Do I have what it takes?

[ZakJ]

Hey guys and gals. I'm new to the community and am seeking some perspective.

Brief blurb about my background: Been in semi conductor industry working on thin film (nano) materials for 3.5 years. M.S. in physics and currently in a part time PhD program. Doing research on complex systems, phase transitions, "big data"...etc, but in the beginning phases. All of my degrees have come from my local state school, which is not Ivy League or anywhere near it, but I've done very well and have 3.9-4.0 GPA for whole career, several research projects (mainly nanomaterials)...etc. So I've often been the smartest guy in the room, but not in the best room.

What I'm really wanting is to move out of materials and into a position that is more to do with complex systems, computation, programming, modeling...etc. The more I learn about quants the more exciting it sounds and I think I could contribute a great deal. However, taking a look at my resume you'll see a lot of words like "nano materials" and "ion implantation". Even though I developed a lot of the skills that are well suited for quants, I can imagine someone with a stack of resumes wouldn't put it at the top of the list when there's a lot of people seemingly bred to do this work.

So, the questions: is it unrealistic for me to expect to pick up a job across the country (in Philly) as a quant having no financial industry experience, but a pretty robust skill set? Secondly, is it your experience that the reputation of the school matters quite a bit due to strict competition or are there enough positions such that there's not enough Princeton PhDs to fill them?

Any advice or contacts would be greatly appreciated! I'm really excited about the prospect of working on something that's challenging and aligned with my interest instead of something that's just to pay the bills. I recently turned 29 and decided to be bold by packing up and moving to a city I want to live in instead of the one where I was born. Also I've decided to pursue my intellectual interests and am turning down a pretty solid research scientist position (and salary) in the semiconductor industry to get it. Crazy? Smart move? Thanks in advance!

 

[pingu]

currently in a part time PhD program.

part time PhD are not seen as solid as full time ones.

The more I learn about quants the more exciting it sounds and I think I could contribute a great deal.

where did you learn about quants?

So, the questions: is it unrealistic for me to expect to pick up a job across the country (in Philly) as a quant having no financial industry experience, but a pretty robust skill set? Secondly, is it your experience that the reputation of the school matters quite a bit due to strict competition or are there enough positions such that there's not enough Princeton PhDs to fill them?

not unrealistic but hard. I don't know if financial experience has anything to do with it.

Any advice or contacts would be greatly appreciated! I'm really excited about the prospect of working on something that's challenging and aligned with my interest instead of something that's just to pay the bills.

I don't know about challenging. That depends on a lot of things.

I recently turned 29 and decided to be bold by packing up and moving to a city I want to live in instead of the one where I was born. Also I've decided to pursue my intellectual interests and am turning down a pretty solid research scientist position (and salary) in the semiconductor industry to get it. Crazy? Smart move? Thanks in advance!

Definitely crazy. Good luck with that! Hopefully you won't regret it.

 

[ZakJ]

Thanks for your response! My main motivation is that I love the idea of trying to find patterns in the madness and understanding how the large structure can influence the dynamics. That said, I have my hesitations. For instance, my very elementary understanding of economics tells me that to have a sustained money-generator you need to add value. Some of these firms seem to be grabbing a quick buck by having the fastest computers and one might conclude that eventually the house of cards is going to crash or the competition will become so fierce that advantages will be very hard to come by, regardless of model sophistication. Or maybe the hedging of risks serves some important economic function that's just beyond my ability--I don't know much about it frankly.

However, it wouldn't be all that surprising to think the models themselves, which are affecting the dynamics of the system, could cause a phase transition in correlations that could lead to a micro-second time-scaled catastrophe. Once that happens a few times one might expect legislation banning certain types of algos and tactics, and then where would I be?

My other hesitation is that I may not be working on something really cool, but instead might be tasked with obsessing over some minutiae. I don't have a firm understanding of the day-to-day and that's part of my motivation of coming here and asking for advice.

One thing I'm sure of is I want to leave my current little city, see a new part of the world, and find fulfilling work, not just something to pay the bills. I don't have anything tying me here, so why settle for mediocrity?

 

[C S]

My other hesitation is that I may not be working on something really cool, but instead might be tasked with obsessing over some minutiae.
[...]
why settle for mediocrity?

Bingo. Finance is filled with minutiae. I think you don't really know how much.

Most people in finance, including quants, think they settled for mediocrity.

 

[mhy]

My other hesitation is that I may not be working on something really cool, but instead might be tasked with obsessing over some minutiae. I don't have a firm understanding of the day-to-day and that's part of my motivation of coming here and asking for advice.

No job is glamorous day-to-day. Some jobs have 'glamorous' days more often than others. Most of the quants I work with (I work in the development group for fixed-income trading, and we work with the quant team pretty often) are not sitting in a room and thinking up new complicated pricing models every day. They're dealing with management, talking to their sales&trading teams to determine what the desk is doing next, churning out administrative paperwork, and basically dealing with the same things that almost everyone else at a big bank does. Similarly, most of the traders/brokers don't get million dollar bonuses or go out to fancy client dinners every day. They spend the whole day stressed out with clients and are always on edge because of the risky nature of the job. I sit on the trading floor from time to time and it is hardly what you would call glamorous.

One thing I'm sure of is I want to leave my current little city, see a new part of the world, and find fulfilling work, not just something to pay the bills. I don't have anything tying me here, so why settle for mediocrity?

That's a great attitude. I moved halfway across the planet to pursue my goals. Once you enter the financial industry, there are many people who have crazy stories to tell!

 

[TehRaio]

you can also look at specific funds and banks that hire people outside of finance to become quants. there are several programs like those.
DE Shaw comes to mind.

It's a shame you're only interested in Philly and the US, because you'd make (I think) an ideal candidate for Capital Fund Management (Paris, France). Their Head of research (and co-founder) Jean-Phillipe Bouchaud is a complex systems physicist.

anyway, good luck you can definitively do it.

 

[Daniel Duffy]

Also I've decided to pursue my intellectual interests and am turning down a pretty solid research scientist position (and salary) in the semiconductor industry to get it. Crazy? Smart move?

a) Possibly; you will be competing with a large pool of quants.
b) Not necessarily.

> 60% of quant work is programming and related.

//
BTW I worked for a short time in NL on the numerical simulation (PDE) of semiconductor devices and it seems my PhD exponentially fitted schemes are similar to the Schottky-Gimbal(?) method.

Do you know numerical stuff and C++?