career change advice

[quantworker]

I was a PHD in probability theory and joined a big bank in London as risk management quant for almost one year. It seems to me that I might have stepped onto the wrong boat. To be honest, I didn't do much research before I joined the company, as a PHD, I was shocked about how much they offered me and just accepted the offer immediately. Now, I feel that my job is a bit boring and doesn't really require as much creativity as I thought. So, I am thinking maybe I should try to move into a hedge fund or front office place at some point (I feel it is not appropriate to change job only after one year of working considering I have spent a lot time at learning and training and didn't really do that much useful stuff for my company). I am not sure whether I can get some advice about what to do, whether it is possible to change job and when would be appropriate for me to do it.

 

[vertigo]

never care about doing useful stuff for your company, rather care about doing useful stuff for yourself. work hard at your current job and learn everything you can that will help for hedge funds or front office - use the banks pricing tools, learn the traded products, learn the quantitative library analytic tools and master good internal documents. then start talking to recruiters about front office roles or people in front office directly.

the longer you stay in risk, the harder it is to move out from there. even if you stay 2 or 3 years, it will be ok, so you have time on your side.

 

[quantworker]

Thanks for the advice. It surprises me that the longer I stay, the harder it is to move out. So, I guess I can start applying other companies now? I have been contacted by various recruiters, but I was afraid I would be perceived as disloyal if I switch job after such a short period of time.

 

[vertigo]

Thanks for the advice. It surprises me that the longer I stay, the harder it is to move out. So, I guess I can start applying other companies now? I have been contacted by various recruiters, but I was afraid I would be perceived as disloyal if I switch job after such a short period of time.

different people have different views. if you want to move up, you have to make difficult choices - and moving from risk to front office is essential. risk is the nursery home, front office is the casino. i know where i want to be - and its not the nursery home. in my view, start applying for front office roles office and have clear performance based objectives in them. steer clear of risk roles unless you absolutely have to, i.e. a backup role.

assuming that you interviewing with other firms does not affect your job performance (i.e. work as hard as you can despite interviewing), then it will make you look professional and wanted and your employer (assuming they are not idiots) will actually find you more valuable after you resign, if you play it correctly.

think of yourself as an option with positive theta (positive time decay) - as the days pass, your value increases, up to a certain point that is, where your value starts to go down. don't let theta kill you.

 

[Ken Abbott]

risk is the nursery home, front office is the casino.

Not any more. With the advent of Dodd-Frank and Stuructual Reform in the UK, analogies involving gambling houses became passé. Banks are becoming utilities. Underemployed and unemployed traders are more and more commonly found in the banking world.

I'm sorry to hear you're bored. I've always tried to move quants around to keep them interested.

 

[vertigo]

Not any more. With the advent of Dodd-Frank and Stuructual Reform in the UK, analogies involving gambling houses became passé. Banks are becoming utilities. Underemployed and unemployed traders are more and more commonly found in the banking world.

I'm sorry to hear you're bored. I've always tried to move quants around to keep them interested.

it simplifies to the following: are you the person taking risk, or are you the person whose work is based on another person taking risk? are you the person winning/developing the business, or are you the person who puts constraints on what business can be won/developed? existence of a dodd frank act or reform or blah blah x y z won't change the answer to those two questions.