How to become a quant reddit Being a quant on Wall Street essentially requires you to have an advanced degree in something quantitative CSCareerQuestions protests in solidarity with the developers who made third party reddit apps. Again I don't work as a quant but one part people get confused is "using ML at a bank" may be, but is not necessarily, equal to a quant. Do all of this while having a 9-5 job related to quant (data analyst/ data science, software engineer etc). A lot of traders (myself included) did go to those schools, but I also have coworkers from Northwestern, Amherst, Rutgers, UMich, etc. So if you're a quant researcher, coming up with models, you make a lot. No one cares about macroeconomics in quant (in fact you don't need to know shit about finance, not even what a stock or option is techncially), but it's nice that you show an interest in finance. If you're someone who got a degree in business administration and now you're 26 wondering how you can become a quant, your best chance is basically starting from ground 0 by getting a degree in math. View community ranking In the Top 1% of largest communities on Reddit. That caused a lot of frustrations due to slippage in the market as well as not being able to fully trade in a systematic manner as sometimes emotions might come into play. If you want to become a dev you should know every language mentioned above If you want to be a quant developer, however, you're pretty much stuck with C++ as that is the industry CSCareerQuestions protests in solidarity with the developers who made third party reddit apps. It’s not a common one, most people just stay as a quant albeit at differing levels of seniority. I want to become a quant. (I will also have a second masters degree — masters in library and information science, not sure how relevant that is. Use those two things to get your foot in the door. Keep in mind that quant and quant developer are not the same role. The MCAT (Medical College Admission Test) is offered by the AAMC and is a required exam for admission to medical schools in the USA and Canada. With that being said, what aspects of CS and Finance should I learn more about/focus on to ultimately be a quant trader/dev? Hey I interned at a market making quant firm (SIG, Optiver, IMC, Jane Street, Akuna etc. My pay is ok-ok to the country I live in and it is the just the beginning of my career. That's a better role but it's a trading role, not research. I've seen many ex-quants move to Facebook, Google, Amazon, and similar places. S. There are a lot of quant trading roles where a talented quantitatively minded graduate from a 4 year program can add value and learn whatever extra is required on the job. Learn as much about math, ML, and compsci as you can, get good grades, and become an encyclopedia about finance. quants don't know and don't need "econometrics" (unless that's your euphemism for basic stats): instrumental variables or regression discontinuity designs or almost all econometrics economists use isn't super widely quant used. You can just Google "quant maths questions" or "quant brain teasers" you will get plenty of questions to practice on. Apply to as many internships as possible, cold email, cold LinkedIn message, network, find like minded students, figure out My goal is to start my first “big boy,” job as a quant in January 2023 (hopefully finding a job before graduating to avoid any hanging around). BlackRock Systematic, Man AHL, AQR, Acadian, Winton, JPM AM Quant Beta etc) [single manager Ive just started diving into the world of FinTech before stumbling upon the Quant job. If you look at getting into Georgia tech and uiuc and think no, that's hard, this is bad advice - becoming a quant is also hard. How to become a quant trader? I’m You should consider doing a M. Yeah cool, bring a quant has its perks, good pay etc, but do you guys actually have a life outside of work? Do you guys have free time? Work life balance? I’d I've looked into interview prep for quant—though it is interesting and the questions are akin to problem solving books I do in my free time—I don't want to waste time preparing for interviews IF I have quite a low chance at acceptance as an undergrad considering my lack of spikes. , cython too if you can) with a solid Hi everyone, I would like to become a quant developer at some point and was wondering if I anyone has some tips in making the transition coming from View community ranking In the Top 1% of largest communities on Reddit. Where do you guys recommend I start, what projects can I develop for my portfolio, what companies are hiring, and books to read. Hello Reddit, I’m currently a junior in computer science in a Canadian university. It seems to me that most quant traders are extremely qualified, graduating from top colleges, having good grades and internships at big companies. I always aspired to become a trader for a financial institution. In this article, I will be sharing tips and the list of resources I’d use if I had to start over with becoming a Quant again. My inspiration to trade comes from the same person who inspired me to get a degree in the first place: Edward O. Chance is thin tbh. no specific ATAR requirements, distinction WAM usually a standard screen by quant firms. Sc in finance, some universities also offer some M. This is absolutely false. Typical requirements are Masters/Phd in a quant area (Physics, Maths, Economics, Quant Finance - does industrial