Hey guys, I was just wondering if anyone here has moved from being a IT financial application programmer to being someone who works on the finance side (not programming). If you haven’t, have you heard of anyone managing that successfully and how they went about it? Does passing the CFA help you in that effort? Any inputs would be appreciated. I have been a programmer developing financial software for over 2.5 years now and just cleared my level 1. Thanks, -adb
Hi Amit, One of my friend tried to shift from IT to Finance (Equity Research - Semiconductors) for a small shop in NYC (Manhattan), but due to long working hours (18+ hrs) and other corporate finance issues within the BoD’s, he got smashed on the face and had to abscond off from that job. Finally he is happy with Java programming all over again. Me trying hard to get in too… but don’t think the doors are going to open anytime before 09. Thanks, Dinesh S
I did, I was a programmer developing financial software between 1999 and 2002. I added on some financial courses at university between 1998 and 2002 (part time obviously) and it helped when making the transition. I did obviously not have a CFA charter, since I’m working on Level II now. I know of other people who have made similar transitions. Whether or not I’m managing it successfully is really not for me to tell.
dinesh, are you serious? 18+ hours? I’ve seen commonly 60+ hours per week, which works out to 12+ hrs/day, but 18+?! that leaves you with <6 hrs of sleep per day, assuming you don’t take time to eat, shower, watch tv, go to gym etc… I mean its understandable if this is more of a seasonal thing when it gets busy with earnings announcements… Also, from what I recall reading on this forum, the hours should be better for buy side firms, did your friend work at a sell side firm?
- He had to reach office at 6 for morning bridge conference calls for the 30 stocks he covered. 2. Read all possible news feeds relating to those stocks, gather them up in a doc, and publish it in Thomson or whatever. 3. Attend meetings with investors. 4. Get back to desk and start pumping the data from BS and IS to some spreadsheet that was already modeled to do a billion others things and forecast the value of the stock as a BUY/SELL/HOLD. 5. Write publish notes and get them reviewed. 6. Do some backend database programming to automate some excel macros. 7. Co-ordinate with Analyst in CA to tweak the models. 8. Finally get back home at around 2 So all in all, it was a data-entry kind of a role with lots of shoulder-rubbing with the biggies (and of course … Exchange of business-cards) and the Luncheons at Marriott’s and Hyatt’s. And yes, for his short duration of 4 months, it was earning season for most of the companies which he or team covered.
wow, was that you or did you follow him around? washroom break was about the only thing you missed there… that’s crazy mad, 4 hours of sleep everyday is brutal
One of my friends got into Quant. He was a Java Programmer.
How did he get into quant from a being a java developer? What all things did he do - please mention
liaaba Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > wow, was that you or did you follow him around? > washroom break was about the only thing you missed > there… > > that’s crazy mad, 4 hours of sleep everyday is > brutal Fortunately that wasn’t me… He is a very good friend of mine, and I was his 24-hr on-call support personnel, since I knew those financial ratios, as I was perusing my CFA-L1 then.
ramanaCFA Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > How did he get into quant from a being a java > developer? What all things did he do - please > mention He completed his MBA in Quantative Finance from decent B-school (consider top 50). He is also taking his Level II.
So, from what it seems, one has to get a Master’s in Math Fin. or MBA to make the transition. Or else there doesn’t seem any way to do it?
adb258 Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > So, from what it seems, one has to get a Master’s > in Math Fin. or MBA to make the transition. Or > else there doesn’t seem any way to do it? These are the best ways!!!
Yes, this is very true, if you have a backround in programming and get an MBA, you will be well equipped to get a good finance job. If you can program well, the stock market should be easy.
Guys: I am in the same process trying to make a career shift from IT. I am currently doing MBA -Finance from a school ranking between 20 and 25 and appearing for Level 2. Any suggestions?
Need suggestion here too: I did MBA (non-finance) from top 25 school… working in IT-Sales for last 4 yrs… just passed L1. Are there any jobs I can try right away? whats the scope for me? Kindly guide.
i m also in IT looking to switch to finance, i wonder what kind job is open for us, if any?
why in the world did you do a non-finance MBA then? i can assure everyone who prefers asking such questions on this forum right now that not a single front office job is available for them at the moment, or in the foreseable future. even those who proactively seek jobs by reaching out to professional contacts are in trouble right now. want to switch from IT to Finance? learn IT really well, get a back-office job in a bank, pay your dues and work your way up slowly by proving your grasp of the mkts and risks associated with your products to the front office. i cant even count how many dudes ive seen in my back office who only work 9 to 5 and have not a slightest idea of what products i trade in. on the other hand, my boss has just called up 2 really diligent guys from the middle office into the trading positions and with their knowledge of back/middle off ops they’re very valuable to the group right now. so instead of spending your evenings studying for this exam, get in early with the fronters, leave late and try hard to get some facetime with your fronters to understand what they do.
Why IT to finance? Because in IT one can make a pretty good living, but then you see finance makes so much more, no? But you don’t want IT in front office? Then we go to back office and get those magic 3 letters to move to front office.