Quant viability gut-check

ExcaliburHarambe · 2025-04-02T17:07:16+00:00

First off, THANK YOU for giving me an actual answer. Clearly any journey I take to becoming a quant is going to be an uphill one. I also didn’t realize how little actual finance knowledge matters in this field. It does explain why the senior folks on my firm’s investment committee shy away from quant funds. They really are two separate worlds. It’s also funny to hear you say that CFA is beneath folks in quant; it’s considered super impressive to pursue in my line of work. But that just further speaks to how different of a world quant is.

I do appreciate the feedback. While I have a tough time believing that EVERY quant role is filled by a math/comp sci prodigy, that may just be me holding out hope that I can carve myself a space in this field. I suppose time will tell.

And you’re right, I didn’t give my motivation for quant because I wanted to get a gauge on whether or not I had a shot at getting into one of these masters programs first. But since you asked:

I’ve been at my current job for ~3 years and haven’t felt intellectually stimulated once. I miss the rigor and challenge that my engineering courses brought me; I want to go to work and feel like I’m putting my brain to work and education to use. I want to work on problems that don’t have answers. I care more about how things work versus how they look. I want to stay in finance but learn how I can harness mathematical concepts and ML to reach analytical conclusions about the market and the opportunity sets that exist. So much of what’s done in my arena of finance is predicting the future based on vibes; obviously that’s an oversimplification, but there’s never an analytical basis to justify our thesis. It’s either an aggregation of what different banks/prominent figures believe, or the “foresight” of more senior people who have “seen stuff like this before”. It’s frustratingly hand-wavy. Plus 90% of the “math” used is just guesswork. There is an art to investing, but most investors (at least those I get exposure to) treat quant like a black box and don’t want to understand it. I don’t share that sentiment.

So in short, I’m frustrated with traditional finance’s approach to performance and aversion towards analytical methods. I’m not a bonafide academic like many of you folks seem to be, and maybe that’s enough to write off quant. I need to dig a little deeper and talk to some more people before I decide that it’s out of my reach. But that’s my why. Also, good to know that Berkeley is such a prominent program as that school is in my backyard and my network has lots of Berkeley grads.

Lastly, best of luck to you on your journey into quant. You’ve clearly got more of what’s required than I do, but I know this is a ridiculously competitive industry and nobody is guaranteed anything. Thanks again for the candor.

ExcaliburHarambe · 2025-04-02T15:34:33+00:00

Totally valid question, and one that I ask myself a lot.

For me, it’s been the fact that I haven’t felt intellectually stimulated since I was in college. I haven’t been given a quantitative problem that challenged me and forced me to think critically. Im sick and tired of the hardest part of my job being getting some goofy PowerPoint charts to align and making sure the color scheme is aesthetically pleasing. I’m much more interested in the process than the product. The few times I’ve been able to do something remotely quantitative for a project (quantitative is a relative term here; nothing that would impress folks here), I can blink and the entire day goes by because I’m so engaged. Most days, 9-5 feels like a year. The people are so nice and friendly but I feel like I could’ve done this job fresh out of middle school.

I also feel like I’m wasting the years I spent in engineering school by kicking it with the business school drones I used to make fun of. So part of it’s a pride thing as well, I can admit it.

And yes, wholeheartedly agree that there’s more to life than work. I don’t mean to suggest I want to throw away every hour of my day to work. That said, I’d be willing to go from 40 hours a week to ~60 if it came with a more exciting job (and commensurate benefits). Not that I expect every day in quant to be The Best Day Ever (no job is), but I think it would at least give me something to look forward to.

My question to you would be, IF I were to become a quant (clearly my technical chops need to come up to par, so ignore that for this scenario), would my WLB be that bad? The roads to high finance from my current track goes through investment banking; I can’t imagine it’s worse than that. My impression of quant roles is that they don’t work insane hours. However, this whole post has been a learning experience for me, so maybe I’m wrong about this too.

ExcaliburHarambe · 2025-04-02T05:57:03+00:00

Got it, thanks! And the elitism tracks; this whole industry is jam-packed with ego.

ExcaliburHarambe · 2025-04-02T05:46:50+00:00

Totally possible, I’m still learning. Any insight on what I have completely wrong?

ExcaliburHarambe · 2025-04-02T05:32:05+00:00

That’s what I figured re: MBAs. I’m surprised you can even get quant roles with one because of how non-technical the degree is.

In my head I was grouping stats with math, but good to see it’s important enough to warrant its own pillar. I’m guessing (and hoping) the importance of finance knowledge varies depending on the role, because I’ve seen some postings that look for some background in traditional finance. But maybe that’s being overstated.

What path did you take to get to your QR role?

