of which was for me personally very useful, though).* any HH/recruiters specializing on those odd jobs (like the one guy having jobs in Tokyo, who got mentioned here before)?and a pretty naive one :* how can I go about networking if I don't know anybody in the target region or in finance in general yet? (establishing an academic record in fincance got mentioned, but might be too much for many of us current job seekers)thanks for any comments!

No it is not just distorted view on here. Most quant jobs are simply in NY/LDN. There are opportunities out there if you know where to look. You see more open jobs in NY/LDN through online postings and the headhunters who drive them because there are more HHs in NY/LDN than in Asia. Lots of them are fishing around for the same people and same types of roles, but it is the truth that they are all there because of the demand for their services.Realistically Tokyo, Hong Kong and Singapore should be your targets. Seoul is going to be difficult as a destination. Can you speak Korean? It's pretty domestic there. In the hedge fund and investment banking space, Tokyo is hollowing out on the trading and execution side. Prop is going to Hong Kong and Singapore due to regulatory and tax-driven issues. In a number of ways this is a trend over all away from Tokyo into HK and Singapore. However the liquidity is still here in Tokyo and so there will always be a major need to be here.Do you have some relevant experience or just fresh out of school? Best of luck. If I can help send a PM although can't promise anything much.