How to get companies to take an interest in my profile?

[jxj]

I recently got laid off from a Boston-based HFT startup after being with the firm for only 4 weeks. I'll be happy to explain more if anyone is interested.

So I'm now on the job market again, and I'm looking to get some unbiased feedback on my current profile and some advice on how to make it more attractive and competitive.

My selling points:
- Ph.D. in Mathematics from University of Michigan
- Double B.S. degrees in CS&E and Mathematics from UCLA (magma cumme laude, dept honors, etc...)
- Have worked in finance (Finra, HFT startup) after leaving academia
- Solid programming skills (more concretely, have passed most interviews in C++, Python)
- Good understanding of the fundamental of financial mathematics (Shreve, Joshi, some machine learning)

My weak points:
- Have made a poor career decision to work for Finra after leaving academia. While it was somewhat finance-related, it was by no means a quant role
- Mid-career so not so attractive as an entry-level quant, yet may not be qualified for a mid-level quant
- Minimal industry programming experience aside from SQL
- Got laid off from a startup

I think I can prove my value to the companies if only the companies will take an interest in my profile and give me a chance at an interview. However, I'm concerned some of these weak points will be detrimental to getting my foot in the door.

One sign of hope: The HFT startup was considerate enough to pass my resume to some recruiting firms. One of the firms managed to put me in touch with PDT Partners. So the door is not sealed tight.

Based on my profile, do you have any advice on how to get companies to take an interest in me? Any career advice in general is also highly appreciated.

Thank you in advance,
jxj

 

[Keith Tan]

interested to hear more. where are you at now? probably best place to look around would be in NY, but they are looking for solid quant experience. how about be open to other roles in software development or data science.

 

[C S]

I recently got laid off from a Boston-based HFT startup after being with the firm for only 4 weeks. I'll be happy to explain more if anyone is interested.

So I'm now on the job market again, and I'm looking to get some unbiased feedback on my current profile and some advice on how to make it more attractive and competitive.

My selling points:
- Ph.D. in Mathematics from University of Michigan
- Double B.S. degrees in CS&E and Mathematics from UCLA (magma cumme laude, dept honors, etc...)
- Have worked in finance (Finra, HFT startup) after leaving academia
- Solid programming skills (more concretely, have passed most interviews in C++, Python)
- Good understanding of the fundamental of financial mathematics (Shreve, Joshi, some machine learning)

My weak points:
- Have made a poor career decision to work for Finra after leaving academia. While it was somewhat finance-related, it was by no means a quant role
- Mid-career so not so attractive as an entry-level quant, yet may not be qualified for a mid-level quant
- Minimal industry programming experience aside from SQL
- Got laid off from a startup

I think I can prove my value to the companies if only the companies will take an interest in my profile and give me a chance at an interview. However, I'm concerned some of these weak points will be detrimental to getting my foot in the door.

One sign of hope: The HFT startup was considerate enough to pass my resume to some recruiting firms. One of the firms managed to put me in touch with PDT Partners. So the door is not sealed tight.

Based on my profile, do you have any advice on how to get companies to take an interest in me? Any career advice in general is also highly appreciated.

Thank you in advance,
jxj

Sounds like you have an interesting story there, getting laid off after only 4 weeks ...

 

[alain]

I recently got laid off from a Boston-based HFT startup after being with the firm for only 4 weeks. I'll be happy to explain more if anyone is interested.

Please do so we can give you better suggestions on how to proceed.