Career Advice and Best School for Career Goals

B

Buy the Donuts

Joined
5/29/22
Messages
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Some info about me:

Current industry: Wealth Management
Age: 35
Goal: Senior Analyst or Portfolio Manager at an investment firm (Preferably Hedge Fund focusing on Long Short equities)

Can you become a quantitative analyst in your mid to late 30s?

Would this position lead to the goal positions I listed?

What does the normal career path look like for a quantitative analyst?

Would UT Dallas's FERM program be a step in the right direction? What is the best school in Texas for reaching a quantitative analyst? Or would Georgia Tech be my best option?

Also, I have a job offer as a personal banker. Completely unrelated to computational finance. Would this hurt my resume down the road? I applied for analyst roles but was not accepted. I do need a job, however, so I am not sure what to do.

Thank you in advance.
 
quanthopefully said:
Why dont u do the CFA and apply for fundamental positions? I dont think retraining to be a quant is the best idea at this stage.
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I was considering the CFA. I am a bit intimidated from seeing the most recent pass rates though.

What positions would you recommend applying for? Can you include the various titles please?

Thank you for the reply.
 
Buy the Donuts said:
I was considering the CFA. I am a bit intimidated from seeing the most recent pass rates though.

What positions would you recommend applying for? Can you include the various titles please?

Thank you for the reply.
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I havent done it but I would assume it is too difficult but you have to really commit to it and put in the study hours (which most dont).

I can't really comment on this without knowing your previous education and what you actually do at work and the skills you have acquired (wealth management is broad). I suggest you look at job postings in companies you would like to work for and see what skills and experience they require. If you fit what they want, apply. If you dont, figure out a plan to get there. If the plan makes sense and is realistic then pursue it.
 
quanthopefully said:
I havent done it but I would assume it is too difficult but you have to really commit to it and put in the study hours (which most dont).

I can't really comment on this without knowing your previous education and what you actually do at work and the skills you have acquired (wealth management is broad). I suggest you look at job postings in companies you would like to work for and see what skills and experience they require. If you fit what they want, apply. If you dont, figure out a plan to get there. If the plan makes sense and is realistic then pursue it.
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Thanks for the reply.
 
Buy the Donuts said:
I was considering the CFA. I am a bit intimidated from seeing the most recent pass rates though.

What positions would you recommend applying for? Can you include the various titles please?

Thank you for the reply.
Click to expand...
I would like to second the suggestion to go for your CFA. What is your educational background? If you are concerned about the difficulty of a CFA, you will not find a MFE program or a quantitatively equivalent education easier.
I would take a look at some specific quant roles that you find interesting and realistic. Look at some of the education/experience/skills requirements and see if that is something you are realistically capable of satisfying. I would doubt a banking role would hurt your chances of being a quant, but it definitely will not help. Again it really depends on what you want to do. Quant can be a pretty deep field and the surface level work may be more realistic to shoot for.
 
Just throwing this out there:

When I was at Baruch MFE there were many 30+ year-olds in the program looking to reinvent themselves and most of them have built nice new careers for themselves.
 
MRoss said:
Just throwing this out there:

When I was at Baruch MFE there were many 30+ year-olds in the program looking to reinvent themselves and most of them have built nice new careers for themselves.
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That is definitely encouraging to hear. Thank you for sharing.

Maybe it’s not too late then.
 
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