engineering belong? Don't know enough to say). The best performing hedge funds in the world, like renaissance technologies, hire mathematicians and scientists over finance degrees, and will throw out resumes if Sure you can become a quant without a math background, but you’ll be working at a lower tier firm and it’ll be a lot harder to get your foot in the door. Happy hunting, with a PhD in physics. Quant Researchers, UK or US, JS or otherwise, typically have more education. The highly technical subject of quantitative finance, sometimes known as "quant finance," uses mathematical and computer techniques to study financial markets and develop trading strategies. If anyone has recommendations on classes (lower and upper div) to take that are important for the field please let me know. As much as I like studying physics and learn things about the universe, I start to think that the path of research didn't really fit me, as I am not dedicated enough to stay sharp in academia, and the field is extremely saturated already. First, let’s talk about the general skillset for becoming a quant. reddit's new API changes kill third party I then found this reddit sub (and the other one called quant), and the more I read about the posts and discussions, about the books and the articles suggested, the more I wanted to do it. ) I personally do a lot of coding, but despite my background, I'm not a "theoretical quant" -- I'm a working quant. If you wana become a quant because it seems like you get to do alot of technical and mathy work, then thats good. Read good quant books, papers and implement strategies. ) So far my idea has been for a long time to study Data Science, but recently I've been reading about Quantitative Analysis, and I've started to become more interested on that. While this is becoming more commonplace, I think people are stressing themselves out too much when it comes to getting the offer letter. I'm staying here because I like Canada a lot more than the US (as an immigrant), but there's no doubt the average quant is way richer in the US. Tl;dr being a quant requires way more Math and Stats than CS, and Math finance is designed the way it is for a reason. It's better to spend your time practicing interviews and make sure you get a quant job rather than trying to convince companies that you're already a quant. Our friendly Reddit community is here to make the exciting field of business analysis accessible to everyone. However, it's not like you're going to be a quant being paid a bookkeeper's salary. If all goes So I'm a year 12 (grade 13) student in the UK who is really passionate about maths and is looking at quant trading as a potential career. I have a friend who become a quant who just had a math degree. Although it is often thought of as a difficult and competitive career, success is absolutely attainable with effort and determination. I had exposure to programming and financial mathematics courtesy of my undergrad and prev. Derman said the more math you know the better. Quant research roles are primarily for advanced degrees like Masters and PhD’s. You should have no problem finding a quant job. First of all, the word quant itself can mean lots of things, and have different roles at different companies. experience and I worked on the finance bit with CFA. And out of all of them the most draining and grueling process has been prepping for quant roles. Hi, I'm currently an undergrad planning on doing a double major in Comp sci and math (will get a B. Step 7) Get internships in your freshman and sophomore years at FAANG or preferably ultra exclusive firms like OpenAI Step 8) Junior Year quant apps If you do all of that you are almost certain to get a quant offer That being said, MFE grads have an opening for quant trading roles in the following ways: Starting out at firms where quant trading is effectively quant trading+quant research, and transitioning to a pure quant trading kind of role at a different firm. I was recently transferred internally from being a data analyst to a new quant team which our company just newly setup. Not the headquarters but still has a few hundred employees and a very big quant team. Cheers! Quant bucket 2: Most (>90%) ‘quants’ are staffed to teams supported by professionals with strong sales skills (investor relations in investment management or syndication/sales in cap markets). All of this does not involve any finance. r/algotrading and other quant subreddits enjoying saying that you need more Masters and PhDs than fingers to even receive a call for an interview. How to I'm also wondering if there are specific steps I should take to become a quant, ie languages/concepts to study up on, specific classes to take, specific internships, if So, I became insanely interested recently in becoming a quant. Most quants are from a mathematics/physics PhD background, not CS, and focus on research. I don't really see myself in academia as a long-term career and I know people say doing a PhD in hopes of becoming a quant is stupid, but younger me viewed getting a PhD as a life bucket-list item/accomplishment. My background: Pure math undergrad, quantitative PhD (one of math/CS/stats/physics), both at good schools. 