Job seeker with MFE looking to develop "plan B" (or even C)

DoughBoi · Post by **DoughBoi** » Tue May 06, 2008 1:47 pm

I am a new quant jobseeker looking to further develop a "Plan B" in the job search, and I'm posting so I can bounce around some ideas. My situation is this: I am an MFE graduate, with a PhD in electrical engineering from some time ago. I've been looking for a quant job in earnest about eight months now. My current job is as an software development lead at a small non-finance tech company. At this point in the job search, my network has dried up, the handful of headhunters I worked with regularly have stopped turning up leads, and when I contact new headhunters they generally just have openings at firms that have my resume, etc., etc., blah blah blah.

Meanwhile, funding for my current position is drying up, so job loss in the next few months is a real possibility.

Any ideas from anyone here on some sort of "plan B" for a non-quant job that would allow me to get a quant job when the market recovers? Ideally, one that will do something for my resume and keep my math skills from rotting? Even if I could stay in my current job, it is doing nothing for my resume, as I rarely get a chance to work in C++ (I kept the job during the MFE program based on advice that seemed valid then when the quant market was hot).

I have a few ideas I've been exploring and can list them, but I don't want to make this note even longer.

bsycheng · Post by **bsycheng** » Tue May 06, 2008 3:25 pm

Risk management is one of the few areas still hiring.

sasquatch · Post by **sasquatch** » Tue May 06, 2008 4:14 pm

Give me a shout (email is in my profile). If you're in NY, I can meet with you this week. If you're in Chicago, I can meet with you anytime after this week. If you're elsewhere, we'll just meet via phone. Cheers.

DoughBoi · Post by **DoughBoi** » Wed May 07, 2008 1:08 pm

Thanks for the assist guys. I originally wasn't looking at risk mgmt., but haven't ruled it out. From the people I know in risk, it sounds like guys with IT backgrounds don't wind up there often - a lot of stuff like VBA instead - but maybe my impressions are wrong. It's not as if I have firsthand knowledge.

I'm actually trying to work out some sort of non-finance alternative. I could get a job in finance in IT, but that doesn't solve the problem of keeping my knowledge fresh, and it seems jobs in IT are seen as qualifying you for another job in IT. The way people talk, it sounds harder to jump from back office to front office than to jump straight into front office.

Another alternative is an IT contracting job which is more 9 to 5 that would give me time to take more classes and engage in side projects. But that could be seen as a backwards step on my resume and may draw a red flag.

Scientific computing/engineering is another alternative, but I don't know if there's anything in New York area (there was a series of posts on that topic recently). Someone I talked to in the business said "all those jobs are going to India"; I'm not sure I believe her, but if this is harder than getting a quant job, it isn't exactly a backup plan, is it?

Another alternative is finance-related postdoc. I'm not sure at all if I could find one or will it into existence.

wolf0564 · Post by **wolf0564** » Thu May 15, 2008 12:41 am

so, ... what u actually looking to do? finance? non-finance? side projects?

DoughBoi · Post by **DoughBoi** » Thu May 15, 2008 1:35 pm

Ideally, a quant job. But until then, side projects. And if I lose my current non-finance job and continue to run into problems with the quant job market, a more math-oriented position that will help me get a quant job when things improve. I listed a few alternatives above.

white · Post by **white** » Mon May 19, 2008 10:48 am

I am curious - what sort of side projects?