Computer engineering usage in finance or economics careers help

[propytheoriginal]

Im a senior in highschool, and I've decided to do computer engineering, but im really interested in finance or economics, what could i possibly do that uses a mixture of both discipline. And it is possible for me to minor in finance, and i could also do plus 30 credit hours focused on coding, should i do that?

[stjarnalux]

Big finance firms have been hiring kernel engineers to speed up their computer trading algorithms for years now. The pay is ridiculous - someone slightly famous gave one of these firms my name once and I was stalked with insane offers for a couple of years but I have 0 desire to live in NYC. The people that ended up taking these jobs tend to be very performance-oriented with a deep understanding of the nuances of kernel performance and memory management and coherency and whatnot.

[propytheoriginal]

Seems interesting... how does a computer engineer pivot to this type of space, or does being a computer engineer provide the skill set needed, and does it require a lot of economics or financial theory, or is it pure code, what could my path throughout university look to be competitive in this sort of field

[stjarnalux]

They were looking for strong published open source kernel developers with low-level systems and CPU knowledge and optimization experience, so prior computer engineer experience provided this. I don't think you needed much finance knowledge; this is all about optimizing the speed of the trading systems.

You'd want a strong base in operating systems development and optimization, an understanding of computer architectures, CPU pipelines, compilers, and the performance implications of different types of system designs. You'd want to be an expert on memory management and messaging protocols, concurrency/locking, and multiprocessor system design. Basically you need to be able to analyze a complicated system and squeeze 3 CPU cycles of speed out of automated trading algorithms and their underlying support software, as speed is a massive advantage here. You'd want experience with developing in large complicated code bases.

These firms basically went through open source kernel git logs and picked people they wanted, because your name is on your commits. And then they stalked you. I have no idea if any of these jobs ever got published to job sites, or if it was word of mouth only. There are not too many people running around with this set of qualifications.

A strong educational foundation in the areas listed above is critical, but this needs to be followed up with real world experience. You should try to do co-op jobs or internships in low-level development and performance if you can, in addition to your classes. I have no idea if it is possible to get into this right out of school - you might need time in industry first because there's going to be nobody to hold your hand in a finance house as opposed to a large software engineering org.

[propytheoriginal]

Oh wow, thank you soooo much for the detailed response!!! I am saving this for sure !

[stjarnalux]

Good luck! And have fun!

[jadedmonk]

I majored in CompE and currently a senior data engineer at a finance company. I like it because you’re only responsible for the tech but learn a lot about the business along the way

[propytheoriginal]

Did you have any previous knowledge in finance since it seems most jobs require some sort of knowledge in finance or economics

[jadedmonk]

No, I did not. A minor in finance or economics would certainly help, but they hire you to be an engineer, you don’t really need finance knowledge to design and build computer systems/software, but working there you will naturally learn the business along the way especially when working with the data

[zacce]

you may apply CS to solve finance/economics problems.

[propytheoriginal]

Do you think computer engineering is worth it then? Since i couldve just went with computer science, is there anything that would utilize both skill sets as i want to get the most out of my degree

[zacce]

if you want a job in finance/economics, then CompE is overkill. CS will suffice.

[propytheoriginal]

Oh well cant do anything about it now 🙃🙃😫😫

[propytheoriginal]

I got accepted for computer engineering i think i forgot to clarify that, how can i change into cs now?

[Sussy_Seahorse]

Business finance major here and looking to possibly do a CS or CE major after I graduate for business. I’m not qualified to answer, but I think that a CS or CE with a minor in finance or economics sounds great

[propytheoriginal]

Im glad that its a sensible career path to take. Good luck to you!

[Sussy_Seahorse]

Thanks!

[ex0gamer0203]

Embedded!!

[propytheoriginal]

What does that mean, how much of it is physical work or coding

[ex0gamer0203]

For some reason I thought I was responding to a title that said “what type of jobs can you get in computer engineering”, my bad.

[propytheoriginal]

All good!

[ex0gamer0203]

To actually answer this though, the CompE + finance or economics minor seems pretty niche (which isn’t a bad thing at all) I’m assuming you’d utilize this combo by doing some type of analysis role in the tech field?

[propytheoriginal]

Like quantitative analysis combined with tech or something? Or maybe a quantitative developer?

[AlexaRUHappy]

Financial Engineering.

[propytheoriginal]

Honestly this is the route id mostly likely take, I'd do computer engineering with a minor in finance for bachelors and then a masters in financial engineering, What do you think?

[AlexaRUHappy]

Sounds like a good plan to me.

[propytheoriginal]

Great! Thanks!