Texas Quants?

[Levi McClenny]

Howdy all!

I'm new to the forum, but I've been following for a while now, just never actually posted. I've been looking at shifting my career to being a quant from an Electrical Engineer. The electrical design life isnt for me (it's little boring imo).

I'm currently in a MSEE program at Texas A&M University. While not a big name amongst quants, this university has a seriously high caliber engineering program that I'm hoping to apply to the world of finance. I'm planning on pursuing a PhD in EE, likely from here (as I know it'll be sponsored) and I've been orienting all my coursework towards statistics and communication theory that has direct applications in the finance industry intentionally - so that I can start a career as a quant when I'm done.

I'm looking at the UW MS-CFRM program to learn everything I can about applying the statistics that I already have mastered to the world of finance. I see it as bridging the gap between engineering and finance. Since there a distance delivery option I was looking to enroll concurrently with my PhD and likely finish both at the same time.

Onto the actual reason for this post - I'm tied down to Houston because of US Army Reserve obligations. I know the market for quants isnt as big in Texas, and it seems that Houston is the worst. My issue after all this is said and done is that I'll be "overqualified" for most entry positions I'll likely be applying for. I was hoping to get a vibe of if there were any quants on this forum that are located in Texas (or Houston specifically) that could chime in and offer advice on finding a way into the Houston industry until I can look at moving to a new USAR unit in a more popular area for quants.

tl;dr - MSEE guy looking to get a vibe of the Houston quant industry and get some advice for breaking into it.

 

[pingu]

Howdy all!

I'm new to the forum, but I've been following for a while now, just never actually posted. I've been looking at shifting my career to being a quant from an Electrical Engineer. The electrical design life isnt for me (it's little boring imo).

I'm currently in a MSEE program at Texas A&M University. While not a big name amongst quants, this university has a seriously high caliber engineering program that I'm hoping to apply to the world of finance. I'm planning on pursuing a PhD in EE, likely from here (as I know it'll be sponsored) and I've been orienting all my coursework towards statistics and communication theory that has direct applications in the finance industry intentionally - so that I can start a career as a quant when I'm done.

I'm looking at the UW MS-CFRM program to learn everything I can about applying the statistics that I already have mastered to the world of finance. I see it as bridging the gap between engineering and finance. Since there a distance delivery option I was looking to enroll concurrently with my PhD and likely finish both at the same time.

Onto the actual reason for this post - I'm tied down to Houston because of US Army Reserve obligations. I know the market for quants isnt as big in Texas, and it seems that Houston is the worst. My issue after all this is said and done is that I'll be "overqualified" for most entry positions I'll likely be applying for. I was hoping to get a vibe of if there were any quants on this forum that are located in Texas (or Houston specifically) that could chime in and offer advice on finding a way into the Houston industry until I can look at moving to a new USAR unit in a more popular area for quants.

tl;dr - MSEE guy looking to get a vibe of the Houston quant industry and get some advice for breaking into it.

Yo, WTH!! do you want to be a quant or do a PhD or do MS in CFRM? c'mon, make a decision.

 

[Levi McClenny]

Yo, WTH!! do you want to be a quant or do a PhD or do MS in CFRM? c'mon, make a decision.

Gunning for all the above. If that's a bad approach I'd like to know why.

 

[pingu]

Gunning for all the above. If that's a bad approach I'd like to know why.

I think you are trying to be too much. Houston has all the oil companies, right? There has to be quant opportunities there, commodities trading and risk management.

My buddies are in Austin and Dallas. They do algo.

 

[Levi McClenny]

The PhD was intended to give me a stronger statistical and analytical ability than most MSCF candidates, but use the MSCF to apply those advanced statistical understandings (machine learning, signal processing, etc) to finance. It seems like a bit much, but there's a method to the madness in my mind.

And with the way the energy markets are behaving currently the hiring environment at an energy firm is... questionable.

ALGO is a decent place to be looking, but like you said - Austin and Dallas. Although it is relieving to hear that there are hedge fund types in Texas. I'd like to get in touch if possible to see what advice they might have.

 

[Yike Lu]

I'm from TX, not living there anymore. Back in '09-'10 when I was at home looking for quant jobs, most of the buzz was around Houston for energy trading. I know one prop firm located in ATX, and there's a decent hedge fund scene in Dallas, although the ones I was looking at aren't quant.