April 19th, 2016, 7:17 pm
After working seven years at my current firm, I am facing possibility of redundancy at the end of this year. Never needed to look for a job before. Bit terrified and don't know where to start. Can I have a bit of advice please? Summary of my background:- Engineering PhD from a top 3 or so US institution- 5 years experience in a trading role in structured credit in a top european bank. Worked on large and complex transactions. Priced and risk managed.- 2 years experience as a portfolio manager on the buy side of the same bank. Managed a small portfolio of alternative investments.- Currently a DirectorThe portfolio I am currently managing will be liquidated at the end of the year as the main investor had a change of strategy. So I have a few months to find a new job. As my experience above is in rather niche asset classes, I worry that my experience won't help me land a new job. Hence I am considering moving into quantitative strategist type roles. Currently I am reviewing books on statistics/econometrics and some Python. My questions:- Should I be getting in touch with headhunters or directly applying through banks/funds' websites? If through headhunters, which ones?- I worry that my seniority (Director) will hinder me from making a lateral move into a different area. In order to get a job as a quant strat, I am happy to get demoted for a few years until I gain experience. However, I don't want recruiters to ignore me once they see that I am a director. Would it help if I remove my seniority from CV?- In parallel, I also want to look for jobs as a portfolio manager in buy side firms. Any search firms that would help me on this? Should I be sending my CV to multiple search firms and see who bites?