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Physicist -> Quant. Do I need more education?

SeanH

Joined
11/20/11
Messages
3
Points
11
Hi all,

Yet another physicist thinking about making the jump into the quant world. I'm two years out of my PhD and have a nice gig in industry (nearby in NJ), but I'm fascinated by the quant world and have begun preparing myself to be ready for interviews (Joshi's Mathematical Finance and C++ book).

I guess my main question is this: With the proliferation of MFE degrees and certificates, does a physics PhD like myself need additional formal education, MFE certificates, etc.?
 
It will increase your chances of getting into good quant places since you will get the appropriate for this industry training.
You can try applying today and see what happens.
 
Alexei said:
It will increase your chances of getting into good quant places since you will get the appropriate for this industry training.
You can try applying today and see what happens.
Click to expand...


I agree , it can't hurt much to apply now and see how it goes.Worst case scenario is that some places will get a bad impression and decline.Assuming that you won't get into anyplace and go do a MFE, you'll be back in the market at least 2-3 years from now.
You'll be able to reapply and come better prepared.
 
SeanH said:
I'm two years out of my PhD and have a nice gig in industry (nearby in NJ), but I'm fascinated by the quant world
Click to expand...
How are you certain that you do not suffer from the "grass greener on the other side" symptom? A good question to ask is would you be willing to give up your nice gig for a lower paid, longer hour job doing "quant stuff"?
 
Andy Nguyen said:
How are you certain that you do not suffer from the "grass greener on the other side" symptom? A good question to ask is would you be willing to give up your nice gig for a lower paid, longer hour job doing "quant stuff"?
Click to expand...

I think it'd be rather difficult for anyone to really know that for certain.

I enjoy doing what I do now, which already entails ridiculously long hours modeling stochastic processes, but I also legitimately enjoy finance. In a perfect world with perfect opportunities I'd be happy to continue my physics career and keep quant studies and algorithm building attempts as a fun hobby. The reality is the funding situation in my field is volatile and I'd be short-sighted not to consider alternate careers, especially one that I believe I'd enjoy.

So yes, I'd consider a new gig for lower pay and possibly the same ridiculous hours. Having a job I'd enjoy combined with not worrying about moving every two or three years would be worth a lot in my book.
 
Finance offers geographical stability, which is what I was referring to. I never assumed great job security.
 
Yup. My dad had 7 different jobs: Chase, Goldman, AIG, ... all in NY.
 
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