Hi everyone,
As a quick disclaimer, I just want to mention that I recently joined this group, and I hope this is the right place to post something like this. This is also my very first post on any online forum, so I apologize in advance if I'm over- or undersharing.
To begin, I was hoping to get some advice on how to break into quant finance without a financial background. For some context, I'm currently a graduate student pursuing my Master's in Information and Data Science (MIDS) at UC Berkeley (most of my coursework revolves around machine learning, NLP, GenAI, and the deployment side of things), and I recently completed an internship at an energy company as a Data Scientist. The rest of my background, however, is traditionally in healthcare and engineering. My undergrad and first Master's were in Chemical and Bioengineering, and I worked as a Management Consultant at a life science consulting company after graduation. I then worked at a computational biology startup until I went back to school last Fall.
Over the past year or so, due to both schoolwork and my own personal interest in trading, I've grown increasingly interested in the world of quant finance. I've completed two projects on predicting stock movement (one using RNNs and another using NLP on earnings transcripts), and I finished an online Options Pricing with Mathematical Models course (binomial tree models, risk-neutral pricing, BSM, etc.). However, that's the extent of my experience in this field.
I am well aware that there are many gaps in my profile, and I'm not sure if it's too late to break into this industry, but I would like to at least try. I think the quant finance field is fascinating, and some of the projects I worked on were the most fun I've ever had. I want to try experiencing more of it (on a professional level) and really see if this field is right for me.
Currently, there are a few main hurdles that I would really appreciate some advice on:
Either way, I hope this post isn't too long; I hadn't intended on writing so much, but more and more thoughts came in, and I just wanted to provide as much information as possible. Thank you so much if you did make it through all of this, and I would appreciate any guidance or suggestions on how to move forward.
Best,
Daniel
As a quick disclaimer, I just want to mention that I recently joined this group, and I hope this is the right place to post something like this. This is also my very first post on any online forum, so I apologize in advance if I'm over- or undersharing.
To begin, I was hoping to get some advice on how to break into quant finance without a financial background. For some context, I'm currently a graduate student pursuing my Master's in Information and Data Science (MIDS) at UC Berkeley (most of my coursework revolves around machine learning, NLP, GenAI, and the deployment side of things), and I recently completed an internship at an energy company as a Data Scientist. The rest of my background, however, is traditionally in healthcare and engineering. My undergrad and first Master's were in Chemical and Bioengineering, and I worked as a Management Consultant at a life science consulting company after graduation. I then worked at a computational biology startup until I went back to school last Fall.
Over the past year or so, due to both schoolwork and my own personal interest in trading, I've grown increasingly interested in the world of quant finance. I've completed two projects on predicting stock movement (one using RNNs and another using NLP on earnings transcripts), and I finished an online Options Pricing with Mathematical Models course (binomial tree models, risk-neutral pricing, BSM, etc.). However, that's the extent of my experience in this field.
I am well aware that there are many gaps in my profile, and I'm not sure if it's too late to break into this industry, but I would like to at least try. I think the quant finance field is fascinating, and some of the projects I worked on were the most fun I've ever had. I want to try experiencing more of it (on a professional level) and really see if this field is right for me.
Currently, there are a few main hurdles that I would really appreciate some advice on:
- Understand what skills/experiences I need to bolster my background: I'm committed to finishing my degree (either in April or August of next year), but I don't think I will be able to do another MFE or related program due to financial and timing reasons. Aside from that (and completing more personal projects), however, I'm not sure what else I can do to tangibly strengthen my portfolio (I'm also not sure what's actually worth pursuing either).
- Find a systematic/structured way to prepare for interviews: This might be a moot point if my background simply isn't strong enough, but in case it is, I'm trying to find the best ways of preparing for quant finance (particularly quant research) interviews. This actually isn't the first time I've gone through this prep, and back in April, I tried to study on my own. Specifically, I tried reading some recommended books (A Practical Guide to Quantitative Finance Interviews, Heard on the Street, etc.), and I signed up for TraderMath to practice the questions. However, it was hard to balance with my schoolwork (and later my internship), and things got overwhelming extremely quickly. I also found it difficult to measure my progress, especially since there were no "tangible" results, and I slowly convinced myself that it wasn't worth continuing. I eventually dropped the practice for the summer to focus on my other tasks, but I'm thinking of returning to it again.
- My first question is whether doing all of this is worth it. I understand that for quant trader roles, going through the brain teasers and mental math puzzles is a must, but what personally interests me more are the strategy roles, using ML and data science to find signals and generate alpha. Therefore, is it worth going through these resources? And if so, which ones should I be focusing most of my attention on? (I was thinking of reviewing quant Leetcode questions as well, but not sure where to begin there)
- Second, is there a structured way to go over the quant material (i.e., a program or an interview checklist of things to study for)? I know I do better when there's structure around me, and it's also easier for me to pursue a goal when I know (or can see) that there are tangible results at the end of the road.
- Lastly, are there any study groups or interview prep groups that meet on a regular basis? I learned that one reason I was struggling before was that I couldn't measure my progress, so it was very demotivating to continue. I think keeping accountability would help a lot with that, and I think being in a group setting helps me learn better as well.
Either way, I hope this post isn't too long; I hadn't intended on writing so much, but more and more thoughts came in, and I just wanted to provide as much information as possible. Thank you so much if you did make it through all of this, and I would appreciate any guidance or suggestions on how to move forward.
Best,
Daniel