19 votes, 29 comments. Might be a good masters for a less technical role though. A lot of posts say ‘learn stochastic calc, learn derivatives pricing’ (i. I’d recommend doing your major in applied math like you said if that’s what you enjoy, but more importantly ( to get a job ) learn to code in C++, Python, or R, as these are the most common languages I see used at my desk ( I’m just interning for a quant desk this Ideally at a multi-manager hedge fund (e. I would say there are 2 things to aim for fluency with python and enough math for Black Scholes. There are so many things to consider here: Becoming a quant is getting more competitive year on year. If you want to work on implementing the algorithms, make sure you mathematical intuition for basic math like probability is up to par because you may get asked stuff like that. Some quant firms even test leetcode questions for quant analyst roles, so I would recommend you to grind leetcode and maths questions. Lots of trial and error. Likely a PhD in math or a related field, probably did well in math competitions, and did some interesting research. Join CUFIS for a start, the Cambridge Finance and Investment society. I ask this because I am fairly confident I can learn anything thoroughly from a teacher who puts in the effort to talk and explain during class and not just demand homework or to read a textbook (which is practically self-teaching and again I am pretty lazy and require someone to teach me rather I'm not too pessimistic about the second option since I pick up things fairly quickly and have a decent background in advanced mathematics, but I fear that hedge funds and other companies would look down on the second option. Step 6) Get referrals, preferably from Staff Engineers at Quant firms. e. you need to know python/numpy/pandas basics, no mysterious "stat analysis libraries". But I'm wondering whether a degree (masters) in just 'Mathematics' is the best path or to do something like "maths and statistics" or "maths and finance". If you want to stick to a bank, go for the strat roles (who support a trader/desk) or a quant trading desk as opposed to say a risk quant. I'm already in a pretty reputed uni and can get into a top 10 uni for PhD. My career path so far has essentially been data scientist -> actuarial analyst -> quant trader -> quant research. Reflections from a senior quant: a Reddit thread by a senior quant about careers in quant finance, in response to wrong information spread by students/users with no quant experience. I'm going to piss off a lot of IYI with this post. Research quants typically want someone who did their PhD. First, let’s talk about the general skillset for becoming a I'm currently completing a MSc in Physics, finishing in December, and I had a few follow up questions about becoming a quant. A Quantitative Finance Analyst or simply “Quant” uses and analyzes large data sets through the use of novel or applied mathematical models to analyze financial markets and securities Honestly for becoming a quant, knowing math is more important than actually knowing finance. For those roles the interview is mostly of a similar format to what you would get at Google or FB. reddit's new API changes kill third party apps that offer accessibility features, mod tools, and other features not found in the first party app. Coding is a must. Companies offer quant traders massive salaries, bonuses, and stock options. There are also many startups that recruit ex-quants though don't tend to offer the same magnitude of compensation packages as FAANG. Wondering how quant finance stacks up against tech when it comes to work life balance. At one end of the spectrum you have quant researchers at successful hedge funds. Some of them prefer some industry experience, others prefer straight out of school. Most Quants at my bank are either from computer science or Engg, some are from math, stats background. Math preq: Calc 1-3, ODEs, PDEs, Linear Algebra, Stats In this article, I will be sharing tips and the list of resources I’d use if I had to start over with becoming a Quant again. Is getting a SWE internship at a quant firm harder then at a faang, what are quant Should I do a Math Degree over a CS degree even though my aim is to become a Machine Learning CSCareerQuestions protests in solidarity with the developers who made third party reddit apps. (I think this is also where most quant analyst jobs end up falling in this dichotomy, because I haven't come across many people with this title in HFT/HFs. Obviously I've googled all of this already, but sometimes it's hard to find legit information, and I find most of it centered around the US market (basically saying that if you become a quant, you'll find a job in Wall Street the very next day making 300k a year, which I find not only greatly exaggerated, but not really relevant for someone in the EU lol). I have a couple of options regarding masters and minors and was hoping to get some opinions on which would best prepare me for a quant job: Masters in math (MA) - Would get this within 4 years of undergraduate studies. As a member of our community, you'll enjoy: 📚 Easy-to-understand explanations of business analysis concepts, without the jargon. I have been in my company for 7 months and in these 7 months I have realized that IT industry is not for me. Thank you! Don't let these nerds get to you. The problem with this sub is there’s too many CS undergrads creating an echo chamber amongst themselves making it seem like it’s a desirable degree in quant. For quant trading, I would give an analogy of math competitions. Quant trader AMA: AMA by a quant trader. Python is the programming language of choice. Am a maths