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Quant Developer

Joined
2/28/11
Messages
5
Points
11
Hi,

I dont know about the US but Quant Developers are in increasing demand here and a lot of MFE people are being tapped for the same, especially in the good IB's based out of here [Singapore is a middle office hub].

What do you guys think about the quant dev career path? Is it a good option for MFE's given its actual quant dev in an IB and not some IT platform role?

On a related note, I've found that MFE paths are getting constricted. Quant roles need a PhD minimum and getting trading roles with no experience previously is a joke. Any advice?

Regards.
 
I've seen the same sort of signal about Sg, though it's always hard to pick a trend from the noise.

There is a structural shortage of good Quant Developers, one that is not going to be filled any time soon, but that's different from it being a good career path...
There is no masters course anywhere that turns out QDs, and many CS courses don't even teach C++ because the kids get scared and the lecturers just want an easy life.

Fact is that adding "developer" to your job specification halves what you might otherwise earn.

More than once I've had informal discussions with senior managers of banks that go something like:

Bank: "we can't hire good QDs, they all want to be quants, and/or they're crap".

DCFC: "that's because you pay them half as much as the quants."

Bank: "yes, they're QDs, we pay them less because they are only QDs"

DCFC: "you want someone who can do QF as well as a quant, and C++ as well as a BOFH at Amazon and you want to pay them less than either..."

Bank: "it's not me that decides that, it's the policy in IT"

I've seen QDs kicked out of the quant group and/or front office into Soviet style IT for being "techie" and genuine surprise from their managers they the only reason that it took as as long as 24 hours for me to get their CV is that they had to delete the many uses of the word "bastards" from their description of their current job. Then they quit.

Sadly, most QDs may work with quants but are in fact in IT headcount which means a lousy bonus, and a depressing chance that you'll be taken off QD work and made to work on import routines for static data maintenance.
 
So to summarize - Not a great choice.

I'm especially interested as I'm graduating and the one thing going for me is strong C++ skills, which led to the QD job. I know you've been asked this a number of times, but with regard to the current market and the glut of finance professionals [MBA+MFE], what would you suggest as a good role to aim for amongst MFE grads with no experience in finance?

To give you an idea about the Singapore market [Half the discussion I have with classmates regards this so I can claim some knowledge of the same] -
1. Trading jobs are non-existant unless already close to front office.
2. Pure Quant analysis roles require a PhD minimum. Sometimes in a few cases i've seen, even thats not enough.
3. Most offers are for Dev/Programmer roles or core middle office such as the Risk teams in banks.
4. The min relevant experience cycle is almost impossible to break in this market as they prefer to take fresh undergrads in their grad programs for that rather than MFE passouts. We seem to be falling in a grey area between undergrads and MBA's.

What would you advise as a career path for someone looking to finally end up in a front office role [Cliched, I know, but isn't that the dream?]. Would a QD for a few years while looking be preferable or a middle office role at a Bank?

Alternatively, there are a number of software third party vendors recruiting MFE's for a variety of roles such as presales. Not sure if thats the way to go though.

I agree with the difficulty in separating trends from noise as it applies most in job selection. There's an awesome amount of noise generated regarding what looks good on the resume, most of which is crap. I'd appreciate a frank answer as to WHAT a fresh MFE grad should do?
 
P.S. by no experience I mean no formal work ex. Interned for 5 months in a hedge fund and currently interning as a QD.
 
Hi Rohan (NTU MFE GRAD),

Where did you join finally and in which role. I would be joining MFE at NUS this july.
Hence, your inputs on career prospects after MFE at S'pore would be very useful.

Thanks,
Nitin
 
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