wilmott.com

Hii am a young Phd in physics. I am working in IT as junior quantitative developer.I have the opportunity to get a postdoctoral assignment in a top school to do some research on quantitative finance .Do you think this could improve my (future) career?

Lots of unknowns here for us.But it seems to me that if you were happy going along your current path, you wouldn't be thinking seriously about this.I guess you want to break out of QD work ?It's hard to judge some undefined postdoc work, but if it's good and relevant, yes it can help. Also you mention "top school", which implies your earlier education was not top school.Getting the buzzword of the bigger brand also can help.My guess based on what you say is that the expectation is an improvement on your career.However, I must counsel you that there is non-trivial risk. We see very little laying off of QDs in this market, indeed demand is still pretty good.I cannot call what the market will be like when you finish the postdoc, so you may find yourself struggling to even get back where you started.Thinking about the risk, it's a market timing issue.If you have a fixed end data for the work, then risk is maximised because you have to take what's available at that point.However, if you can reach an agreement whereby there is a flexible end date you can choose your moment, and hopefully a better job.Also, the payload of this should include the opportunity to learn some of what you feel has stopped you getting the class of job you want.

Hi Dominicmy situation is this:1) Master degree from TOP TOP TOP school in physics - 23 years old2) PHD from Top school in high performance computing/theoretical chemistry 27 years old3) 1 year practicing in a little software house not based in London/NY and with very LOW wagesMy job has been useful to learn some basic stuff of financial engineer and design patterns but now it is time to jump to the City because I am learning no more.They said to me I am good for high level jobs in TOP american banks if I study and prepare. If I work I cannot study.Now I have the opportunity (it is an idea) to have a sponsor in my education learning from a Professor that wrote some Oxford finance books.I suppose this could be the right move.Moreover I'd do some research on frontier topics and I am really fascinated by the idea of doing QF in academia with a side job as consultant for banks.(Doesn't Paul Wilmott work in such a way for example?)

The low wage thing may be fixable given your background.(Doesn't Paul Wilmott work in such a way for example?)PW does indeed have several activities, but it would be bloody hard to get to that sort of position, and although it is possible you might end up that way, the odds are that you won't.Also the opportunity set is very different from what he started.You'd need to score an academic position somewhere well known, publish a couple of well regarded books in areas that people care about (quite hard to predict in advance), and have the ability to explain them.PM me and we can chat about how to evaluate this in your individual case.