grad working in tech in a large bank but quant trading fascinates me. Basically, I want to have a guide for him to becoming a quant if that is possible. You don't need to take specific classes or a major to become a Quant Trader, you don't even need to know anything about finance. To add content, your account must be vetted/verified. If you're a quant dev, implementing those models, you make less. Even 2 years ago things would have been better As you can imagine most people are relatively young in this industry, it is always awkward for a twenty year old to be your mentor, also, this is a super demanding job, your manager would naturally doubt whether you can work 60 hours a week Tbh these 2 programs aren’t really the same level. Planned to study finance originally but would not also be allowed to have the specialization in CIS. I just looked at the Black-Scholes equation and thought "Oh cool! I like physics. If no one comes along with better advice - just try applying to a couple of places to see how the interviews go. He encouraged a focus on statistical learning theory. Any advice would be great! Ivy(-level) math+cs undergrad with right internships could get you to bank strat then fund qr (quant research) (speaking from recent hires), or directly to qr in some funds though it's not that common. Like when I will graduate by may2024 what should I do? You really need to brush up on your basics. If I'm mistaken and your friend is more interested in other quant roles, then I'll defer to the other poster, because that's not something I'm knowledgeable about. If you want to post and aren't approved yet, click on a post, click "Request to Comment" and then you'll receive a vetting form. For those you will require: -> CS (python should be sufficient, I recommend the book Python Crash Course to get started), namely how to code but especially Data Structures and Algorithms (in particular Dynamic Programming and Graphs are what I have seen in my I am guessing that what is holding you back is the understanding of finance, things like volatility, modern portfolio theory, derivatives pricing etc. Skills needed: Excel + VBA (non-negotiable) Added advantage if you know Python/ R programming - any 1 of these 2. You can expect decent (but not great) pay, less stress and more sensible hours. After doing a deep dive, I realized that I would like to become a Quant Based Trader. less emphasis on resume and more emphasis on passing technical interview questions compared to a typical non-quant firm. Choice of masters programs to become quant trader Junior studying business administration with specialization in computer information systems for undergrad. To be a quant trader wasn’t massively difficult, to become a quant researcher was. Citadel recruits differently than Two Sigma which is different from PDT. I use C# in my role, and I know quant devs need c++. They are very well compensated for their focus on their company's performance. At least for local DSE candidates, cuhk qfrm is a lot more competitive compared to HKU DS&E. Would you suggest creating a quant portfolio to get interviews or is my lack of technical experience would be difficult? If not I may stick towards becoming a standalone developer. Masters in quant finance. . So I did set a goal that I want to achieve in the next 3-5 years, becoming a Quant. Quant Trading recruiting, US or UK, is from top ugrads directly. none of the qualifications are mandatory - there are some quants who maybe didn't go to school or went to some crappy school, but none of the things you listed will mean you get to automatically become a quant Although you do need programming knowledge for quant trading hence computer science grads are most preferred but you can learn that from certificate courses and YouTube etc. i need some navigational help For awhile now, I've been eyeing a quant role in a quant firm the problem is that I have no idea how to go about getting there, there are so many courses which seem to be possess the same economics-meets tech-meets mathematics intersection of disciplines, and I genuinely can't distinguish between them. Maths, physics, stats, engineering, data science etc are all far more beneficial. Masters in IB and quant finance, honestly no idea. I also think that you can join CCAs like NUS Quant finance society to build up your portfolio. Quant firms clearly place a huge emphasis on math ability when recruiting, and they sponsor literally every single math competition. I was a trader but also worked very closely with the Get the Reddit app Scan this QR code to download the app now. Quant firms like Jane Street employ SWEs as well, but to do SWE work, not quant work. It's a buzzword. I’ve become very interested in trading in the last 1-2 years and I’m thinking of moving into a Quant/ML Researcher role at a hedge fund like DE Shaw, 2 Sig etc. Aggressively tailor resume to being a quant. They said a SWE in the quant space, not an actual quant. Unless you're amazingly brilliant (I am not), it's going to be a Now, the core skills you need to focus on, in importance to this field, are: probability theory (and analysis), statistics, AI/machine learning, PDEs, numerical analysis, and coding. . A quant researcher has a vastly different role than a quant developer, which is different from a quant trader. It’s not that restrictive by college. K12sysadmin is open to view and closed to post. I also wasn’t deliberately making the transition. I