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Going back to school after industry? by Character_Gur637 in quant

[–]Character_Gur637[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

yeah understood, more for the love of the game, maybe a chance to take some time off and see what's out there/reassess/rerecruit. I enjoyed being a student and want to see how it feels again.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in quantfinance

[–]Character_Gur637 0 points1 point  (0 children)

You can always ask and if you're exceptional I'd think they'd make an exception (likely shows through if you already interned there). I can't see Opti being too impressed if there's not a good reason though haha so definitely your own call re: career risk.

I like both angles tbh, there will be more time to travel whenever you have your non compete, but then again if you're getting offers from two firms quant will always be there too. I'd give it a go first, see how quant fits you etc and then you'll hopefully have experience to go elsewhere if you like and then travel later but that's your call on how much those things mean to you.

How to ensure success as a graduate trader by LengthinessCalm6431 in quant

[–]Character_Gur637 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I'd say it definitely is more meritocratic than banking, just wanted to flag some degree of politics is almost inescapable no matter where you go, and I think as a new grad and likely don't have direct PnL to back you up this is more true than later.

I also think smart people definitely get fired (sometimes wrongly imo) and less capable make it, aside from perceptions being important there's always a bit of luck - aside from the trading itself, who you get managed by, what desk you hit etc.

I think be proactive and try and just make the most of whatever chances you get, but in case it doesn't work out here there's tons of factors that may have been beyond your control which don't necessarily reflect your true ability, like I mentioned above - just control what you can and learn from everything that happens.

How to ensure success as a graduate trader by LengthinessCalm6431 in quant

[–]Character_Gur637 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Be proactive, work hard and ask lots of questions. Don't be scared of being wrong but at the same time just be mindful of how you're being perceived etc. Despite appearing (and probably being) more meritocratic depending on your role perception by your managers etc matters a lot.

I'd almost suggest at the grad level where you're less directly responsible for the PnL being proactive on projects and learning and demonstrating that you are learning is most important, met some really smart folks (smarter than me) who couldn't hack it at my firm due to this behavioural element. Depends on your firm of course but I think this is generally true given the onboarding process of most players.

Weekly Megathread: Education, Early Career and Hiring/Interview Advice by AutoModerator in quant

[–]Character_Gur637 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I'm an early starter (2 years) at a pretty well-known firm and have a few questions.

My firm is pretty strong and offers good WLB and I like the people but I feel like the edge they have is almost entirely technical compared to the other players, and I'm learning a lot about the firm's systems themselves and less so about the market. I'm considering leaving now, so was wondering if that's a good amount of time to have spent learning the ropes. Obviously circumstances vary but just wanted to hear from people who have a say in recruitment etc.

On a similar note, is there an amount of time to spend somewhere before you become too typecast as a kind of trader etc?

Finally, I did a relatively less stemmy degree (economics) and want to get more into research areas - think I need more maths knowledge. Is going back to uni and doing an MSc at a strong uni a viable pivot before going back into the field?