- Joined
- 10/22/24
- Messages
- 2
- Points
- 3
Hello there. I'm from Mexico, 23, economics, CQF candidate, currently at mkt risk an derivatives at a spanish bank. I deal with some IR derivatives, use models like CIR, HJM, LMM, Vasicek, construct vol surfaces using BSM or Dupire, and measure VaR vega/theta, all that in py, C++ or Excel. I feel I have mid-level knowledge on what I do, bc I know how to implement and meanings of the concepts, but Idk how to derive the formulas from scratch. I've taken courses on SDE, PDE, ML, to close that gap.
The thing is, I feel like I’m in limbo. In my country there are barely any roles in quant dev/research or trading, I've even rejected HSBC 5 times bc their roles seem good but end up being back office, even a recruiter told me most banks see latam as only suitable for at most middle office, that while being here I should forget about modelling or trading. But on the other hand I see foreign opportunities as far away, honestly. I see american, asian or indian resumes and they look very solid. Also the fact that many of them come from Ivy makes me feel inadequate; I come from UNAM, barely top 100 according to QS rankings, and while have a good job, it’s in a low-competitive place (I also interned at Amazon for six months in BI).
I regret so much taking things seriously too late, like just in January of this year I discovered I wanted to be a quant and quit my job. Before that, I was just looking for a place where I could make some money, without long-term goals. I love quant finance, but I don't see how I can get a role. What gives me hope is that I knew many people in their second career, at 27, getting internships from msft or google in the US coming from my uni, but at some point I feel that I could be way behind from others in the industry I am interested in.
I'd like to hear the harsh truth from you. I won't be affected, I'm super stubborn, deep inside I know imma make it, but would be great to see the reality how it is. Or maybe an advide. Thanks
The thing is, I feel like I’m in limbo. In my country there are barely any roles in quant dev/research or trading, I've even rejected HSBC 5 times bc their roles seem good but end up being back office, even a recruiter told me most banks see latam as only suitable for at most middle office, that while being here I should forget about modelling or trading. But on the other hand I see foreign opportunities as far away, honestly. I see american, asian or indian resumes and they look very solid. Also the fact that many of them come from Ivy makes me feel inadequate; I come from UNAM, barely top 100 according to QS rankings, and while have a good job, it’s in a low-competitive place (I also interned at Amazon for six months in BI).
I regret so much taking things seriously too late, like just in January of this year I discovered I wanted to be a quant and quit my job. Before that, I was just looking for a place where I could make some money, without long-term goals. I love quant finance, but I don't see how I can get a role. What gives me hope is that I knew many people in their second career, at 27, getting internships from msft or google in the US coming from my uni, but at some point I feel that I could be way behind from others in the industry I am interested in.
I'd like to hear the harsh truth from you. I won't be affected, I'm super stubborn, deep inside I know imma make it, but would be great to see the reality how it is. Or maybe an advide. Thanks