will relocating to NYC help the job search a lot?

Q

quantfish

Joined
2/24/10
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This is my situation. I am a EE Phd from a mid-ranking school and have been looking for almost six months. I had >10 phone interviews (mostly IBs) for quant positions, most of them I answered the questions pretty well. But I had only one onsite with a major IB and didn't get the offer. Since my OPT will start in about two months, I wonder if I should relocate to NYC soon to continue the search, will relocating to NYC help me a lot in this case?
 
It certainly won't hurt your chance. You should have done this long ago when starting the process. It's easier for firms to think of you as local candidate which they can interview at any moment notice than to think of you as someone they have to arrange everything from travel, hotel and arrange schedules of many people to fit in a one day interview.

I know of people who have camped in a cheap motel for a month or so in NYC for all of their job hunt.
 
thanks a lot Andy. I only recently did my phd defense, and relied on my advisor's pay to live, so that's why I stayed in school for the past couple of months.... However, since the job search hasn't been successful, and the starting date of OPT is approaching, I guess I should make some changes in the job search strategy
 
you can sublet manhattan apartments for a month or two, there's always people running out of town to LA or on vacation etc. It's the kind of place where if you're leaving for even a weekend people can rent their places. Craigslist is the best place to find them. anywhere from $1000-1700 depending on if you have roommates or not.
 
OP, where are you located currently? NYC isn't exactly the cheapest place to relocate to without a job in hand.
 
Thanks a lot guys.
Some updates:
I got an offer from an engineering firm in California, which requires a lot of mathematics and c++ skills as well. I wonder which option is better:

1. go to work in the engineering firm for a year or two, then switch to quant, hopefully the market is better then. But I will be non-local to NYC at that time.
2. reject the offer, and relocate to NYC and keep looking for finance jobs.

What do you guys think?
I have been looking for quant jobs for a little more than half an year, and didn't have an offer. Is the hiring of fresh phds over so far?
 
What is better for you? You need to make your own decision. Don't put that burden on somebody else's shoulders.
 
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