In trouble

[vistabond]

Dear Everyone
I am in deep trouble. I graduated from UC Davis with a bio-chemical engineering degree last year (yea man it was hard enough already) I went into this program when they said the bio-tech was going to boom. Of course I got fooled so badly and I just want to dig a hole and hide my head in it. I was lucky that I got a job offer before I even graduated consider that many of my classmates waited 3 to 6 months. The company that I am working for is still a big one right next to HP. (so what) The pay is not that great around 55k (yea I know I'm in deep sh5t) Moreover, they are moving to indy but I don't want to go with there since I am Chinese of course I want to stay in San Francisco Bay YAY.

Okey, here is my plan to make the career change.

1. look for the jobs first and see what kind of jobs they offer in San Francisco bay. Unfortunately, I haven't found anything. I search Craigslist and Career builder. (yea I know that all the good jobs won't post on Career builder) May I ask where I can find some interns in the derivative or fix income field?

2. After reading the job descriptions and find the one I like, I will start develop skills match specifically the job. There are a lot of intense training program out there so I think I can just develop those skills by taking those classes. SAS is wide used and I found this, SAS Programming Certification

I actually found a lot of practical training classes if you guys want a particular topic, let me know and see what I can find.

3. I know that financial engineering is hot field and make a lot. What about portfolio manager? I like to trade stocks and I actually do fine in this. Should I just be a stock trader? If you guys like to trade, check this out and thank me later, www.zecco.com.

Since I am competing with time, I have go with the most practical approach. Here is what I found, Berkeley Financial Engineering Series 2008.
Same thing as the financial engineering and taught by the same professors.

Anyways, I got much more to say and tell but I need to see some feedback first. Thank you in advance.

 

[Andy Nguyen]

First, I'm not qualified to give advice on any legal matter. If you are on a F-1 or H1B visa which it appears to be, then you need to consult a lawyer to seek his advice on the matter

Education wise, since you are short in time, I'm not sure if there is much you can do. Most of the MFE programs have already concluded their admission for Fall 07.

The Berkeley series you mentioned may or may not help you with placement upon completion. I'm not too familiar with that series. It appears to an off shot business from their popular UCB program.

Now, you seem to look for jobs in the Bay area. I'm not familiar with the area and the firms recruiting there either but I can point you to some sites that focus on quant jobs. Barclays is in the bay area so you can look them up

Quantitative Finance jobs - San Francisco, CA
Quant Jobs, Quant Finance Jobs, Quantitative Analyst Jobs | QUANTster.com
http://www.efinancialcareers.com/

You can also try to get an IT job as a SAS programmer.

 

[vistabond]

I'm US Citizen

Dear Andy
OMG! Do I sound like H-1B or HB-1? My entire families are in the United States. Most of my relatives are in San Francisco bay area, some in LA and some in Hawaii.

Me and my parents came here in 1999 and became citizen in 2005.

Back to the subject! U r right about that, they won't provide job placement upon graduation. However, my point is that if I learn everything they need on the job requirements, I don't see why they won't hire me. Therefore, I really need to get the job description first and develop skills from there, right?

 

[Andy Nguyen]

Dear Andy
OMG! Do I sound like H-1B or HB-1? My entire families are in the United States. Most of my relatives are in San Francisco bay area, some in LA and some in Hawaii.

Me and my parents came here in 1999 and became citizen in 2005.

My bad. Then things don't seem as bleak as I first read.
There is no reason for you to follow your company to India if you don't want to. If you are on H1B, then it's another story.

You can even take time off and apply to some MFE program if you desire to. Unless you have some other constraints we are not aware of.

As for the job requirements, whatever they post in the ads is the minimum of what they expect you to know. It's more likely that they want to hire someone with the potential of learning new things quickly than someone with the skill set matching exactly the job ads.

 

[alain]

Dear Everyone
I am in deep trouble. I graduated from UC Davis with a bio-chemical engineering degree last year (yea man it was hard enough already) I went into this program when they said the bio-tech was going to boom. Of course I got fooled so badly and I just want to dig a hole and hide my head in it. I was lucky that I got a job offer before I even graduated consider that many of my classmates waited 3 to 6 months. The company that I am working for is still a big one right next to HP. (so what) The pay is not that great around 55k (yea I know I'm in deep sh5t) Moreover, they are moving to indy but I don't want to go with there since I am Chinese of course I want to stay in San Francisco Bay YAY.

What kind of degree did you get? a BS, MS or PhD? Maybe my perspective is totally out of whack but if you just graduated from college, isn't 55k a good starting salary out of college?

1. look for the jobs first and see what kind of jobs they offer in San Francisco bay. Unfortunately, I haven't found anything. I search Craigslist and Career builder. (yea I know that all the good jobs won't post on Career builder) May I ask where I can find some interns in the derivative or fix income field?

Follow Andy's advice about looking for a job or try to network with people in the industry.

 

[vistabond]

What kind of degree did you get? a BS, MS or PhD? Maybe my perspective is totally out of whack but if you just graduated from college, isn't 55k a good starting salary out of college?



Follow Andy's advice about looking for a job or try to network with people in the industry.

