Jobs after completing MFE degree.

[buddyforall]

Hi Everybody,

I have been going through quantnet.com and found your threads to be quite informative without all the unnecessary crap.

# I personally don't like programming that much however I am not afraid of it either.Right now I am pursuing CFA and working in an IT Consultancy.


# My aim is to secure a core finance role(equity research,FI research etc ) after MFE.I am flexible to the extent that I am a finance guy who can code, that is 50 :50 break up into finance and IT.However I don't like to be pigeonholed into a quant developer or a programmer who knows some finance.


#So what would be you guys suggestion in this case.

Do you think MFE from a good MFE program is a reasonable path towards my aim?

Would clearing CFA Level II would help me in getting the role I want ? Or is it of marginal benefit unless you have core finance experience.




Thanks all

PS: The market is bad and things are uncertain that goes without saying.

 

[doug reich]

Can you be more clear about your goal? The titles you describe are traditionally outside quant roles, and sound like fundamental analysis. If that is your interest, an MFE will not be of use.

As for CFA, it shows an extra level of maturity and devotion. I do not think it will help you break into the industry except for tie breaking with other unexperienced candidates. Of course, to become a charterholder you have to already have several years industry experience. (Note of course that my opinion is informed by very thin data.)

 

[IlyaKEightSix]

Well what do you *think* a quant does? What do you want *your* quant job to be like? If you have higher ed and are good at something technical, odds are, you can probably work something out.

 

[Stefan Zota]

There is plenty of information about quant jobs on this forum. There are also some books about the life of quants.
As Doug mentioned, investment research is outside of scope for a quant. That involves fundamental research (e.g. financial statement analysis).
However, investment management (e.g. portofolio analytics, performance attribution) does involve quant skills. In this case an MFE will help.