Recent content by oreliphan

Hi twofish-quant, or Osmosis: Could you tell me a bit about a working as a broker or trader at a hedge fund in forex or gold trading? I've recently been looking into these career paths, as opposed to a quant.

Hi TwoFish, I just wanted to hear an opinion on someone working in the industry of what is going on with Goldman Sachs right now. I'm being vague intentionally, so please share as much as you like on your thoughts. Other people working in the industry, please feel free to chime in!

You will usually work at the experiment you're working on. For instance, most experimental particle physicists now will go work on the LHC, so you'll probably live and work there.

I think this is indeed what twofish means, and is speaking in relative terms with the finance sector.

Can anyone say anything about becoming a quant at a mutual fund? Is this similar to the role at a hedge fund? (Forex mutual fund in particular)

Edit: Osmosis - I realize that you mentioned you were a trader-quant in the beginning - so (2) Statistical Arbitrage I think. That is indeed what I want to get into.

Also, can anyone comment on the differences to work as a quant at a mutual fund as opposed to a hedge fund? Are they similar roles (ie babysitting a computer)?

Does a recruiter usually tell you if you don't make it through the assessment part? According to Osmosis, some common roles include (1) Developer, (2) Statistical Arbitrage, and (3) Options Theory. May I ask twofish and Osmosis which of these roles you fall into? (Did you come in with a PhD...

Thank you Osmosis! (Especially for signing up just to reply) It was a great post! Well, I just took the C++ test (IKM) for one of the places I was applying for. I can say it's pretty difficult and tests arcane syntax and knowledge. It was a good test though in the sense that it was adaptive...

A balance seems good. If you don't know anything about the problem, it's good to look up some information first. If you already have a background, you can probably start to work on the problem and look up references when you're stuck. You can discover what's best for you though. Try working on...

Biophysics is another.

It's true that there are very few jobs for professors in HEP. You have to really, really want it to try and have a shot at it. Really know what you want to do in life, and if it's to become a professor, really research the chances of becoming one. There are so many careers to do in life, so...

Take comfort in knowing there are difficult things to think about in all parts of life, rather than just physics. That would fly only if you were in your last year or two, but since you have ~4 more years, absolutely not! If your hearts not in it, time to move on! A PhD requires a strong and...

Are you talking about grad school? These are pretty different fields. Is this a case where someone wants you to do one field, and you want to do the other? Do research on where these fields will lead you and what careers will be more favorable to each chosen field. Don't do physics unless...

But in the first place, it seems like Wall St. wasn't hiring physicists based on their "knowledge" of those things (derivatives, Black-Scholes, etc...) It's the skills, and if you can acquire the same skill set with these "year courses," then it can become competitive. Otherwise, a PhD can...