…PhD in physics (almost finished grad student) + 3 Levels of CFA (but without finance-related work experience)…for landing a position in finance? I’m looking to switch fields… Basically, what range can I reasonably expect for a starting salary? I don’t know much about this, so I welcome any/all brutally honest, experiences, opinions, views, and/or stories. Thank you in advance.
Well, in “normal” times, you’d be attractive to quantitatively driven funds (check out e-financial careers, and look for “quantitative” stuff). They really like strong programming and math skills, and at Ph.D. math and physics levels. My guess is that you’re looking at around $120k base and maybe 50% to 100% bonus on top of that. However, quant funds got hammered in August, and many may be downsizing, so the competition may be tougher this year. Analytic Recruiting is good for guys like you. Also check out Paul Wilmott’s book series on Quantitative Finance. There’s a one-book introduction and a three-book more intensive series. That will help you sound more up-to-speed on the quantitative aspects of finance if and when you get an interview. At the risk of sounding self-promoting, do a google search for “Styles of Quantitative Finance,” which looks like it has been a well received discussion of some of the different ways that quantitative skills can be used in finance.
lots of quant jobs for physics phds… they post those jobs all the time at waterloo
bostonkev Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > …PhD in physics (almost finished grad student) + > 3 Levels of CFA (but without finance-related work > experience)…for landing a position in finance? > I’m looking to switch fields… > > Basically, what range can I reasonably expect for > a starting salary? I don’t know much about this, > so I welcome any/all brutally honest, experiences, > opinions, views, and/or stories. > > Thank you in advance. If you are willing to relocate all the way to Minneapolis, I have a great hook-up for someone with your quantitative background.
Thanks for the replies… apcarlso, I’ll probably consider that…I have about 1-1.5 years left and will be reading as many posts as I can on AnalystForum in th meantime.