Struggling - Really need help to get into Quantitative Researcher role.
Hi all, (I apologize in advance for the slightly long post I am cross posting from Tech channel.) I am looking for some advice and motivation because this is very important to me. I think I really want to get into #janestreetcapital (or a similar company) in a #Quantitative Researcher (or maybe even #Quantitative Trader - not sure on this one) type role. FYI before anything else - I am not saying any of this for the money or anything, since often I have seen few people on blind relate everything to TC. A bit background on how I got here - I grew up in Asia, I was a Math geek in school, got 100% in all tests and exams, was very good at it, participating and winning several Math Olympiads until high school/grade 12. I did all this because I truly loved Math since childhood. However, due to lot of family pressure, I ended up studying Mechanical Engineering in college. I didn't enjoy it at all, was unhappy, got OK grades, and started doing lots of drugs etc. during college + after college 2 years. After that really low period of drugs in life, I decided to make a change after receiving some therapy. I quit my Mech. Eng. job, and knowing nothing except that "I love Math and Stats and like coding", I decided to try Data Science in 2014-2015. Started at bottom as a SQL Product Analyst, doing dozens of courses (on Stats + Coding + ML + DL etc) online and working hard at work, I made it to being a Data Scientist (Statistics + Machine Learning) at my current employer and now do some cool ML and DL projects since last couple of years. At the moment, I do like my job but in the past 1-2 years I have developed a strong interest in financial markets, and I continue to learn advanced probability and statistics for fun in my free time. All of this makes me really think that I should definitely try and at least explore/interview a career in Quantitative Finance in a role that best uses my skills and interests, else I'll regret it later. And I feel one such role would be Quantitative Researcher at Jane Street (or similar company). I am not sure if #Quantitative Trader role would be something similar to my interests as well? Going through the JS careers page, Puzzles page, YouTube channel, I feel quite convinced that perhaps that's the kind of place and environment I would enjoy being in. Since past few months, I now feel that had I known about such a career when I was in grade 12, I would have definitely taken a college degree to facilitate this. I just love mental math, puzzles, stats, probability, financial markets and therefore realizing it more and more daily, now this feels like a very natural choice. So, I recently applied for a Quantitative Researcher (only new grad position was open) role in JS London but got a standard reply of rejection. I don't know how can I at least get an interview call. I am strong at Mental Math, Probability and Stats (I was able to solve most of Quant Researcher tagged Probability and Stats JS questions listed on JS Glassdoor interviews), Machine Learning, Coding, and I enjoy Financial Markets as well. I would really appreciate any advice, especially from people at Jane Street on how to carve such a career path, and how to get an interview call. Since I have a bachelor's in Mech. Eng. from a non ivy league college in Asia, that is certainly not impressive to JS. What else can I do? Solve puzzles on JS website and make submissions? Connect with JS recruiters on LinkedIn? Any JS events I can attend? Any other suggestions? Sorry for the long story and rant, and I will very much appreciate your advice and comments. In case you feel it wouldn't be a good move, please feel free to comment that with your reasoning as well. That's appreciated too. Thanks a lot in advance :) #janestreetcapital #janestreet #janestreetinterview #citadel #citadelsecurities #twosigma #twosigmacareers #quantitative #quant
Grad school for stats, math, or physics, ideally PhD from a top 10 private school. Don't like this requirement? Then work at FANG instead.
Is your undergrad MIT? If not, elite shops are gonna be a struggle. Realistically, you need a PhD, or be a very strong programmer and transition to research after joining.
I feel so bad for you lol while reading your post...but anyway, here is my 2 cents. 1. Get a MFE or PhD 2. Read the book practical guide to quant interview 3. Quant finance is overrated profession. Don’t be too upset if you end up not liking it. Wish you best luck.
What makes you say its over-rated? It seems like the compensation is heads and shoulders above tech, and QR doesnt have awful (albeit worse) WLB
Based on my exp... the comp is not way above tech... not in US at least. In big banks or HF, most of them are glorified developers. There is absolutely no difference between quants and developers on those roles. While the “quant” Quants, working in derivatives pricing models, is a dying field.
are you US citizens or permanent residents? If you are from asia and on visa no shop wil look at your resume right now
Lol. There he goes with his wishful thinking. This is BS OP, visa is no issue for companies that you're targetting.
That’s literally the dumbest thing I have heard. Have you ever entered a quant shop? It’s literally like stepping in China and India. Go fix an ATM
My heart goes out to you.... I have 0 idea about what it takes to get in to those roles but please please please don’t fall off the wagon. This is not helpful but just know someone out there is has there fingers crossed on your behalf.
I sent you dm
I don’t think you understand probability. ( just kidding) Your probability of getting into Jane Street is quite low. So low that you shouldn’t bother applying there. My advice would be to skip top tier firms and focus on others. I know a couple of people who have been able to make this kind of switch. Here is another way of achieving this goal. Get into a team which is working on developing quant trading system. Preferably a role/team which has wide responsibilities.( usually at a smaller company than an established firm ). This will expose you to all the skills needed for this role. It’s not about just ML, but more about how to put different technologies and skills together. Lastly it can take several years of hard work and a bit of luck to make this switch. Good luck!
It isn't unheard of for us to hire people in odd situations like yours. Unfortunately it will be challenging since you're in a weird position. Note that JS hires almost exclusively past interns (this is less true for the research role, and maybe less true for the London office, I don't know). If you do get an interview and you think you may be on the edge, or even if not; if you're quitting your job either way, maybe see if you can intern there (unless you absolutely kill the interviews, or something). I think that to get an interview, you'll basically need a referral given your situation. If you did well at math competitions, maybe you can find someone you met at those who works here, or who know someone who works here, and try to connect with them and after talking with them try to convince them to refer you. I think solving puzzles on JS website won't help. The other main option is, as people noted, going back to grad school. Not because JS will care you have the degree (unless it's from a target school), but to try to get more connections and be able to pitch yourself as someone more plausibly switching careers etc. Also there are plenty of other great places. If you're actually very talented, JS may not be impossible, but either way, I wouldn't reject other places preemptively. Good luck
Is Georgia Tech considered a target school? I'm guessing not but I'm doing OMSCS anyway
Georgia Tech is not a target school, even for FANG. And OSMS is not helping Georgia Techs reputation.
“I really want to get into JS as a QR” lol. My guy your goal is effectively the most competitive position in finance at a small firm. Is this a joke? Set more realistic goals. Jane Street QRs have a PhD from an elite school studying something in CS/Math/Stats/etc where they performed cutting edge research. They aren’t just book smart, they’re likely literal geniuses and have the track record to prove it (IMO medals as a kid, Putnam scores, Kaggle awards, etc). On top of all of that, they probably knew someone at JS that referred them. On top of all of that, I have plenty of friends with amazing resumes that can’t even get past the resume screen. Honest truth: your fixation on JS is incredibly naive and arrogant. You may be able to find a QR job at a decent firm, but it probably won’t be JS.
Hey, even neanderthal sub-human morons like me can get an interview. Doesn't mean we went past that.
Why so mean?
Squarepoint is a discretionary hedge fund. The quants are there purely for marketing purposes to attract investors.
Everytime a post like this comes up it seems like going to a top grad school is the answer. Quant finance seems awful hard to switch into mid career.