[Advice needed] Can a B.S. in Physics get me a job in Chicago?

[vtambo]

Hello all.
I am graduating soon with a B.S. in Physics and a minor in math. I have programming experience from a few courses and research, and finance experience from a few courses and research as well.

Within the last year, I decided that physics graduate study was not for me- I couldn't picture myself as a physics professor and I did not want to be in grad school for 6+ years.
At about the same time, a professor of mine was working on a computational finance research, and I became instantly interested. Since then I have taken a few finance classes, and made the final decision that I want to be a quant.
So here I am, with my B.S. physics degree and feeling a little unsure of what to do....

I could either get a quantitative finance master's, or shoot for it in the Chicago quant job market.

What should I do and why?

 

[C S]

Get the quant interview books by Timothy Falcon Crack, Mark Joshi and Xinfeng Zhou. Study all of them: Zhou is easiest to plow through cover to cover, but the most pedestrian. Crack is maybe more typical of what you might run across. Joshi is difficult (good luck getting through the whole thing, I never did), but worth dipping into.

Go for some interviews (won't be too hard to get if you are from U Chicago). Rinse and repeat. No matter what you decide to do later, I guarantee this experience is worth it. If this sounds like too much work, let me reassure you it doesn't get any easier with a QF master's.

Addendum: don't be too worried about stochastic calc and all that. You're an undergrad so they won't expect you to be a master of that stuff. But they will want to see sharpness. Just study the beginning part of Baxter and Rennie on the binomial tree stuff to get the intuition. You can learn to do the computations from Zhou and Crack.

Addendum2: If you aren't really a programmer type, there are good bits in Scott Meyer's Effective C++ to use in interviews. It should go without saying your chances improve the more you actually understand those bits.

 

[IntoDarkness]

if u can get a job dont waste any money on masters. ur able to pick up the knowledge through self study or night school (later is preferred). just crush the interview books mentioned above.

 

[vtambo]

Thank you for the advice- it's extremely helpful in my current decision making. (Just to note, I'm actually graduating from a lesser-known school.)

Here's a few follow-up questions.
1. Should I start applying and contacting firms right now for job interviews, before I am fully prepared? Or should I wait a month to get better acquainted with the material to give myself a better shot?

2. I would be willing to take an internship at the beginning, but should I even mention that?

3. Are there any other places I should look at besides hedge funds and prop shops?

-Thanks

 

[C S]

Thank you for the advice- it's extremely helpful in my current decision making. (Just to note, I'm actually graduating from a lesser-known school.)

Here's a few follow-up questions.
1. Should I start applying and contacting firms right now for job interviews, before I am fully prepared? Or should I wait a month to get better acquainted with the material to give myself a better shot?

2. I would be willing to take an internship at the beginning, but should I even mention that?

3. Are there any other places I should look at besides hedge funds and prop shops?

-Thanks

1. You need to prepare. Take it seriously. Once you contact people, it might be a matter of days, not weeks, before you are invited to interviews.

2. I don't really have any advice here, except to say that probably the people interviewing you don't give a damn whether the position is part time, full time, or internship. They will test your skills and talent. They aren't going to say, wow this person was a dummy but maybe s/he'll be ok for an internship. Good internships (ones where you actually learn, not just do extremely menial, routine work that has no benefit to you) are hard to come by. They will be offered by the best firms, and in a way, it might be even more competitive than going for a fulltime job. Anyway, don't think of internships as lesser things, and don't show your ignorance and lack of confidence by saying "I'd be happy with just an internship!" Ok, so I just ended up giving advice. Oops.

3. High speed brokerages. Exchanges. Not the most sexy-sounding, but you could learn a lot in the right kind of position. Alpha is worthless without good execution, and in a way, good execution *is* alpha.

 

[vtambo]

1. You need to prepare. Take it seriously. Once you contact people, it might be a matter of days, not weeks, before you are invited to interviews.

2. I don't really have any advice here, except to say that probably the people interviewing you don't give a damn whether the position is part time, full time, or internship. They will test your skills and talent. They aren't going to say, wow this person was a dummy but maybe s/he'll be ok for an internship. Good internships (ones where you actually learn, not just do extremely menial, routine work that has no benefit to you) are hard to come by. They will be offered by the best firms, and in a way, it might be even more competitive than going for a fulltime job. Anyway, don't think of internships as lesser things, and don't show your ignorance and lack of confidence by saying "I'd be happy with just an internship!" Ok, so I just ended up giving advice. Oops.

3. High speed brokerages. Exchanges. Not the most sexy-sounding, but you could learn a lot in the right kind of position. Alpha is worthless without good execution, and in a way, good execution *is* alpha.

Interesting, and yes, the second question may have been a bit ignorant of the culture, but that is exactly why I asked here.

I've heard from others that it is useful to have some experience with SQL and Python.

Do firms care if I've had any formal experience with skill [ x ] in a business or school related setting?
Or, do they simply not give a damn and just want me to know skill [ x ]?

I ask this because I haven't had any internships or formal experiences with SQL or Python- I'm simply learning on my own terms.

 

[C S]

Interesting, and yes, the second question may have been a bit ignorant of the culture, but that is exactly why I asked here.

I've heard from others that it is useful to have some experience with SQL and Python.

Do firms care if I've had any formal experience with skill [ x ] in a business or school related setting?
Or, do they simply not give a damn and just want me to know skill [ x ]?

I ask this because I haven't had any internships or formal experiences with SQL or Python- I'm simply learning on my own terms.

There's always a skill X that's useful to have. The decision you have to make is whether to invest time learning X.

Neither SQL or Python are considered hardcore skills in general. The only reason any intelligent interviewers will care if you have expertise in either is if there is an immediate need or the position is very limited, eg SQL database guy.

There are skills that are useful for getting the job and skills that are useful when you have the job. These skill sets can have very small intersection. When you need SQL, you can learn it in a week and wow the less quantitative people.

You can spend time learning boring SQL details or tackle tough problems/ brain teasers.

 

[vtambo]

About to graduate and return home... In order to get interviews, is there anything I can do besides cold call HR departments and apply online?