• C++ Programming for Financial Engineering
    Highly recommended by thousands of MFE students. Covers essential C++ topics with applications to financial engineering. Learn more Join!
    Python for Finance with Intro to Data Science
    Gain practical understanding of Python to read, understand, and write professional Python code for your first day on the job. Learn more Join!
    An Intuition-Based Options Primer for FE
    Ideal for entry level positions interviews and graduate studies, specializing in options trading arbitrage and options valuation models. Learn more Join!

Alternatives to careers in quant finance

aero_malik

Joined
5/31/14
Messages
13
Points
13
Afternoon gents (and ladies!). Right...

What other careers are open to graduates of quant finance programs from reputable institutions? I've been reading a lot about the state of the industry and the pessimist in me is worried, given I've just started a masters, of which the majority of course work will be quant related. So my question is, what other options outside of the quant finance world are available for a person skilled in coding, applied statistics, applied numerical analysis, stochastic analysis... and so on? A bit of my background may hopefully put this question in context.

I've been a member on quantnet for a few months. I've read through the recommended book list, read some of your profiles, and I'm attracted to the industry. I believe I would enjoy working as a quant analyst. I've always loved math, science and modeling, so to that effect I did engineering in undergrad, and I practice as an engineer currently. I'm also rounding up a second undergrad degree in Statistics, as data, variation and uncertainty are usually ignored in most traditional engineering coursework. I'm taking classes this fall in Columbia's CVN network. The majority of my classes will involve quant topics. I'll have to fill in a few gaps through self study but the program will give me structure, and Columbia is recognized as a top name generally.

I'm taking a masters in quant finance because I am attracted by the depth and scope of the analysis involved. From my very brief introduction, most of the subjects focus on new and cutting edge topics, and there is plenty of room in the industry for new theories, methods and implementation. For example, Martin Hairer's award for his theory in SPDEs intrigues me, and I can't wait to gain enough mathematical maturity to digest his ideas, and see if there are any applications to quant practice. The masters would be a reward in itself, but I would hate for all that to go to waste because of a supposedly depressed quant market. So... is there anything else?
 
For example, Martin Hairer's award for his theory in SPDEs intrigues me, and I can't wait to gain enough mathematical maturity to digest his ideas, and see if there are any applications to quant practice.

AFAIK not so many applications of his work in computational finance.

But people do use PDE and SDE.
 
Daniel Duffy said:
For example, Martin Hairer's award for his theory in SPDEs intrigues me, and I can't wait to gain enough mathematical maturity to digest his ideas, and see if there are any applications to quant practice.

AFAIK not so many applications of his work in computational finance.

But people do use PDE and SDE.
Click to expand...

Well bummer, that's that idea done then.
 
If you are in the NYC area, there are a lot of things to use your technical skills for. You may have to network a lot and aim for a wider net, outside of finance even. Data analysis, big firms that process huge of amount of data would be something you should look into.
If you are good with programming, can work with database, there will be work.
 
Andy Nguyen said:
If you are in the NYC area, there are a lot of things to use your technical skills for. You may have to network a lot and aim for a wider net, outside of finance even. Data analysis, big firms that process huge of amount of data would be something you should look into.
If you are good with programming, can work with database, there will be work.
Click to expand...
Is unix gonna be useful for people want to work in quant finance or data analysis? Thank you
 
Andy Nguyen said:
If you are in the NYC area, there are a lot of things to use your technical skills for. You may have to network a lot and aim for a wider net, outside of finance even. Data analysis, big firms that process huge of amount of data would be something you should look into.
If you are good with programming, can work with database, there will be work.
Click to expand...

Cheers. Are you referring to database admin positions or something more analytical?

I'm in the dark here, hence my post.
 
Dave Lee said:
Could you please elaborate more on this? how unix is used in quant finance or data analysis? Thank you so much
Click to expand...

Let's just say that at the last shop I worked at, I needed to learn some basic unix just to move files around, issue commands, and generally keep logs of what the heck I did. The more you know of it, the better.
 
Dave Lee said:
Is unix gonna be useful for people want to work in quant finance or data analysis? Thank you
Click to expand...

If you ever work on code critical to front office, you're going to have to one day login to a production server, which will probably be some flavor of Linux (like Red Hat), and you're going to have to probably read/write to log and configuration files. You might have to do this pretty quickly, and do some manipulation and parsing using tools like grep, sed, awk. And familiarity with text editors like vi is a must.

Free tip: if you don't want to look like a noob, don't just put down "shell scripting" on your resume. There are many shells. If you also put down what shell(s) you use comfortably, that shows any geek that you're above the common denominator.
 
Back
Top