Apologies if this topic has been beaten to death; I've looked through some of the previous posts on similar topics and I just wanted to get some more opinions with regards to peoples' general opinions on quantitative finance as a career, especially valuable would be the views of people working in the industry today. (I also apologize for the length of the post)
A little background on me: I'm an undergrad at Berkeley doing double degrees in EECS (Electrical Engineering & Computer Science) and Math. I've been interested in quantitative finance on-and-off for about a year now but I've been looking at it more seriously lately. My goal would probably be Haas' MFE program as it works well with my schedule/life for a few reasons. I'd probably also apply to Stanford, and maybe a few others.
The reason I'm asking is I've noticed a great deal of pessimism and mixed messages regarding the field of finance as a whole, to some extent here but also on other forums and sources of information. People talk about unsatisfying, boring jobs; lack of intellectual stimulation; high-stress, long hours; lack of job security; I've even heard quite a few well established people saying they wish they had remained in their original engineering fields.
Is it really so bad? Is this pessimism a symptom of the current state of the financial industry or is it indicative of what people feel during the "good times" as well? There are some heartening words on the field but these days they seem to be the exception, not the rule.
As an outsider without much in the way of financial experience, the field seems like an interesting application of my quantitative skills. I have broad interests and I find myself attracted to more interdisciplinary fields than narrow focus. I can't particularly see myself being an academic, nor a pure software engineer.
So, without continuing to ramble, I'm interested to know what peoples' opinions are. There are some specific questions below, but don't feel obligated to answer them directly; whatever people have to say, I'd appreciate the input.
Is the job intellectually stimulating? This is definitely important to me. I realize that no job is going to be 100% what we want it to in this regard, and every job will have its share of mundanity, but in a broad sense is it something that people find rewarding intellectually?
What do you enjoy most about the field? Least?
Do you feel like quantitative finance is the "right" field for you? Whatever that may mean to you.
Thanks for the input guys.
A little background on me: I'm an undergrad at Berkeley doing double degrees in EECS (Electrical Engineering & Computer Science) and Math. I've been interested in quantitative finance on-and-off for about a year now but I've been looking at it more seriously lately. My goal would probably be Haas' MFE program as it works well with my schedule/life for a few reasons. I'd probably also apply to Stanford, and maybe a few others.
The reason I'm asking is I've noticed a great deal of pessimism and mixed messages regarding the field of finance as a whole, to some extent here but also on other forums and sources of information. People talk about unsatisfying, boring jobs; lack of intellectual stimulation; high-stress, long hours; lack of job security; I've even heard quite a few well established people saying they wish they had remained in their original engineering fields.
Is it really so bad? Is this pessimism a symptom of the current state of the financial industry or is it indicative of what people feel during the "good times" as well? There are some heartening words on the field but these days they seem to be the exception, not the rule.
As an outsider without much in the way of financial experience, the field seems like an interesting application of my quantitative skills. I have broad interests and I find myself attracted to more interdisciplinary fields than narrow focus. I can't particularly see myself being an academic, nor a pure software engineer.
So, without continuing to ramble, I'm interested to know what peoples' opinions are. There are some specific questions below, but don't feel obligated to answer them directly; whatever people have to say, I'd appreciate the input.
Is the job intellectually stimulating? This is definitely important to me. I realize that no job is going to be 100% what we want it to in this regard, and every job will have its share of mundanity, but in a broad sense is it something that people find rewarding intellectually?
What do you enjoy most about the field? Least?
Do you feel like quantitative finance is the "right" field for you? Whatever that may mean to you.
Thanks for the input guys.
