Dear ORACLE,standing in front of you - let me give you a basic description, as you are known to be blind: fresh PhD physics + financial engineering crash course(actually postdoc, but does that matter?)QUESTIONS:1) how is the market - is there still a market - for entry-level quants, say credit derivatives,in london/NY? scanning through job adverts on the web, I get the impression that 2-3 yearsexperience is a very common requirement.2) head-hunters (a la huxley.co.uk) or direct application to the ibanks ?3) would they fly me in for interviews ?currently living as an EU expat in switzerland,does this fact ensure that my application is dust binned, even before I have the chance to say that I'd move for a job ? just wondering, I know of a fresh economy graduate friend who got flown into the City from germany for an ibanking job interview, but that was in the golden years of M&A.Thank you for letting me have a sneak preview of the future,BboyP.S. hey, I managed to skip the "salary question"!

Hi Bboy, I can only tell you my (small) experience. I have startedstudying finance january this year (PhD, theoretical physics),I have applied to more than 20 banks (Italy, Germany, Austria,Switzerland) in june. Same answers: "thanks for choosing us,unfortunately we have nothing for you, we wish you good luck".Not even one interview. I applied to some posts from the Job Board(<=10). No answer yet. Quite depressing.

Executive recruiters generally are not retained to place entry-level staff. They are hired to fill very specific job requirements, typically with experienced staff at competitors of the hiring firm. As a young recruit, I wouldn't invest much time in applying directly with recruiters. Applying directly with financial firms doesn't work well either. As a manager, I am too busy to read CV's received through the mail and I am certainly not going to rely on the Human Resource department. Often the ads you see on the Internet are placed by HR, whom the hiring manager is required to utilize when making a hire. If you received a rejection letter, it probably from HR and that may be as far as your CV went! Received, processed and filed!How does one get a job then? I recommend you network amongst the quant community in your local market - be it London or New York. Ring people up, tell them you are new to the business and would like to stop in, introduce yourself and perhaps get a bit of guidance and advice. Ask for 20 minutes of their time. You'll be surprised at how many people will accept your request! After a successful "information interview", ask for a referral. Keep it up! Eventually, it will lead you to a job. Allow a minimum 6-9 months to find an opportunity.If you are sitting in Switzerland waiting for someone to fly you to London, you will be waiting a long time! If you are really committed, you should camp out in London and follow paragraph 3's advice.Good luck!!!

Hi Dc, I have applied to some ads put by recruiting consultants onthe Job Board, and I got a ring from 3 of them.I have no experience as a quant. Maybe they will not find a job for me, but it seems that they do consider entry-level applications.Otherwise, why would they bother ringing me up?

I got my first quant job by replying to a huxley ad in the FT. Of course, times were different then... I wouldn't expect a bank to fly you over from Switzerland. Good luckMJ

mj,Could you tell me how a fresh MSc in math finance get his first quant/trading job in financial market today?Is it normal for a person who wants get a quant position to have a PhD in quant finance first?How to be a derivatives trader? Is it better to have a PhD in math?

i think so,a high background in math is necessary to well understand new products and to learn the ocean of existant strategybut sometimes quant position != research and was more fonctionnal for being derivative trader...

this thread seems rather similar to the thread"too specialized"a while back. I would suggest reading through that J. MJ