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Which of the two options is better?

Slartibartfast

Joined
11/10/13
Messages
3
Points
11
I'm about to finish a PhD in computer science at UWaterloo. From the point of view of getting a good quant position, which of the following is better:

1) Try to get a postdoc position at a prestigious university in the US and leverage the university's name to get a quant job.

2) Just prepare and apply for quant positions right now.

These two strategies will require me to do completely different kinds of work. If I want to do (1), I will have to focus on publishing more papers over the next one year so that I can get a good postdoc position. If I want to do (2), I will have to prepare for finance interviews over the next few months and apply for quant jobs. So what should I pick?

Or another way of asking the same question is this: assuming I get my PhD in December 2014, two years from now which of the two career paths will make me a better candidate for a quant position: 1) I do one or two postdocs at prestigious universities over the next two years, or 2) I work as a quant for the next two years?
 
There are too many implicit misconceptions in what you are trying to ask, for any answer to truly be useful.
 
Which of the two career paths will make me a better candidate for a quant position:
1) I do one or two postdocs at prestigious universities over the next two years,
2) I work as a quant for the next two years.

The quant work experience is far more useful than postdoc experience in computer science (well, this kinda depends on your research area but I'll assume that you will not do research directly related to computational finance).
 
Why do you want to try for a quant position? Your main strength is your technical knowledge. You sould be able to get an entry-level position (or a least an internship) in HFT. Then, learn as much as you can and after 3-4 months they will convert it into a full-time position. Your income potential in HFT will be much greater than in a quant role.
 
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