How to move into Quant Research as an ML Researcher?
(Reposting as my other post was deleted for some reason) Hey Blind, I’m currently a graduating Master’s student with a degree in CS from a top 10 school and another Master’s in Comp Neuro from another top school. I’ve been doing theoretical deep learning research in an applied math lab, and have 2 first author papers published. I’ve worked in industry as a research fellow/intern at startups and larger orgs too, both on theory and applied projects. I was wondering if you have any advice or suggestions as to how, with my current skill set, I can in any way target Quant Research roles. Is there a way I should buff up my background, specific resources I should study, or network in a particular way? I’ve been accepted to an applied math master’s at JHU, would that help my profile? I hear these roles solve interesting applied problems and also get paid very well, even compared to ML engineers in tech. I’m currently interviewing and have offers for some entry level research scientist roles in industry, and am wondering if I can position myself well for QR. Is QR compensation significantly better than ML research? I would really appreciate the guidance! #twosigma #quant #citadel #hedgefund
Are your papers in NIPS or equivalent? Any CS/math/etc competition experience? Some QR people I know have similar backgrounds as you. But on top of their prior experience, they even underwent significant targeted preparation (intensive study of stats, brain teasers, algorithms, etc) before passing the interviews. For school, try to target top 3, not top 10. Again, this is just based on some close friends who went the QR route, not personal experience. Good luck!
Thank you! This is super helpful, do you have any specific resources for review you recommend? I’m strong on the stats and algorithms side, but perhaps there’s specific resources for interview prep that I should take a look at. Thanks for your insight, I really appreciate it
CLRS, elements of statistical learning, for basics. And then there are some quant prep books, but I don’t remember the names because they were quite generic sounding
How many times have you posted on this topic? I have seen at least two before as long as a month ago!
I have a similar background to you, but have a couple years in industry. If you're looking to work on applied problems you'll find that you can make plenty of money at tech companies too. Top ML scientists get paid $$$$. I'm specialized in computer vision so I never interviewed for QR positions; I might be leaving money on the table as a result, but I'm ok with that since I get to basically continue doing my grad school research. If you find the problems in QR fun then go for it; if not, your overall happiness might be better if you find the right position at a tech company. Just my $0.02. TC 1.2M / yr.
May I ask what kind of company you work for
Thank you for taking the time, this is a really useful perspective and I’ve been sort of thinking through this. Would you mind if I DMed you to get your thoughts on some of the opportunities/paths I’m evaluating and advice you may have for a career in these areas based on your experience?
Comp tops out at about 1M for experienced quants at firms like two sigma. The interview process is focused on mathematical problem solving and basic statistical modeling, not advanced ML. The problems that get asked can be really hard though, and people with IMO/USAMO background tend to excel on the math interview questions. So I don't see how additional masters will help you get into quant research. If you can handle the problem solving you will get in with your current background.
At this point you’re just talking about job titles. An ML researcher at one company is more prestigious than a quant at another. A quant at one company is just doing product analytics at another company Also not sure why you think getting 3 masters will help you. It won’t. Ask the jhu applied math program was awful. I dropped out of it after a semester.
Thanks for the pointer about JHU! I guess what I’m asking is regarding any additional skills/topics I should study before interviewing with firms like TwoSigma, etc.
Ah you should prob specific quants at hedge funds... but even then, 3 masters won’t help..