have had interviews for quant positions and they are mostly brain teasers, IQ tests, the required knowledge is C++, stochastic calculus, algorithms. I’m expecting to graduate with a data science masters around December 2023. People don't want to hear this, but you just have to be smart, and have good intuition for probability, game theory, and maybe some mental math. Then it even gives you a list of quant shops and prop shops. Quant Developer Hi guys, I am starting my degree in software engineering in 2023 (a 3-year program), and I have become increasingly interested in the role of a quantitative developer. Therefore, I wanted to ask if there is a In the long term, I want to be a developer but more towards quant/finance. CSCareerQuestions protests in solidarity with the developers who made third party reddit apps. Yet, I am not sure if I can or what should I do to become one. The Reddit Law School Admissions Forum. E). Only a few select firms like JSC recruit out of undergrad for Quant Research. If you want to step into a quant role after a masters, you really need to try and get an internship for next summer. Most quant roles require you to be adept at programming (Python/R/MATLAB) and mathematics as well as have knowledge of finance. Frankly, if you wana be a quant coz its a funky buzz word, your off to a bad start. " It is nice to learn about your quant role duties and what are the prices of entry. I am planning on double majoring in math of comp and statistics. "Quant" is a basically meaningless term at this point, not unlike "AI". Hkust qfin is by far the best program you can get in Hong Kong if you wanna become a quant tho. Real advice: probability theory (especially at the grad level), statistics/data science (take grad level if you can), linear algebra and convex optimization, a lot of math heavy things like machine learning (which is not just some buzzword, real ML is hard, and it requires a lot of hard work if you want to truly understand it), other topics could be stochastic/random processes, game theory I'm on track to complete my bachelor's in mechanical engineering with a minor in math and CS (from a non-target US school). For reference, I will be focusing my job search on Being a quant is a very wide area. So I'm a year 12 (grade 13) student in the UK who is really passionate about maths and is looking at quant trading as a potential career. Edit: contract says quant dev, but from the responses I’ve got, algo dev seems more accurate to what I’d be doing day to day. degree wise any STEM is fine, with maths/CS being the most relevant/advantageous to have. Some background: So, this year I got into a T-5 college and will be starting my freshman year this fall. Software on the other hand is not nearly as high of a bar. true. I'm not a quant but I've read up on this stuff since I'm trying to become one, so treat this as an "mildly informed guesstimate" where everything is prefixed with a "as far as I know". Also, I personally know a couple of Physics and Math majors who have landed jobs in CS as in the software industry right now, almost all FAANGs don't require a degree but give practical experience more weight. I am a Wall Street quant AMA: AMA by a Wall Street quant (very old, so some information might be out of date). If you get a PhD at a top school and are a professor at a top school then you'll have no difficulty in becoming a quant later on. ) Similar thing when starting a quant shop, it’s a lot more compliance/legal/raising funds/starting a business type work more so than it is quant work, which may not be worth all the trouble for people. Also any advice on how to go about being competitive for internships would be very helpful. I am final year engineering student I am interested in finance and want to get into qunat roles like quant Developer , quant analyst , quant researcher What would be first step towards it. Unless you want to be a quant dev, computer science isn’t really the best field to do if you want to be a quant. I am a college freshman currently majoring in math, and I wonder what if I graduate college without much research or work experience to show for on my job application. Point72 Cubist, Millennium Quant Strats, Citadel GQS, etc) or long-only asset manager (e. How essential are graduate mathematics subjects to becoming a quant trader or researcher? Subjects like: functional analysis, measure theoretic probability, stochastic integration/calculus, asymptotic statistics (all of which require measure theory). This is less sexy than derivatives pricing but is becoming more and more important with the advent of the Basel II banking accord. No. Industry Overview: Quantitative Finance and Analysis. So many things to learn from your advice. How to become quant from CS . Aquí nos gustaría mostrarte una descripción, pero el sitio web que estás mirando no lo permite. I really don't know a lot of stuff of what a beginner quant should know so I'm just spitting whatever I remember from reading an article about what a quant is. How to become a Quant? I’m working as a Credit Analyst, just passed CFA level 1 and would probably start studying for level 2 this June. g. But I don’t know what’s the « path ». , but you can still become a developer quant or a desk quant. My interviewers were as tight-lipped as a poker player with a royal flush, so I'm not entirely sure what to expect. First of all, most quants working in IB, prop trading, and hedge funds only