How I can find a quant job with a Master in Finance?

[judyontheway]

Hi,

I hold a Master and a Bachelor in Finance and have one year work experience in IT audit with a Big4 accounting firm.

From my work, I can tell audit is not the right path for me. I like dynamic, logically structured subjects such as math and computer science. So I was thinking of taking an MFE and eventually being a quant. But before that let's take one step back - if I could get a quant job with my current background plus some interview preparation, it would be even better.

So my questions are:

Is it possible to get a quant job with pure Finance background?
- If yes, how should I prepare?
- If no, is taking an MFE sufficient to my career switch?

A little more information:
Grad school GPA 3.7
CFA level 1 passed
Calculus, Probability, and Linear Algebra taken in undergrad (haven't used for years...)
Project experience in VBA and R...

I know my background sucks...but I really appreciate your answers and comments. Thank you!

 

[Philip_Mitterrand]

You should get a job as close to the quant desk w/ current profile and then make a switch internally before going through the MFE route.

 

[Ken Abbott]

What do you mean by a "quant job?" Developer? Strat? Programmer? Trader?

 

[mhy]

You should get a job as close to the quant desk w/ current profile and then make a switch internally before going through the MFE route.

Switching internally will be difficult without the quant degree.