How to switch to finance? MFE worthwhile?
Jul 28, 2019
25 Comments
Worked at Google and financial institution as developer. I feel like dev job kind of boring thus would like some change with more fun. And here in nyc I worked on portfolio analytics team and developed strong interest in finance and seems buy-side or portfolio manager earn way much more in a long run.
So how to build portfolio manager career from tech/software/quantitative background? I guess the first step is to get "real finance" individual contributor role (like quant)? Then would MFE /master of financial engineering a good option for career switch, or at least be a quant?
Thx
comments
You already have experience in portfolio analytics, that's super relevant. You'd probably drop a level relative to where you are at Google if you tried to go back to that but I think you can easily get your foot in the door. Right now the demand for strong developers is much higher than for quants who aren't as versatile SWEs like me :/ When you get to the job, absorb knowledge from the veterans and you'll be able to break into portfolio management.
I am not a fan of going back to school if your career is already established. Internal transfers are so much easier.
I’m sure I could easily switch if I wanted. Education is good but not strictly required