Hi, I'm currently working at a major bank supporting the trading desk doing mostly excel/vba work. However my goal is to get into trading or fund management(eventually). However since my background is in CS ( MS in Comp. engi from CMU), my finance knowledge is very limited. Therefore I'm using alot of my free time right now trying to boost my finance knowledge.My questions are, given my current background/career goals, how should I make the transition? Should I stay with my current job and hope to get on the trading desk after 2/3 years or start looking for a trading/hedgefund job? Should I take the CFA?Any tips/advice would be greatly appreciated!

Have you looked at the CQF ?Have you done C++ ?

Thanks for the response!I have done about 5+ years in C, maybe 1-2 in C++. Never really done any QF applications.I guess CQF would be would what I'm interested in, but going back to school now seems like i'll be putting my career on hold.With my current background, would I be able to get into CQF without going back to school? What knowledge would i need?

I have a CS background as well and work on a multi strategy/asset class Prop Trading desk at big bank. I have learned a lot on the job here and through the Markets Education group at the bank, which is run by a group academics/practicioners from within the bank who also lecture at a lot of the Math Fin programs. I am doing the CQF now to fill in the gaps in my knowledge(stochastics/PDEs/modelling/NumericalAnalysis) and to get a better understanding of things I have been exposed to already. The CQF would be of even greater value to someone who has limited finance/product knowledge. It also helps that you can do it during your free time as it is sometimes tough to get out of work on time to get to a University class. In terms of the maths to brush up on before the CQF, I took the Maths Primer with Riaz Ahmed, a lot of which I had done in the past but needed to brush up on. In terms of mobility on the trading desk, I have seen a lot of progression from [ MiddleOffice|IT ]->TA->Junior Trader since I have been here. Its very much a meritocracy, at least where I am. I think it would be a lot tougher to make a move into that role from the capacity you are in now if you were switching firms. If you have any specific questions about the CQF feel free to PM me.

I made the IT to trader switch through a CQF like program. Go for it!

Thanks for all the feedback!I think I'll give CQF a try on my own for now, since I dont really want to go back to school for a full program and don't have enough time to do a night class after 12+ hr days. From what I've read, it seems like even a basic understanding would help me as a trader on the long run. My current position will probably lead to a trader position a few years down the line. Until then i'll pick up some QF books to prepare myself.