have bachelor degrees. To become a quant developer you don't need to have done math heavy stuff as much as you'd need to be a very strong coder. however, the common ground of every quant is that they are extremely intelligent and good at what they do. Quant developers work with quants and traders and deal with derivatives pricing and trading. Just because someone got in a decade ago with an undergrad degree in Physics, does not mean that you will be able to replicate this today, when the vast majority of Nice to read your post! I have an Engineering background as well, and am also working on a trading career. The best place on Reddit for admissions advice. I would say they hire IITians mostly its not because of partiality (no argument further on this point) if you are going to apply through careers website lets say optiver in the filling section you see only the old IITs not new iits so you cant even apply for such kind of firms . He suggested that pursuing finance or quant finance may not be ideal, as those professionals often end up in risk or model validation roles. In this article, we explain all these points and answer how you can become a Quant. Now, if you decide to focus more on being a Quant -> tech is starting to become a popular transition. You don't need to go to a good school to become a quant, but if you can't get into a good school it means you're also going to Even making it through won’t be easy, and you need to be a top student to have a decent shot at being a quant. This fits your description. No question that being good in maths is a requirement so good that you got that covered. However, I heard this space is extremely competitive, so I was wondering what would be some recommendations to get my foot in the door in See I am an IITian with cs degree (going to get in a year or so) what you said is almost correct. For quant developer roles, a strong programmer (think competitive coding with C++ as main language but very good command over Python and relevant libraries too - pandas, numpy, scipy, vectorized coding, etc. Definitely interested. Hope this helped! I heard 20 years back, Physics/Math PhDs were a big thing for good quant roles. How likely is it that I will be able to land a job as a quant developer, and is there anything I can do to improve my chances? For example, getting a masters in a quantitative field like financial mathematics / statistics, being able to showcase personal projects in a relevant domain coded in I’m looking into becoming a Quant View community ranking In the Top 1% of largest communities on Reddit. Algorithmic trading is programming and research. I'm looking for a self-learning quant finance curriculum so I can start trading (independently) confidently in 2-3 years. Give exams, Go to US, do an MS in Computational Finance or Financial Engineering, secure an offer in a at the end of the day, none of it is "necessary". But I'm wondering whether a degree Quant Here: Read Hull and ensure you are solid on python. But seems a bit off track for QR or QT maybe for analyst yeah. Sc in quant finance, at least here in Canada. I have worked on a Binomial Price Picker on Python. Genuine question here. Quant is a fancy name for a programmer with some finance knowledge. Another guy I vaguely knew, Brown grad, worked in data sci for a while seemed to have been doing pretty well then switched to a very top quant firm late 20s/early 30s. and that's assuming you use the word "quant" properly to mean quant researcher. the very useful and thorough but now old Mark Joshi stuff) then a lot of more modern posts say ‘none of that is used’ but are way less comprehensive about what to actually do. Generally in quant hedge funds and prop shops that have both roles, quants work on testing and finding new strategies / trading algos, whereas quant developers are technically just software developers who support quants by building tools / APIs. Also, there are a lot of quant positions within a company. if you're also including quant trading, then most of the recruiting is from undergrad, cs is ideal but think many hi everyone, so im currently a very lost j2. Even in quant research. You don't become a quant with a degree, you become a quant while practicing. Since the application process itself is often nothing short of herculean and time-consuming to boot, this place is meant to serve as a talking ground to answer questions, better improve applications, and increase one's chance of being 'Referred'. But hey, if there are any other quant dev out there, I'd love to hear about your daily work. However, pretty much all the information I've got about it comes from people in the US (also it feels everyone over at r/quant works in the US). If you ask me though, a lot of people seem to want to “break into quant” right as they come out of college or start working on studying for the OA straight out of high school. There are no other steps. I've started reaching out and networking, but is I have become interested in pursuing a career path in quant trading and I am looking for advice on how I should pursue achieving this role within the next 5 years. In my first job things were only partially automated. 