Can I be the Quant ? Guide me plaese .

[AJAY DWIVEDI]

Hi all, I seek valuable guidance i my career from you guys....I am a wannabe quant. Before going into details I wish to tell what happened with me exactly in the past and what situation led me where I am today now.
I am graduate from Indian Institute of Technology, Madras, a prestigious and very tough institute to get into in India. My stream was Chemical Engineering(2007-11 batch). Not being able to generate interest in ChemEngg, I was slipping in my academics.But gradually, I developed an insatiable love for finance, specially on stock markets. Fool I was to think MBA finance is all I need to specialis in it. So,I started preparation for admission into B-schools, got admission in IIM in 2012. But I was dismayed to see that MBA finance in nothing but accounting and valuing companies and stocks with lot of fancy assumptions.
Being heartbroken, I decided to self-study to become a quant. ( I cleaerd JEE with a decent rank. JEE is one of the toughest engineering entrance exam. So I can say I had a good problem solving skill, also had a good grasp of Maths topics compared to other A-level maths.) I have cleared actuarial exams in UK and India(core technical series, 8 papers and Actuarial Risk management) without failing in any attempt. I also topped in two Statistics based papers. Then I finished Shreve Stochastics Calculus I and II, downloaded other MFE programms materials , bought books and cleared my concepts on PDE, studied Monte Carlo by Glasserman . I have a good grasp of statistics from actuarial study, also learnt computing the models in MATLAB. I also taught myself c++ advanced topics line STL and Boost. Gained knowledge on data structures and algorithms. Taught SQL and databases. But for all these I don't have any academic transcripts.

Now from academics , in UG, I had scientific computing course( iterations, splines, PDE etc in c/c++), had course on data structures and c++ but no project involving c++. From MBA education, I have gained knowledge on financial econoetrics , Derivatives, Security analysis etc which may be relevant for quants. Now by looking at the MFE courses' topics, I can say for sure I know every bit of them. I can also crack quant interviews ( saw questions in Mark Joshi's book).

But the problem is most quant jobs require masters in maths, cs etc which I don't have. Despite that I know I am no less than a maths graduate in problem solving skill , though maths is not my UG major. Now I am in dilemma that should I do an MFE ? but I already know the topics in details , so what's the point in wasting money ?....
LAST NIGHT I DRANK ,I TRIED TO PART WITH MY DREAM OF BEING QUANT...HEART ACHED , I COULDN'T...

 

[Keith Tan]

forget paper qualifications, it is over-rated. what you need is work experience.

 

[Ken Abbott]

LAST NIGHT I DRANK ,I TRIED TO PART WITH MY DREAM OF BEING QUANT...HEART ACHED , I COULDN'T...

A touch melodramatic, no?

I've seen people get emotional about a lot of things, but never about quantitative finance...

 

[AJAY DWIVEDI]

forget paper qualifications, it is over-rated. what you need is work experience.

Dear Keith, thanks for advice...I did internship in ING Vysya... there was hardly any intellectual challenge...my project was on strategy, how to penetrate a new market etc...I don't want to get sucked into the job of selling products in future...I have the option of joining insurance industry in actuarial division, but the models used there are quite primitive compared to those in black-boxes...so is it possible to make the switch afterwards ?....If you know your stuff well, is it possible to get that first interview, I mean, being called for the written test or something to prove that I can do the job…?

 

[AJAY DWIVEDI]

A touch melodramatic, no?

I've seen people get emotional about a lot of things, but never about quantitative finance...

Sir, I am being immature and asking silly things. Point is, when I did actuarial study, I could go through it quite easily. Not patting myself on my back, I pushed myself further to see if I can comprehend quantitative finance. Thta's how I gained confidence about quant. Also, sir, being a born in India has some disadvtange, first there are 125 million people here, people get into IITs so that their families can have their first car , for many of them it's a ticket to bring their families out of generations old poverty etc etc . They study as if they are going to Olympics. To worsen the matter is that there are only some 250 computer science seats combined in all IITs...also have seen people getting into Princeton after failing in IIT entrance exam. What I ask is ,for not having paper qualifiation ,is it possible somehow to dig my way to quant. finance... actuarial qualifiaction is not enough,I know, but if you have self studied...know the stuff, is there even a remote chance to go the interview room.....any suggestion from you is welcomed and higly valued.
Thanks.

 

[Keith Tan]

Dear Keith, thanks for advice...I did internship in ING Vysya... there was hardly any intellectual challenge...my project was on strategy, how to penetrate a new market etc...I don't want to get sucked into the job of selling products in future...I have the option of joining insurance industry in actuarial division, but the models used there are quite primitive compared to those in black-boxes...so is it possible to make the switch afterwards ?....If you know your stuff well, is it possible to get that first interview, I mean, being called for the written test or something to prove that I can do the job…?

yes, you can continuously switch within different roles and gain experience along the way. even if you do get an MFE, you still have to vie with thousands of applicants for that one seat. to prove that you can do that job, what matters is your past experiences. seldom there are written tests, but one is more likely to encounter the derivation of black-scholes equation and some simple stats. but i would have to say being a quant can get intellectually stale at times when u're just following boss's directions for most of your career.