1. Can you tell us about your background? What credentials did you have to get you into your MFE?
My undergrad was a generalist engineering program where I chose to branch into more financial engineering/ ML during the latter specialization years. For credentials, I had a somewhat decent GPA (second half of my undergrad made up for my pretty awful first half), some internships in quant risk (was fairly limited in my internship options due to me being dumb and lazy in my first years of undergrad), and a published paper at the intersection of quant finance/ ML. MFE opened the door for me to find a quant research internship role at a US hedge fund and let me 'reset' my GPA, and I leveraged these opportunities to eventually helped me land my current job at a prop trading firm.
2. When did you discover that you wanted to be a quant trader? What asset classes do you find intriguing and what do you specialise in?
I applied to both quant researcher and trader roles so I can't really say I ever 'discovered' I wanted to be a quant trader. However, I knew I wanted to be in quant because the culture aligned with what I wanted - I like working with the smartest people in the world, I like competing, and I like winning. As a new grad, our own preference to what asset class we want to work in is weighted quite little to what desk we get assigned to since we don't know enough to reaaally know what desk we want to work in (most of us don't even have any trading backgrounds). So I'm pretty indifferent across asset classes - I'll just do my best in whichever one I get assigned to and the 'core' of trading is pretty transferable across asset classes anyways. I don't really specialise in anything as of yet, don't think prop firms want new grads to be specialists because we just don't know enough - but I guess specialist in volatility if I had to say something concrete.
3. Advice for people trying to get into top MFEs that don’t have the most prestigious background? (Non Ivy, Non G5)
I'll answer this in terms of general advice for people trying to get into top jobs or any top program as this encompasses MFEs (and will be overkill to get into MFE). I didn't come from a prestigious background either but I would just aim to be one of the best in your class. You should try getting the best grades, the best internships, the best publications, etc. The 'best' is really important in the quant field because only like the top 3 players in each market can get any significant market share - if we don't think we can realistically become the best in a market we don't even enter it. Self-reflection is really important. If you're not getting the best grades you should be asking yourself "why am I not getting the best grades, am I not studying hard enough, am I studying the wrong thing? etc.". It also really helps to surround yourself with the best students. One of the biggest drivers of me going from crap grades to one of the top in the class was 1) I was mad at myself for not maximizing my potential and wanted to get my shit together 2) I became good friends with the top students in my program and really learned a lot from them in terms of mindset/work ethic. TLDR: focus on finding something that sets you apart from everyone else - general rule of thumb if its not challenging, it probably doesnt set you apart.
4. What skill sets do you need in your job? (And what would you advise people to learn, E.g. Fin Maths knowledge, data science skills, Python packages etc.)
The answer to this is actually pretty surprising in my opinion because I spent a lot of time learning quant math, coding etc. only to find it is not really transferrable at all to quant trading (but will definitely be important for quant research). I think the main skillsets needed in trading is mentality and problem solving ability (which is why many prop trading firms don't ask the trading candidates any coding questions but focus more on problem solving questions and trading games). The mentality is "I have to be the best, I have to win (with integrity)" and always thinking of how to get better. That's why we love IMO/IOI/Putnam winners, Poker and Chess champions, E-sport athletes (I was definitely nowhere near esport athlete level but I tell my parents playing League of Legends at a decently high MMR instead of studying in high school/start of uni probably helps me more in trading than all the studying I did afterwards). For improving general problem solving ability, I don't have the best answer - maybe just a lot of practice and reflection/deep thinking. TLDR: most important skillset imo is self awareness - the ability to admit to yourself "Im bad at X, I need to do Y and Z to get better"
