To move from computer programming to a quantitative job in finance

[CHAITHANYA]

I have been working as a software engineer in Infosys (well-known software services MNC from India) for the last 2.5 years and worked extensively on C++ and the integration tool TIBCO.
As I am interested in finance and quantitative analysis, I am planning to move into the field of finance in a position that is suitable for me. I am confident that I have gained pretty good knowledge in finance from the reading driven by my personal interest from a long time and very much passionate about moving from computer programming to a more quantitative field.
I studied advanced mathematics (calculus, probability, statistics, etc) as part of my Engineering course in Electronics (in Hyderabad, India). To brush up my skills in basic finance concepts and mathematics, I am preparing for PRMIA certification (targetting to complete first 2 exams by this November/December), which I hope will improve my profile and strengthen my application to some extent (please let me know if you think differentlyl on this).
I am currently in Melbourne (on an on-site assignment at the client's office) and want to apply for financial services companies here in the Jan/Feb 2009.
Please post your opinions on how difficult is it to get into such job in Australia given my profile and background (or if it is feasible or not). Also please tell me what I can do in next 6 months to improve my profile and strengthen my application for a quantitative job in finance.

 

[doug reich]

In the past there has not been as much expertise on this forum about Australia, as this is a New York-centric forums. However, I encourage you to search the forums for such questions, as some have come up from time-to-time.

As for preparation, there are quite a few such threads; please look at the MFE Candiate Profiles for such advice.