234 votes, 56 comments. Quant has become a pretty broad term. I also think that the first option could be applied broadly into other fields in case becoming a quant doesn't work out. How much the gap holds you back depends on what type of quant you become. But I heard it's not that simple to get into quantitative researcher (and other quant positions) for just Physics PhDs anymore. Please delete this post if it is related to getting a job as a quant, causing with a change of being a quant, or getting the right training/education to be a quant. The program trains you in Python, SQL, and R. The major is challenging and becoming a you'll have to do some "literature review" on this question, so to speak, as pointed out by the other comment. I'm actually python quant developer at a large sell side firm. As for quant trading, landing a first interview is honestly not that hard like IB (However, the difficulty of the interview process is on a whole another level). Depends on how good you are at what you're doing. I want to attend UTD with a double major in cs and math and probably also get an ms in cs with the fast track. However, nearly every quant wants to be PM one day, and it’s the only sort of position that a quant would move up into, bar owning their own firm or becoming an exec (but I know of very few quants who want to work in managerial or executive roles). reddit's new API changes kill third party As a physicist, I was really surprised how essential algebra is to, say, particle theory, quantum field theory, etc. The hard prerequisites to be qualified for the job are actually quite low, but in order to actually succeed in the interviews, often you need quite a bit of math/stats. For example I want to be a quant, which typically involves Hello, I am currently in first year and I have been interested in becoming a Quant for quite some time now. In my third year now and prepping for various recruiting seasons in the upcoming few months. No big name school makes 350k as a new grad. ‘data mining for recognising patterns’ is a very big red flag and a pretty shitty approach. Or check it out in the app stores Should I get a PhD to become a quantitative trader? Almost all quant traders I’ve met started out of undergrad so for that role specifically I wouldn’t even recommend doing a masters So I am currently in the second year of my grad school (PhD program) in physics, specialized in observation cosmology. VBA and SQL are good start, but you need to add Python/R/C++ or potentially C# to it. What would be an ideal resume for a fresher to get into it Would really love to connect to someone who is already in this field :) As promised from an earlier post, here is an interview guide for quant positions (I've lost the original account due to bad memory with passwords - apologies if any conversations were cut off and feel free to continue them with this account). CUATS is also ok but less stuff going on (Algorithmic Trading society). Quant roles and software roles are very different, with very different qualifications. I am new to this sub & seeking for advice on how I could improve my knowledge & skillsets to become a Quant. Recruiting is focused on top schools because this is most efficient due to talent concentration, but this doesn’t mean we won’t hire from other schools. Ever since, junior year of highschool, I have always wanted to become a quant- I know quant encompasses many different roles, but my idea of a dream job involves a lot of math and is very lucrative. this is WAAAY too much for entry quant role. Also you need to really figure out what kind of quant you want to be. It wasn’t particularly difficult for me, depending on your definition of quant. I am quite old (23), but would like to become a data scientist or a quant . I am not a quant developer but I know that being a quant developer is different from being an algo trader. I am considering to major in This might be outdated, but from my experience working at a bank/brokerage, senior traders that got into research got picked up to have their own book, this curiously worked only for equities/money market, can't remember researchers/analysts being considered, also for institutional clients/funds client relationships were more important, so a sales person usually While my peers went on to become quant researchers or take up a tech related role in banks, I decided to go down the path of being a trader. Check out the sidebar for intro guides. Quant roles are much more prestigious and harder to get into, they also work/make much more. " The #1 social media platform for MCAT advice. They work all across finance in different type of roles. My end goal is to make a living trading my own capital. You should also look at BB’s they have some really good macro quant trading desk, & QR jobs that have so much more actionable data than those shops. Hey folks, as per title. Currently a first year looking into become a quant trader. Books and video lectures are great! Structured is better than not structured. Yes, the interview process is especially brutal, since for some reason, you're basically required to be an expert in three disciplines (math, computer science, finance), and the positions tend be much sparser than say, a fundamental investment role on the sell side (as a strategist) or the Capital Quant A capital quant works on modelling the bank’s credit exposures and capital requirements. So, if you have one, work on the other. If you are a few years into a math undergrad at a good school and decide you want to go into quant, then you have a pretty good shot if you work hard. To succeed in these roles, strong communication and interpersonal skills are more important than intellectual rigor. I Be a quant