Quantitative analytics experience question on job appilcation

[daveyrocket]

I'm filling out a webform application for a position as a Financial Analytics Analyst/Developer

The job requirements list: "At least 1 year experience in mortgage servicing, fixed income, financial engineering, or quantitative analytics"

The webform actually asks about the amount of experience in these topics. Does my experience doing physics count as "quantitative analytics?" Can I put 6 years experience on this one or do I have to put 0 since I don't have specific experience in quantitative finance?

 

[twofish-quant]

The webform actually asks about the amount of experience in these topics. Does my experience doing physics count as "quantitative analytics?" Can I put 6 years experience on this one or do I have to put 0 since I don't have specific experience in quantitative finance?

It doesn't matter since you shouldn't fill out a web form.

If you are applying to an form on an HR page on a major bank website, then there is a 95% change that that form will get added to a database which no one will ever see. It's actually worse than useless because if you apply through a HH, the bank will block the resume because you are already in the database.

You want to go to www.dice.com[/url] or [url]www.efinancialcareers.com[/url] or [url]www.wilmott.com[/URL], and get in touch with a headhunter.

 

[daveyrocket]

It's actually for a job listed at IBM.

 

[twofish-quant]

It's actually for a job listed at IBM.

In that case, it's safer to put zero. It might put you out of the running for that job, but then again people that have one year of hands on mortgage analytics experience are likely to work for someone other than IBM, so there is an off chance that they'll get you because no one actually has that experience is going to apply. You might consider reading some about mortgage analytics and then putting in the comments that you've read some on the topic.

If you do some basic reading on mortgage analytics and then you find out that your dissertation is directly related (for example, if you've done Markov switching models), then you can put one or two, but you'll need to be prepared to defend that number in an interview, and be able to explain the US mortgage market and how it happens to be exactly what your dissertation was about. If you can talk about securitization, jump processes, coupula correlations and argue that you did just that in your dissertation, then you can put something other than zero.

On other thing, is that if you do put six, they'll toss your resume because you'll be massively, massively overqualified.

Also, if you don't get the job, you might breathe a sigh of relief. My guess is that some major bank or mortgage servicer has some critical project that is seriously, seriously screwed up, and they need to call in IBM to fix it. These sorts of projects can pay *REALLY* well, but they are political minefields.

The other thing is that if a bank hires you, they are fine with you coming in with zero financial knowledge with the expectation that you'll learn what you need in one to three months, since you are going to be working there for several years. Consulting companies are less willing to do that since, it may be a one year contract, so they can't affort one month of training. Finally, it may well be that you will end up being the expert on mortgages.

 

[daveyrocket]

Hmm that is a very interesting comment. Your advice and insight never ceases to be valuable, thank you very much!