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Quick questions.

Joined
7/25/10
Messages
862
Points
38
Hey all. Avidly reading the forum/articles; lots of good stuff here.
I had three questions.

1) How important is it to go to a "top-tier" school in undergrad and grad/phd respectively for a quant job.
2) Is there any job in the _finance_ industry that can lead to a quant job?
3) What are the hours like :P Is it completely brutal like IBanking or a little bit toned down (I do not mean a 9-5 thing though.)
 
Here's my opinion on number 2

Having completed a summer internship in a quantitative group, I really don't think there is any job/role that leads to a true quant role without prior education in the field.

In order to be able to fully understand and perform a quant role, a certain mathematical/programmation background is necessary. When you are hired at a workplace, they do not have time to teach you all this mathematical background, which, in my opinion, is also quite hard to pick up by yourself.
 
Having completed a summer internship in a quantitative group

Can you elaborate on that :)
Are you a masters or undergrad student, and what firm did you intern for?
 
Here is the response from one WSEA (Wall Street Executive Anonymous) who happened to see this question.
Note to self: I need to charge for this courier service

1) The quality of your education is always important. Going to a cheaper, lesser school does not pay in the long run. That said, people with relevent experience are ALWAYS considered for positions.

2) ANY job in finance can lead to a quant job. As a hiring manager, one of the toughest tasks is figuring out who really wants to be in finance and who is just looking for money. In this respect, job experience is more important than graduate education. I'd pick an undergrad engineer with a fire in his or her belly and a few years of finance experience LONG before I'd pick a green MQF.

3) The hours are tough. Assume 12 hours per day. I've been at this for over 25 years and I still average 11.5 hours per day. If you're not ready to make that kind comittment, don't go into finance. You'll hate it and become a journeyman geek always among the first to be fired when firms shrink headcount.
 
Hello Sir (that is, the WSEA :P) and thank you Andy for posting the message.

For 1) I meant not the quality of education per se, but rather the prestige. Is prestige an overly important factor?
In addition, 12 hours a day is about 60 days a week - if you don't work on weekends. That being said, how often do quants find themselves working on weekends?

Thanks for answering the questions of a clueless high school kid.
 
Andy - I have read a few times that you brought this point up, regarding people going into quant finance either out of interest or going after the quick money. If one is interested in both learning financial theories and in the higher income potential of the profession, should that be considered one who's interested in finance or the latter? Is the person going for the quick money one who's interested in ONLY the higher income potential but lacks any interest in finance? Just a curious question regarding what admission officers/employers might use to distinguish between the two.

Apologies also for posting an unrelevant question to the thread.
 
There is nothing wrong with wanting to make more money. Heck, who would not like to make 1M instead of 60K a year.
But like our WSEA mentioned, the hours are brutal and if you are in it for the money, you will burn out sooner than later.
I can only speak from the admission point of view, that when reading personal essay, it's sometimes obvious to see if one is genuinely interested. From the hiring point of view, I think you can look at one's resume and see if he is a job hopper or not.

---------- Post added at 05:23 PM ---------- Previous post was at 05:14 PM ----------

From WSEA

"Money never sleeps." Be prepared to work weekends, especially early on. If you're not ready to do that, don't go into finance.

To PennyLess: the mercenaries are easier to spot than you might imagine. They tend to focus upon advancement rather than on getting the job done.
 
As I remember someone saying before, if you are really good then it doesn't matter what school you go to because you will do well no matter what. That being said a well recognized university name on your resume is only going to help.

When it comes to picking universities for undergrad/graduate school, it often comes down to cost and location. My advice is go to the highest ranked school you can get into and afford, pick a major that interests you and that you enjoy (or double major) and then do your best both in and outside the classroom.
 
Cost...and simply getting in is the issue for me.
To the WSEA: Could that be a reference to Wallstreet 2 ;-)
In fact, is anyone else on this forum Going to see Gordon Gecko one last time?
 
Cost...and simply getting in is the issue for me.
To the WSEA: Could that be a reference to Wallstreet 2 ;-)
In fact, is anyone else on this forum Going to see Gordon Gecko one last time?

I will definitely go to watch it; however, I think it is until Sept 24 or so that it will be released. Also looking forward to wallstreet warriors season 3, whenever they finally release it.
 
Hey guys, another question :) Sorry, and thanks for all the answers!

I'm thinking of where to apply for undergraduate, and I was wondering if Baruch also has a good undergrad program (from what I've seen, it looks quite affordable too!) Any other suggestions for undergrad? Don't say CMU because I know that already ;-)
 
Also looking forward to wallstreet warriors season 3, whenever they finally release it.
That series is still going on? I watched the first series and actually invited Tim Sykes over for a talk with quantnet members, beer afterward. He did sell quite a few copies of his book (Amazon.com: An American Hedge Fund: How I Made $2 Million as a Stock Operator ) to our members. What a guy.

i did catch a few episodes on the second season where a girl who did intern at a trading firm. I feel they go a bit on the extreme to sale to the public who has no idea what an inside of Wall Street looks like.

Links to the DVD for anyone interested
Amazon.com: Wall Street Warriors: Season 1: Timothy Sykes, Sandra Navidi, Scott J. Gill, Sean Skelton: Movies TV
Amazon.com: Wall Street Warriors Season 2: Wall Street Warriors
 
While I am obviously applying to Wharton, I cannot -expect- to get in :P

Thanks for the input thogh; do you (or anyone else here) happen to know about baruch undergrad?
 
one comment. don't believe in this nonsense about super long hours.

to be specific, i personally know about 15 quants working in 5 different IBs. only one of them regularly starts his day before 8am and finishes his working day beyond the 8pm mark. this poor fellow works for GS. All others work, on average, from 9am to around 7pm.

Most of people in my team work from 9am to 6:30pm.

Remember, there are also quant positions oustide of FO. E.g. MO model val. jobs which are just as quanty (if not more in some sense...explained below) than FO ones.

As an example, model validation quants tend to work on reimplementing the models, reviewing them (math framework, calibration, pricing etc.), looking at model different from those used in FO to asses model risk etc.....as opposed to desk quants who often act as traders' slaves implementing some particular model often having no clue about why/how it is used.

don't buy this "you've got to love quant. finance and long working hours culture to work in the industry" garbage.
IBanking is a big industry, you can almost always find what's suitable for you.
 
Interesting! Did they experience significant hits to their salaries by choosing a less hour-intensive job? And more importantly, how much work experience do they have behind them?

Thanks for the input.

PS Can someone PLEASE answer my baruch question?
 
That series is still going on? I watched the first series and actually invited Tim Sykes over for a talk with quantnet members, beer afterward. He did sell quite a few copies of his book (Amazon.com: An American Hedge Fund: How I Made $2 Million as a Stock Operator ) to our members. What a guy.

i did catch a few episodes on the second season where a girl who did intern at a trading firm. I feel they go a bit on the extreme to sale to the public who has no idea what an inside of Wall Street looks like.

Links to the DVD for anyone interested
Amazon.com: Wall Street Warriors: Season 1: Timothy Sykes, Sandra Navidi, Scott J. Gill, Sean Skelton: Movies TV
Amazon.com: Wall Street Warriors Season 2: Wall Street Warriors

Yes the show is still being made, at least according to wiki and their official site. However, they have not yet determined the time of release for season 3.
 
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