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work load for a financial engineer?

Joined
1/21/08
Messages
1
Points
11
Hi,

I'm a math and econ student at Rutgers University. I'm a junior and trying to figure out what to do with my life. I have taken classes in probability, partial differential equations, linear algebra and numerical analysis, so I figured I have a good background for mathematical finance. But I heard that jobs in this field have 60 to 80 hour work weeks. Is this true?

I think I'd rather get into real estate and be a teacher if that's the case.
 
Hi,

I'm a math and econ student at Rutgers University. I'm a junior and trying to figure out what to do with my life. I have taken classes in probability, partial differential equations, linear algebra and numerical analysis, so I figured I have a good background for mathematical finance. But I heard that jobs in this field have 60 to 80 hour work weeks. Is this true?

I think I'd rather get into real estate and be a teacher if that's the case.

I think teaching and real estate are calling you. Quant finance is not for you.
 
Here is what I found about 60-80 hour week: It is a MYTH. At least when it is applied to my experience.

If you are a savvy individual, quick learner, researcher, optimizer, automator, excel guru, there is no need to stay longer than 8-9 hours at work daily. If you look at the work regular quants/traders/sales do, it is not problem solving, but data extraction, formatting and filtering. If you can automate that, you are better than 80%.

There are specific tools of the trade that help you along. Here is my list:

Ultraedit - text Editor
Curl - automated FTP/FTPS/SSL/HTTP/, basically all protocol downloader
VisualCron - Scheduler/ETL
Visual Studio

Make sure that your desktop is formatted properly and that there is no extra second wasted when switching from one monitor to another. If there there is a place for optimization, exploit it.

I use Georgia font for everything, that makes it easier on eyes. Make sure it is large enough.
 
You ask this question to investment banking analysts and they will tell you how they spend 100 hours every week preparing pitch books.
Fortunately, the schedule of quantitative side is pretty much by desk/daily task but on average, no where close to those aforementioned poor souls.
Here are some examples at my place

The stat arb guys leave promptly at 5:30PM. EVERYDAY
The convertible bond desk guys leave an hour after the stat guys.
And then us, who don't seem to keep a schedule. Things are different everyday.

You can increase your productivity by automating certain things but if you want to join this field and 60-80h seems too much, then teaching sounds like a much better match.

Good luck being a real estate agent in this market.
 
Teachers do not always escape long work weeks.

One of the reasons I went into teaching was because I wished to avoid "60-80 hr weeks." I reasoned that I could make up for the low salary by playing poker on the side (I was a pro poker player prior to being a teacher). This has not worked out for me.

I am a teacher at a private school in the USA. Part of my duties involve coaching in the fall and winter. This means that in the winter and fall I am at school from 7:30am-6:00pm every Monday-Friday, and about 1:00pm-5pm every Saturday (only in the fall). It is important to note that these are all required hours; I must be at school for those hours. This does not count any of the work I do at home (grading, preparation, etc). I can get some grading, extra help, and prep done at school, but not all of it. I generally always have at least 30 minutes of work each night and a couple hours on Sunday.

When progress reports are due, the workload increases dramatically. On top of all of my other responsibilities, I must also submit grades and write individual reports for 55 students.

In other words, I have not had much time for poker.

Of course, the long vacations are nice, but the salary is not. I expect to work longer hours as a quant, but I also expect to paid MUCH more. I also expect to be rewarded based on merit.

The final straw came when I started considering switching to a public school so that I could avoid coaching responsibilities. So, I started looking into getting a masters degree so I could move up on the pay scale. However, as I pondered taking graduate education classes, mind-melting nightmares from insipid and vacuous undergrad courses with titles like "Social Foundations of Education" and "Adolescent Psychology" came searing into my mind. No thanks!

Because of this, I am currently applying to a handful of FE/Math Finance programs in the area and keeping my fingers crossed.

If you are ok with a low salary that only creeps upwards because you stuck around for another year, and you like kids, then go for it. I like teaching, but I can't take care of a family with the salary, so I have to do something else.
 
Carl puts it well, and of course many other jobs have >60 hours.
S/W development is in this area, as are many other types of engineering.
vbranov is right that one's productivity can be greatly increase but in a competitive game that typically means you achieve more, not that you work less.
Also many managers like face time.
http://www.quantnet.com/forum/member.php?u=3001
In a bank or HF the chances of getting a <60 hour job are very small.
In some s/w firms and consultancies, these do exist.
Also government work may be calling for you. They don't hire that many quant types, but its hard for them to compete on pay so they offer "lifestyle".
 
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