Good advice! I only have undergrad degree which it is the bio-chemical engineering from UC Davis. Yes, networking is very important but where I can get to talk to people in the industry. I guess I can take that financial engineering certificate program. I don't think I can take times off now because I have to pay my student loans and cars and our house. Oh well....55k is just as good as a start but it won't go up much. I bet Andy is making like 200k to 300k a year depends on his performance.

Well....Andy, you are a portfolio manger right? How come you need financial engn stuff? Financial engn deal with derivative and fixed income. I do believe that the certificate program from UCB is fine because they only tell you all the practical tools and applications. I can also network with people in the class, right? Thank you
!
:prayer:

 

[Andy Nguyen]

I bet Andy is making like 200k to 300k a year depends on his performance.

Well....Andy, you are a portfolio manger right?

Correction: I'm just a student in the Baruch MFE program right now. As for the salary figure, I'm not surprised if my classmates are or will be making that kind of salary shortly.

 

[Vadim]

Vistabond,

I think that if Financial Engineering is your passion and you are exited about this field you should research which of the program is the best and which one is fit for you and apply for this program. I am pretty sure it is your case.

However, if anybody is looking for a tremendous salary and the industry that going to boom he/she would be in trouble.

-V-

P.S. San Francisco is a nice city, I had an internship there and I have beautiful impression about the city.

 

[Dmytro]

i second Vadim's opinion about being passionate about what you do - switching one career for another just because the former is "not hot anymore" and the other pays well might not be the best approach. what if in a year there's some sort of a breakthrough and biochemistry is hot again? these days there are so many different ways of making decent money (and they change constantly!), the beauty is that you can decide in what field to earn it.
i don't know much about your situation/interests/etc, but my only advice would be - whatever career you choose, make sure you're ready to commit to it, and that salary is not your #1 criterion.
best of luck!

d

 

[vistabond]

finance

Just to be straight with you guys. I like finance much better. The only reason I did that was because my father asked me to do. I am indeed a finance person. That is just it!

 

[Uncle Max]

I do believe that the certificate program from UCB is fine because they only tell you all the practical tools and applications.

Here is a quote from the link you've provided in the very first post:

The Berkeley Financial Engineering Series is a program designed for investment professionals looking to enhance both their theoretical knowledge and modeling skills for pricing, hedging, trading, and portfolio management decisions.

Thus, it's not designed for you. Think twice before you invest your time and money.

 

[vistabond]

I knew that

Here is a quote from the link you've provided in the very first post:

Thus, it's not designed for you. Think twice before you invest your time and money.

OOOOH by the way, did you guys check www.zecco.com. Say "thanks" to me dah!

I knew that when I read their website. Of course you say that it doesn't fit me. What if they just teach the most practical skills that professionals need on their job. Then, those skills are all I need. It is just like if you are very very good at certain thing and that thing is exactly what the employer wants, I don't see why they won't consider you, right? huh? It's all about what they want from you and you learn what they need from you.

Of course you will say it's not designed for me and I don't it belongs to me either. However, if I learn it and I will be able to do the same thing as those professionals, then, it will be good for me, right? It is always about what you know but not the degree. If you are very good at certain thing and that thing is what the employer wants, I don't see why they won't consider you, right?

Let's me put out an example, you see the job description for financial analyst, proficient in Excel for financial modeling. Excel is huge and there are many many functions and they can open a 1 year degree for learning Excel. However, I bet you will only use certain functions out of all the Excel functions in order to be a good financial analyst. Therefore, why spend time and money to learn the entire Excel functions while you only certain functions.

I believe that the UCB certificate will teach you the most practical skills that the professionals use on their jobs daily. The on the job skills are all I need.

Ever since I got fooled by the bio-chemical engineering program, I only look for the most practical approach to a problem. The shortest distance to my destination.

Another example, if you want to be CFO, get the CFO specific trainings because a MBA degree won't teach you how to be a CFO. The CFO has a different skill set so you have to learn that skill set rather than going to a MBA program. I think I am just dancing around. All I am saying is be specific to the job and develop skill set just for the job.

 

[alain]

OOOOH by the way, did you guys check www.zecco.com. Say "thanks" to me dah!

Never heard of it.... try Interactive Brokers or MB Trading or OptionXpress or Think or Swim.

 

[alain]

Ever since I got fooled by the bio-chemical engineering program, I only look for the most practical approach to a problem. The shortest distance to my destination.

If you got fooled by chosing bio-chemical engineering, it means that you were looking for the hot ticket... not your passion.

Also, there are no shortcuts in this industry. At least not for a person like us so you are going in with the wrong ideas.

 

[Yuriy]

55K with an undergrad degree is not that bad If you survived 4 years and did not quit bio-chemical engineering then you might actually like the field. How about staying in the field of bio-chemical engineering for a couple more years, as you get more experience, your feelings towards the field might change, and the salary might go up as well (if thats your concern).

 

[Uncle Max]

What if they just teach the most practical skills that professionals need on their job. Then, those skills are all I need.

Oh, I'm sure they do but when they say it's designed for professionals they assume that prospective students have financial background. In other words, for example, they are not going to explain you what duration and convexity of the bond are in a class, the will just show you how to deal with it, how to use it. And if you don't know what it is you can be lost.