I'm graduating with a physics degree soon and will be going for a MFE course in London. However, I want to gain some experience in the industry before I start my masters so I'm thinking of applying for summer internships. I'm interested in securing a front desk quant role where I directly work with traders which is why I feel an internship in trading might be appropriate for me (there are no internships for undergrads in quant for obvious reasons). My understanding is that traders use models made by quants, surely having experience in applying those models in trading will make me stand out? Would it be a good idea to say on my internship applications that I eventually wish to get into quant?
Interning in trading before moving to quant
- Thread starter cp__
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I think you are late for internships...
I'm going for a masters so I can apply for summer internships as a third year.
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The answer is yes, a trading internship could help you. Yes you can say you want to be a quant, juste make sure you can justify why and what quants do. Good luck.
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Why is there so much misinformation? One, there are quant internship for undergraduates (fewer than trading internship sure, but they do exists). If you are looking for the structured quant internships from the top tier funds, they do recruiting and almost exclusively get their interns from a handful of schools.
Two, it's a TERRIBLE idea to say that you want to eventually get into quant from trading. It's literally on the list of advice of what NOT to say. At best you come off as someone with an "alternative mindset" that using their program as a stepping stone. They don't really care about your abilities and won't have to teach you as you are there to do the grunt work for 2 or 3 months. At worst, there's one less potential candidate they can hire back on a full-time basis.
Two, it's a TERRIBLE idea to say that you want to eventually get into quant from trading. It's literally on the list of advice of what NOT to say. At best you come off as someone with an "alternative mindset" that using their program as a stepping stone. They don't really care about your abilities and won't have to teach you as you are there to do the grunt work for 2 or 3 months. At worst, there's one less potential candidate they can hire back on a full-time basis.
Yeah thanks for clearing that up, I didn't realise myself what a horrible idea that was. Quant internships are really few, at least in the UK, Goldman Sachs does it and I will be applying for that soon.
Apart from IBs, what other places do you recommend I could try out for quant internships? I don't go to a target university (it's top 20 in the UK for physics but still not well known), have decent programming and mathematical skills with one IT internship this year and some other good ECs. Do you think I have a shot at HFs?
If you do try alternatives to banks you will have to try doing it speculatively and early as few HFs will have programs. And have someone with a quant background check the cover letter.
The thing about an internship is that you might not be a cost salary-wise but it will involve redirecting resources to supervise and teach you, which does impact others' productivity, so there is an opportunity cost, a concept few people understand outside of finance. I'd give it a shot anyway - don't expect great results but it just takes one firm to be in a position where they can take you on board and mentor you for it to work.
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