Career Direction for target school math major
Hey guys,
I'm interested in a career in finance, but I just don't know where to start.
I'm technically a senior at an Ivy League university where I studied math and german. I say technically because I decided to basically spend my last semester abroad which for various reasons doesn't allow me graduate until this december although im done my course load. I have a very good GPA (3.91), and care about math a lot (like the process, the formality etc.). I did some work for a small Asset Management firm last summer, but didn't particularly like it and have decided to stay in germany until december and intern at an electronics firm just because the position was easy to find, seemed like a good way to improve my mathematical maturity, and allowed me to get closer to fluency in german, which is something i also care about.
Anyway, I'm looking for direction post december. I've had an affinity for financial concepts for the last 1.5 years, but really haven't found my thing. Most of what I've done is just independent reading. I can't stand what i perceive as a lack of rigor in trading (I've read that much of the academic consensus is that short term price movements are essentially independent of previous movements, which makes charting bullshit), equity research seems more rigorous but has no interesting math, and M&A just doesn't appeal to me at all. I guess I'm more attracted to the quant side of things, I don't know, like derivatives structuring or something. But here the problems really begin.
My programming experience amounts to matlab and a tiny bit of python, and I feel like these quant positions really are for PhDs. I don't intend to get a PhD to go into finance. I think that's bullshit and probably torturous. Plus, I really don't think I'm that good at math. I like/am good at probability, but although I really respect pure math, I don't think I could even pull of a decent PhD dissertation. I've been exposed to some very smart people at my school and don't think im on that level. I was thinking about maybe a masters in financial mathematics just to give some legitimacy to the reading I've already done, but I've read that a lot of these programs aren't worth it and really don't get you to being a quant anyway.
So I guess my question is twofold. One, what industry should some like me be looking into and two, what sort of steps should I take to get there?
Sorry for the long question. I'm just sort of lost.
Your math degree would definitely set you up to pursue anything of a quant nature. But honestly, just do some research and look into each industry. There are some great resources on this site to just learn about what each job (IB v. ER v. VC v. PE v. HF v. AM v. everything) entails with everything from compensation to hours to culture and lifestyle. Not all quant positions are for PhD's, you'd be surprised how your Ivy degree in math can really enhance your candidacy for some junior level quant analyst jobs. You don't need math for M&A, so don't bother w/ that. But somewhere like an algo HF shop or something where you're analyzing trading algorithms and certain patterns may interest you... Look up some quant HF's or multi-strat (AQR, Citadel, Two Sigma, etc). A lot of these funds have quant analyst jobs or programs that you'd be able to get into full time and these funds also probably have extensive alums from your school... Network and reach out to just learn about quant analysis and then go from there. There's no better way to learn about the business than to ask someone who's in it directly.
thanks for the reply man. i've sort of shied away from emailing random people in the alumnai network because I'm just really conscious of the fact that everyone is so busy, but it does make sense that that's the play
Quaerat facilis tempora commodi est. Quo perferendis nihil neque eaque sed iusto commodi. Odit maxime quaerat provident aut velit vitae. Nobis impedit libero ab dolore quasi. Cumque voluptatum odit magnam.
See All Comments - 100% Free
WSO depends on everyone being able to pitch in when they know something. Unlock with your email and get bonus: 6 financial modeling lessons free ($199 value)
or Unlock with your social account...