Advice Request: Taking a job in an unrelated field (Real Estate) vs holding out for a quant position

[ExoticArb]

I would love to get some people's thoughts on my situation if possible.

I graduated with a Master's in Financial Engineering back in December but have been unable to find a quant position since then. I've applied to about 500 places and sent about 1300 messages on LinkedIn or through email, but have only gotten about 5 interviews. They tend to go multiple rounds but have all ended without offers. It seems that most people in my class have gotten positions as well so I can't blame the market (though I've gotten multiple people to look at my resume and still can't figure out what's wrong with it).

After undergrad I went into real estate finance, but left to get my Master's because I wanted something more quantitative. That work experience allowed me to get an interview for another real estate position that I thought was data-focused, but after a few rounds seems to not be. My question then is, should I take this position just because it's a job and try to move to a quant position down the line or should I try to hold out for what I'm actually looking for?

Fortunately, money isn't a huge factor here, but I'm more wondering about being able to switch in the future.

Thank you!

 

[Andy Nguyen]

It's uncommon to apply to 500+ plus and get few interview in this market. I have heard a few recent MFE grads mentioned this.
I don't believe taking another unrelated job when money isn't a huge factor is a wise move, career wise.
I take it your MFE program's career services and alumni network are nonexistent? At most established programs, alum networks are where they reach out first instead of shooting blindly into the wild through LinkedIn.

 

[ExoticArb]

It's uncommon to apply to 500+ plus and get few interview in this market. I have heard a few recent MFE grads mentioned this.
I don't believe taking another unrelated job when money isn't a huge factor is a wise move, career wise.
I take it your MFE program's career services and alumni network are nonexistent? At most established programs, alum networks are where they reach out first instead of shooting blindly into the wild through LinkedIn.

Thanks so much for the insight! As for the network, I'm not quite sure. I did go to career services and they essentially said to keep doing what I'm doing, but they also said to reach out to Columbia alumni to network. Unfortunately, I usually get ignored when I try to reach out through different channels and even so nothing through networking has led to interviews. I've actually never had an instance where an alumni reached out first, though I imagine that's likely because I was more of a middle-of-the-pack student and so wasn't recommended to anyone.

I appreciate the response, thank you again!

 

[Andy Nguyen]

Thanks so much for the insight! As for the network, I'm not quite sure. I did go to career services and they essentially said to keep doing what I'm doing, but they also said to reach out to Columbia alumni to network. Unfortunately, I usually get ignored when I try to reach out through different channels and even so nothing through networking has led to interviews. I've actually never had an instance where an alumni reached out first, though I imagine that's likely because I was more of a middle-of-the-pack student and so wasn't recommended to anyone.

I appreciate the response, thank you again!

Yes, there was a discussion recently with @weab who is in your Columbia MFE program.
I think the fact that Columbia MFE has so many students competing against so many other MS IEOR students who took the same courses, it's extremely hard to distinguish yourself. It's impossible for career services to be able to provide customized career support for this many students.
I think you need to take it up yourself to stand out.
Do you have a strong C++ or Python skills that you can contribute on day one? If you have in demand skills over your friends, it gives you a leg up.
Learning these skills are not that expensive and will take a few months but it will pay off immediately and serve you a very long time.

 

[ExoticArb]

Yes, there was a discussion recently with @weab who is in your Columbia MFE program.
I think the fact that Columbia MFE has so many students competing against so many other MS IEOR students who took the same courses, it's extremely hard to distinguish yourself. It's impossible for career services to be able to provide customized career support for this many students.
I think you need to take it up yourself to stand out.
Do you have a strong C++ or Python skills that you can contribute on day one? If you have in demand skills over your friends, it gives you a leg up.
Learning these skills are not that expensive and will take a few months but it will pay off immediately and serve you a very long time.

It's funny that you mention that because he did message me, I believe he is in the year behind me so has not graduated yet. I do agree with your assessment though, it seems that the MSFE program is one of a group of programs that all seem to be quite similar from the IEOR department. At the moment I do have good Python skills that would allow me to contribute, and I'm actually using them to do some free work for a crypto market maker and a machine learning algo trading firm, but it seems that maybe I should start practicing my C++ as well.

I do appreciate the response though. It's been quite demoralizing as I've been trying so many different avenues but I guess I just need to keep trying new things.

 

[Andy Nguyen]

It's funny that you mention that because he did message me, I believe he is in the year behind me so has not graduated yet. I do agree with your assessment though, it seems that the MSFE program is one of a group of programs that all seem to be quite similar from the IEOR department. At the moment I do have good Python skills that would allow me to contribute, and I'm actually using them to do some free work for a crypto market maker and a machine learning algo trading firm, but it seems that maybe I should start practicing my C++ as well.

I do appreciate the response though. It's been quite demoralizing as I've been trying so many different avenues but I guess I just need to keep trying new things.

It takes lot of courage to face one's failure and realize the need to find a different approach. I see so many students who couldn't face it, did not reach out for help and just simply gave up. You only need one offer, one interview to justify the 500+ cold emails.
Just a story to put things in perspective: my classmates and I were graduating in 2007, 2008 when the financial crisis happened. I was working at DB when Lehman Brothers went bankruptcy. People got laid off everywhere.
The job market is tough now but nothing compared to then. We simply have too much supply vs demand and the market is not hiring derivatives, pricing quants like it did back then.

 

[ExoticArb]

It takes lot of courage to face one's failure and realize the need to find a different approach. I see so many students who couldn't face it, did not reach out for help and just simply gave up. You only need one offer, one interview to justify the 500+ cold emails.
Just a story to put things in perspective: my classmates and I were graduating in 2007, 2008 when the financial crisis happened. I was working at DB when Lehman Brothers went bankruptcy. People got laid off everywhere.
The job market is tough now but nothing compared to then. We simply have too much supply vs demand and the market is not hiring derivatives, pricing quants like it did back then.

You're absolutely right, thank you. One of the things keeping me going is the fact that when I find something, this period will mean nothing 5-10 years down the line as I'm more firmly in a career. I can't even imagine having started around that 2007 period though, I'm sure that was a true test of resilience.