Entry quant job help

[mraman]

hi,

I am enrolled in the NCSU MFM program and I am planning to graduate by this december.
I completed my BS in Electrical engineering.
I have a great interest in working for the wall street companies as a quant but sadly I have not been able to get any interviews and this is mainly due to my lack of work experience. I have done well in my program but landing an interview seems an impossible task. I have been rejected by many companies without even a single phone interview. I am desperate to increase my chances at getting an interview call. Please help

 

[AMANE]

hi,

I am enrolled in the NCSU MFM program and I am planning to graduate by this december.
I completed my BS in Electrical engineering.
I have a great interest in working for the wall street companies as a quant but sadly I have not been able to get any interviews and this is mainly due to my lack of work experience. I have done well in my program but landing an interview seems an impossible task. I have been rejected by many companies without even a single phone interview. I am desperate to increase my chances at getting an interview call. Please help

mraman could you share more experience about how tough it is to get job, because i am planing to take MFE, after my undergrads , with no work ex, and i am Indian student.
dude, even getting internship is hard
thanks for sharing
best wishes for job hunt.

 

[atreides]

hi,

I am enrolled in the NCSU MFM program and I am planning to graduate by this december.
I completed my BS in Electrical engineering.
I have a great interest in working for the wall street companies as a quant but sadly I have not been able to get any interviews and this is mainly due to my lack of work experience. I have done well in my program but landing an interview seems an impossible task. I have been rejected by many companies without even a single phone interview. I am desperate to increase my chances at getting an interview call. Please help

Your career services might be a good place to look first. Your location is probably an obvious disadvantage.

 

[Andy Nguyen]

Is there much hiring in NC now? BoA, Wachovia? Maybe get into one of the local firms for a first job, then move elsewhere later when you have a more attractive resume.

 

[Joy Pathak]

You should focus on banks near you. BB&T, Wachovia, BoA are all headquartered in North Carolina. Winston-Salem and Charlotte have many financial companies (banks mostly). Get some experience, and then try to make the jump to a nyc firm.

 

[Joy Pathak]

Is there much hiring in NC now? BoA, Wachovia? Maybe get into one of the local firms for a first job, then move elsewhere later when you have a more attractive resume.

Ha. Nice.

 

[mraman]

You should focus on banks near you. BB&T, Wachovia, BoA are all headquartered in North Carolina. Winston-Salem and Charlotte have many financial companies (banks mostly). Get some experience, and then try to make the jump to a nyc firm.

Since I am a international student I cannot apply to BB&T. I have been applying to BoA and Wachovia but no positive responses.

 

[mraman]

Is there much hiring in NC now? BoA, Wachovia? Maybe get into one of the local firms for a first job, then move elsewhere later when you have a more attractive resume.

There is hiring but very few entry level jobs and the fact that I am a international student is also a drawback as very few people sponsor international students for entry level jobs. Do I need to take any special certifications exams

 

[mraman]

could anyone tell me more about the NYU financial math career fair http://www.finmathjobfair.org/

I mean if anyone has attended these fairs in the past it would be great if you could share your experiences

 

[Andy Nguyen]

very few people sponsor international students for entry level jobs. Do I need to take any special certifications exams

Not true. Many members here are just like you who are employed in NYC. I know many of them personally from the local MFE programs.
Your soon-to-receive degree is all you need, no other certificate required. Location is a disadvantage. That brings me to the important question, is there any dedicated career services for your program? Someone whose job is to help students in the program find internship and jobs?

 

[Andy Nguyen]

could anyone tell me more about the NYU financial math career fair http://www.finmathjobfair.org/

I mean if anyone has attended these fairs in the past it would be great if you could share your experiences

http://www.quantnet.com/forum/threads/nyu-career-fair-discussion.877/
http://www.quantnet.com/forum/threads/2010-iafe-career-fair-friday-10-29.4793/

 

[mfegrad]

I have a great interest in working for the wall street companies as a quant but sadly I have not been able to get any interviews and this is mainly due to my lack of work experience. I have done well in my program but landing an interview seems an impossible task. I have been rejected by many companies without even a single phone interview. I am desperate to increase my chances at getting an interview call. Please help

not to sound bleak, but this is what happens when people don't do a ton of research and understand what they're getting themselves into when they decide to attend a program. did you ask ncsu to provide you with detailed placement statistics prior to entering the program? did you ask about their career placement, get in touch with an advisor before sending in a deposit, etc.?

many students believe that simply doing well in an FE program will make them MDs on a trading desk at goldman, but even the top programs can't provide this for fresh graduates. top programs will get their students in the door, but even then, it's up to the students to actually close.

all this is water under the bridge now, but caveat emptor. going forward, you could focus on other regional banks, including key (midwest), and other southern firms (regions financial comes to mind, for one). put more pressure on your career services dept to get employers to campus.

 

[mraman]

Not true. Many members here are just like you who are employed in NYC. I know many of them personally from the local MFE programs.
Your soon-to-receive degree is all you need, no other certificate required. Location is a disadvantage. That brings me to the important question, is there any dedicated career services for your program? Someone whose job is to help students in the program find internship and jobs?

Unfortunately no. Most of the graduated students works in credit suisse, sas , db,etc located in Raleigh. Some of the students opt for Ph.D Stats/OR after completing MFM. What would be an ideal approach for me to go into in the next six months

 

[Uncle Max]

Ask yourself what makes you different from other people applying to entry level positions? What value can you bring to the firm if they hire you? Emphasize all these unique qualities in your resume. Just having MFE degree and saying that you are hard worker and team player is not enough. If you don't have any unique abilities spend next few months to build them.

Network. This is much more important than ability to derive in 10 different ways Black Scholes formula. It's not easy to start networking, but it's doable. I would say that more than 90% of all jobs in Finance are obtained through the network in one form or another. People prefer to hire someone who they either know personally or who was recommended by someone. Nobody wants to take a chance getting some random person to discover later that he/she is total psycho or lazy and ignorant egomaniac.

Find out where people from banks hang out. Got there for happy hour after work, try meet people and start conversation. It may feel awkward at the beginning but this is what it takes. Start a small talk about baseball/current markets/cars etc. Don't ask if there's a job for you after the first 2 minutes of conversation. Get their business cards, research something about them. Go back to the happy hour bar and talk to people who you already know. Try to get engaged in some activities with them like golfing, skiing, volunteering, attending sports games. You will learn a lot about their work and start your professional network. This is just one common path, there are many others.