Quant Developer Qualifications

[Kurt K.]

Hello,

Long time reader but first time writer. I would like to thank you guys in advance for replying my thread.

I am currently a developer working for a company that is not related to finance. My plan is to pursue a MFE degree and eventually become a quant developer. Few days ago, I saw some quant developer job postings @ Wilmott.

I noticed that most of the Quant Developer positions that I read preferred a PhD degree either in physics, math or compsci. So here are my questions:

1. For a quant developer, is a MFE a good fit, or should I go to the PhD route?

2. Has the MFE degree been depreciated? I heard the number of people who are pursuing or want to pursue a MFE degree have increased a lot. I am worried that when I am done studying MFE, my degree will not be that useful/valuable/advantageous than now, since the number of people studying MFE will be on the rise?

Thanks for your kind feedbacks,

Kurt

 

[Yike Lu]

The common wisdom on the forum for the PhD question is that you should never do a PhD specifically to get into finance, with a possible exception if the PhD is actually in finance.

As far as MFE, my reasons for taking one:
1) It was a structured way to cover the bases and learn relevant topics.
2) Career services and networking.
3) Excuse to be in NY.

Notice that "recognition of the MFE degree" does not appear on the list.

 

[Andy Nguyen]

1) It's refreshing to hear someone wants to be a developer. Many MFE applicants look down on developer roles thinking it's beneath them and only trading roles will do.
If you are an experienced developer, you certainly can move into finance without MFE and definitely not the PhD route. I know many have done this.
Pick up some books on the language of your choice (C++/Python/R/etc)
Daniel Duffy, Mark Joshi come to mind.
http://www.quantnet.com/forum/threa...uants-mfe-financial-engineering-students.535/

Banks will take good developers and train them finance over MFE/PhD with questionable domain knowledge and zero programming skill.

2) MFE degrees are going the way of MBA/Law degrees in the future. Every school will offer them and unless you graduate from some programs with top notch track record, it's hardly matter for the rest since the market for this niche degree is arguably much smaller than MBA/Law degree.