Not getting interviews in DS from finance

Citadel
quant_fin

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quant_fin
Nov 5, 2021 4 Comments

Hi all -

First-time poster here. Want some wisdom from those pivoting from quantitative finance to data science in tech (or anyone in tech data science) on why I'm failing at the resume screening stage (even with internal referrals).

Background: 6+ YOE, previously worked in large asset management firms (before Citadel) in a quantitative research role, latter one is an embedded quant on a fundamental team. Responsibilities mainly include backtesting strategies, doing statistical work to uncover trends or biases, etc. (i.e. stats work that try to uncover new ideas or understand past success/failures). Without disclosing too much about who I am at Cdel, I'm currently in a role that I think is beefing up my engineering skills since I thought that was one of my deficiencies in my previous attempts to go tech.

This round of recruiting: Had a few internal referrals at tech firms (think FAANG and some recent hot IPOs) and applied to others directly on their job site; I'm getting rejected constantly within a day (even with referrals); One of the feedback I'm getting is that I lack 'analytical' experience...

What does that mean? is my engineering work right now hurting me? I'm not sure what kind of 'analytical' experience is required for these roles. In my mind, quantitative research in finance is probably one of the more analytical roles you can have.

Any thoughts or tips are very much appreciated!

TC: 250K

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    stepzero

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    stepzero
    It’s difficult for the hiring manager to translate your skill set into those they want, let alone asking a recruiter to do that. For example, backtesting means nothing to them. So you have to make it explicit and match to their keywords/requirements. I was a quant and switched to ds/ml eng.
    Nov 5, 2021 1
  • You probably want to frame your experience using data science terms even if it’s not how you’d measure success as a quant. Maybe add a project or 2 that’s more pure DS too and look for some more finance related DS jobs in tech/fintech. Also get some referrals. Feel free to PM
    Nov 5, 2021 1