I am planning on joining one of the better quant prop trading / market making firms later this year (think Jane Street, Spot Trading, Five Rings, Jump, etc). My background is in traditional corporate finance and I do not have a STEM degree. I was hired primarily because of my fundamental background (I was a mergers & acquisitions banker beforehand, for example). I have an unusual background for a firm like this, because they traditionally hire math whiz kids and not ex-bankers. My biggest fear is that I will not have staying power and/or career flexibility in this industry given my non-traditional background. I fear this because my role is hyper specialized (there are very few folks with my background ever hired at places like this). I'd really appreciate folks on this board weighing in on how best to mitigate the career risks associated with this decision. In particular, it would be helpful to understand how hard it would be to ever switch firms if I eventually want to do that.
Joining an elite market maker without a quant background
- Thread starter griggah
- Start date
- Joined
- 11/5/18
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- 303
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- 53
Is it a quantitative, semi-quantitative, or fundamental role?
It is probably 80% fundamental, 20% quantitative. I was hired for the former, not the latter.