at one of the Quant Funds imho (ie Jane Street, Citadel, DE Shaw, HRT, Optiver, Two Sigma, etc). Most of the quants where I am went to ivy league level schools with math or cs backgrounds. But as a quant, I can't think of a single application (which doesn't mean none exist -- I just can't think of one. All you gotta do is hustle get experience and study for interviews I can't say much more but thats all he said he did when I asked him about it. We still run C++ code, that's where the actual pricing numbers are crunched, but all of that is done by one team, and then there's a much larger group of python developers who do the complex task of applying all this pricing code and organizing/ aggregating up to useful results for traders and the business. That confidence will only come from knowing you can be a good quant. I’ve been taking data science and stats courses but haven’t learned too much about finance apart from basic technical analysis. I’m applying to all kinds of jobs: data science, Swe, quant, insert role with math + stats + coding. You are confusing Quant Trader with a Quant Researcher. Quant traders are what most As a quant with around 14yoe, I tend to agree and disagree with the some of the comments here. I know Dallas has a lot of finance companies, so how hard is it to become a highly-paid quant out of UTD Becoming a Quant trader is hard work and seems like mostly ivy league kids get those jobs. Maybe applied maths suits you better, 'Master en Mathematical Engeneering' in Autonomous University of Madrid has a quant finance stream. He praised my MSc in statistics as the best choice for a quant researcher. Depending on the firm they'll ask you some combination of questions about how you think about data science, and probability brainteaser type questions. /r/MCAT is a place for MCAT practice, questions, discussion, advice, social networking, news, study tips and more. If you live in a small French village and don't publish then it might be harder unless you were famous before that. This subreddit is for all those interested in working for the United States federal government. Personally, a quant PM at a large HF (having Becoming a PM or head of something is just survivorship bias, if you have to come to Reddit to ask questions then most likely you won’t be in that league Because of this no-exit situation, most young talents today are not really keen to become a quant anymore. reddit's new API changes kill third party apps that Obviously there is no guarantee any of this will work out, and I am not sure if I am better off just advancing as an SWE. I've never heard of anyone from a quant job going back to do a postdoc. However, my question is for those of your have worked as QTs/QRs, how well does math ability actually correlate with quant success? So all in all, it would take me about 5 years to become a quant, but this is a solid route. I have a PhD in ML and have ~10 YOE at a top FAANG lab. One thing about finance is that you'll be disappointed to find that the "alpha" in some or most cases is being able to figure out such stuff all by yourself I am interested in becoming a Quant Developer and have been getting reject for other entry level positions and can only put my best foot forward. I love finance and I want to do quantitative analysis. ) in their sydney office (joining another one soon). If you are a graduate seeking advice that should have been asked in the megathread you may be banned if this post is judged to be evading the sub rules. Over the past couple of months, I have been researching quantitative finance, and I'm very interested! If I wanted to pivot into finance and become a Quant Researcher (particularly at a hedge fund), could I? Let's please not confuse Quant Research and Quant Trading. So get data, acquire the technical + practical skills, and build quant models in your free time. Well I'm asking if I can learn these skills on my own and have a shot as a self-taught expert rather than learning from the company. I like trading. You (1) perform research on historical data to identify trading opportunities/ predictive signal, (2) back test your trading ideas by programming them into existence View community ranking In the Top 1% of largest communities on Reddit. Thorp, the mathematician who invented card counting for Blackjack, then later turned to the Stock market, which he called "the biggest casino in the world. Start with QR and become a PM at a HF. Another friend went tech -> qdev -> quant (in his 30s): had a math phd, went tech route first, was a bit of a mess/didn't build a good career so flipped to quant to start afresh. Thank you so much for your advice! I wasn't aware of different quant roles and prices of entry. If you have read about stats and are familiar with things like brownian motion and markov chains, you should be aware how they assume randomness and the markov property, which, by definition, means non-existent patterns. In my opinion, if you truly want to become a quant, go to the buy-side (more risky but more upside too along with apparently more interesting roles/work). The more I research K12sysadmin is for K12 techs. Read it, work out the practice problems. How to become a Becoming a quant at different funds is a very different proposition. The US pays way more. Now, hee's the general rule about financial firms: the closer you are to the money, the more you make. hdblwkd uoyxgnux nzekh lfdpiu cru cplipctg yhfk oltv uxxw rik