Need advice: statistics Phd gets into IB

[Karol Meng]

I'm a second year PhD in statistics at a good US stat department. Well, I know it's easy to get a stat/biostat job after graduation, but I just want to get into IB.

I really need some advice about what I should do to find a IB job.
Just take as many econ/MBA finance/CS phd courses as possible without getting any of these degree?
Or, take CFA exams?
Or, go to a MFE program after graduation?

I don't know which is a better way to be more competitive in the job market. Thanks.

 

[alain]

how long before you graduate? Why do you want to go to an IB?

 

[Karol Meng]

I still have 3 years before graduation. Now I just want to have a clear plan of what to do in the next 3 years before entering job market.

For the reason to go to IB...... Well, though it's easy to get a statistics job, our work is just a support of other professionals but never have the kernel techniques. Besides, I took asset pricing phd course last year. I found it interesting and not difficult for me...... There are many reasons to be interested in finance and investment bank.

 

[passonken]

Hey Caroll
I am in a similar situation. I got a Master in applied mathematics with emphasis in finite difference treatment of PDEs. I've just been offered admission in a couple of Phd programs in stat. I will sit for the qualifying examinations a week after the beginning of the fall semester.
I want to be a quant as well and I think that as long as you know what beeing a quant is all about (u should do your homework to figure it out) you should choose the right focus for your phd thesis.
This is what I came out with:
1-) Phd in mathematical -statistics with focus in stochastic processes
2-) PhD in statistics with application in risk management
3-) PhD in stat with focus on statistical arbitrage
4-) PhD in stat with application in quantitative finance (univ florida offers such an option)
5-) PhD in statistics with emphasis in financial modeling
6-) learn a lot of C++ programming and get some nice projects done in C++ along with an internship before graduation. It wouldn't hurt I guess to lay out there a couple of finance-related publications.
there are many more options when you want to find a smooth transition from statistics to quant.
I've designed my personal plan for the next two or three years in the stat phd program.
- focus in risk management which overlaps heavily with econometrics.
- get a master in financial mathematics with focus in derivative pricing (I've been told I should take no more than a year since I've taken all the required math classes pde,num analysis stochastics calculus,measure and integration etc...)
In a totally different note do not forget that as a statistics pHd you are in good position to complete at least four exams in road to be an actuary. Which is also a well paid job and is consistently ranked among the best jobs in the country.
Statistician have a lot of options out there :dance:
It would be interesting to get an actual quant's opinion about all this anyway.
Cheers !#-o

 

[Andy Nguyen]

Statistician have a lot of options out there

The NYT actually agrees with you
For Today's Graduate, Just One Word - Statistics - NYTimes.com

“I keep saying that the sexy job in the next 10 years will be statisticians,” said Hal Varian, chief economist at Google. “And I’m not kidding.”

The rising stature of statisticians, who can earn $125,000 at top companies in their first year after getting a doctorate, is a byproduct of the recent explosion of digital data. In field after field, computing and the Web are creating new realms of data to explore — sensor signals, surveillance tapes, social network chatter, public records and more. And the digital data surge only promises to accelerate, rising fivefold by 2012, according to a projection by IDC, a research firm.

 

[CGiuliano]

This thread is making me want to go for a Ph.D in Stats.

Can any one make a list of the top programs?

 

[Andy Nguyen]

Go to USNews site and look at their ranking.

 

[kwlmy]

3 years is a long time. Focus on what you are doing right now. Decide 1 year before you graduate.