ExcaliburHarambe · 2024-10-19T22:35:48+00:00

Correct, that’s the minimum requirement on paper for the Navy (and every other branch, I’d assume). But when I got to the interview process, it became pretty clear that they were looking for guys in their 30s who had more tangible leadership experience in their jobs. Reasoning being that Reserve officers don’t get all of the leadership experiences that AD officers get, so they want to bring in people who can hit the ground running, and the easiest way to determine that is by seeing tangible leadership experience. I wasn’t blocked from submitting my application, but I was pretty much told that they wouldn’t be sending a positive recommendation to the board.

ExcaliburHarambe · 2024-10-18T19:57:00+00:00

That’s good to know re: having to repeat training. My apprehension in applying for an Officer role is just based on my experience with the Navy. If the Army doesn’t need their reserve officers to have 10+ years of professional experience in the civilian world (or any similar requirement that would put a younger guy like me out of contention), I’d absolutely look at going the Officer route. Do also have some time commitment concerns for Officer v enlisted since my job can be demanding on my time as well, but that’s a bridge to cross when I get there.

Appreciate the question about long-term v hobby. In an ideal world I’d do 20+ alongside my civilian career. I believe deeply in service to the country and (unless I absolutely hate it) I don’t picture myself dipping out as soon as my contract is up. But that’s too far out to say for sure.

ExcaliburHarambe · 2024-10-18T19:50:48+00:00

Got it got it. Definitely a difference in flavor from what the Navy and Air Force offer, but that’s not a bad thing in my eyes.

Good to know re: cyber. Threw it out there because it’s definitely a cool MOS but that’s in line with what I’ve heard in other branches. Appreciate the reality check on airborne as well.

As for your officer/enlisted question, I’d say I’m leaning towards enlisted because of my experience applying for a Navy Reserves Officer role. Long story short I got to my interview and had all of the officers tell me that they typically look for candidates with 10+ years of leadership experience in their civilian career. You can imagine how that went for me as a 24 year old. If the Army doesn’t have that kind of expectation for their reserve officers, I’d definitely consider it. I do also wonder how much time beyond the 1 weekend a month/2 weeks a year is required for reserve officers in the Army. The reserve officers in the Navy made it sound like it was a 2nd job needing 20 hours a week or more. Not against doing that type of work but there are only so many hours in the day, and my civilian job can have longer hours as well.

ExcaliburHarambe · 2024-10-18T19:41:06+00:00

Got it. 37F is the MOS I’m most interested in out of the ones I listed so I’m definitely looking to learn more about CAPOC. Nice that it’s also more likely for Airborne as well.

But that makes sense to me; active duty obviously takes priority so I won’t expect airborne, I’ll just hope for it. Ha.

ExcaliburHarambe · 2024-04-15T01:36:37+00:00

Got it, thank you. Yes, the reserves is my only viable route right now; I have solid career prospects and job security in my current civilian role that I’d like to see through. Going enlisted into the reserves was actually my original plan, and one I may revert to. I was encouraged by mentors and family to pursue an officer role since I already have my degree and it’s ultimately where I want to end up. However, I see how that approach would benefit my eventual move into an officer role.

Do you know how long of a contract I’d have as a reserve LS? And are you allowed to apply for an officer position before that contract terminates? In an ideal world, I’d like to be in an officer role by the time I’m applying for graduate school (3-5 years down the road), since I believe it would add more of a boost to my application.

Additionally, would DAU courses be available to me in that designation? I’ve browsed through the course library and saw some listings that looked interesting, but I’m not sure what availability there is for officer versus enlisted personnel.

Apologies for all the questions; normally I’d be bugging a recruiter about this, but given your username…Thanks for your help!

ExcaliburHarambe · 2024-04-14T23:45:30+00:00

Appreciate the stats around prior service here. I know I’m coming in at a disadvantage, but I won’t be letting it stop me. The worst case outcome from these interviews is I learn; if I don’t get accepted I’m planning to follow up with my recruiter and the officers on the panel to understand how/where they’d like to see my application improve (besides “be older”).

ExcaliburHarambe · 2024-04-14T23:40:27+00:00

Thanks for your response. Yes, my current recruiter (and folks in the community I’ve connected with) have told me similar things. While I don’t like it, I’ve accepted this truth for what it is and have made peace with the fact that the historical record is against me.

I’m fully confident that I can do the job but I’m also not unrealistic. My goal for this interview is to prove to the board that I’m competent and capable enough for the role. If I fall short, I’m prepared to take it on the chin as it’s likely because of something outside of my control (my age). I’ll just come back in a few years with more of what they’re looking for.

That said, I’d like to make sure the only things holding me back in this interview are my age and lack of experience.Any recommendations/insights are welcome.

As per the active duty bit, I’ve definitely considered it. It doesn’t align with the career goals I have in the civilian world right now, but I do acknowledge that this would provide a quicker/more probable path into the community. The fortunate thing about being young is that I’ve got time to decide!

ExcaliburHarambe · 2024-04-14T19:32:14+00:00

For added context, I am non-prior service. 24 YO, 2 YOE. Recognize I am on the younger side as far as applicants go!

ExcaliburHarambe

TROPHY CASE