Engineering - Financial Analyst (Quant?)

[Iddingtons]

Hello all,

Firstly, apologies for the long post.

I know I should really just speak to a few agencies but before I do I thought I might run this past the populous here to see what people think and see if anyone worked in the area to give me their perspective. Maybe there is someone on here who has made the same switch?

Career wise up until now I have been a Mechanical engineer, starting with a BEng in Mechanical engineering, then an MSc in Mechatronics and finally a PhD in an dynamics/tribology field. Therefore I am very analytical and highly numerate in my day to day role.

I have a fairly large amount of computer programming experience including Labview, Matlab, C++, Fortran and Visual Basic (Inc. Excel). With further experience in the application of packages such as ANSYS, Unigraphics (including its FEA software), Solid Edge, MSc ADAMS and SIMPACK.

My recent experience is in Fortran so my C++ knowledge is a little rusty however if I was completely honest. I have however done a lot of Fortran programming when modelling lubrication entrainment and also integrated Fortran routines with software such as ANSYS, ADAMS and SIMPACK. Unfortunately a great deal of my experience is mechanics and not statistics however.

So does this sound like the right kind of experience/skill set to be able to make a switch to a role within a Finance/commercial environment or am I dreaming? I’d like either a technology role or quantitative analyst I would think. Though as it is a new career area, I am open to suggestions.

Regards,

Iddingtons.

[bucksmanuk]

I would have thought the jump from mathematically modelling engineering problems to financial ones to be a piece of cake.
A good friend of mine used to do this in the city, he couldn’t believe how easy it was, and all for £700/day

[Iddingtons]

bucksmanuk said:

I would have thought the jump from mathematically modelling engineering problems to financial ones to be a piece of cake.
A good friend of mine used to do this in the city, he couldn’t believe how easy it was, and all for £700/day

That is what I am hoping, I am just not sure how to go about making the leap as it is a completely new path for me. That is why I was hoping someone who made the switch could offer their advice on what the best route was and if there was anything they recommended I brush up on/learn prior to approaching any prospective companies.

Id.

[NoelWatson]

Iddingtons said:

Hello all,

Firstly, apologies for the long post.

I know I should really just speak to a few agencies but before I do I thought I might run this past the populous here to see what people think and see if anyone worked in the area to give me their perspective. Maybe there is someone on here who has made the same switch?

Career wise up until now I have been a Mechanical engineer, starting with a BEng in Mechanical engineering, then an MSc in Mechatronics and finally a PhD in an dynamics/tribology field. Therefore I am very analytical and highly numerate in my day to day role.

I have a fairly large amount of computer programming experience including Labview, Matlab, C++, Fortran and Visual Basic (Inc. Excel). With further experience in the application of packages such as ANSYS, Unigraphics (including its FEA software), Solid Edge, MSc ADAMS and SIMPACK.

My recent experience is in Fortran so my C++ knowledge is a little rusty however if I was completely honest. I have however done a lot of Fortran programming when modelling lubrication entrainment and also integrated Fortran routines with software such as ANSYS, ADAMS and SIMPACK. Unfortunately a great deal of my experience is mechanics and not statistics however.

So does this sound like the right kind of experience/skill set to be able to make a switch to a role within a Finance/commercial environment or am I dreaming? I’d like either a technology role or quantitative analyst I would think. Though as it is a new career area, I am open to suggestions.

Regards,

Iddingtons.

I did Mech Eng and worked for a while in Engineering before eventually ending up in quant dev type role. Ping me if you want more info.

[Iddingtons]

NoelWatson said:

I did Mech Eng and worked for a while in Engineering before eventually ending up in quant dev type role. Ping me if you want more info.

Email sent, thank you!

Id.

[nammynake]

I'd be interested to find out more info on this too. I understand you need extensive C++ experience and solid maths skills (PhD level)?

[dcb]

nammynake said:

I understand you need extensive C++ experience and solid maths skills (PhD level)?

I agree that any useful financial quants will need
Maths at the PhD level.

If you can understand 30 year old basic stuff like this

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black%E2%80%93Scholes

and code it up in C++, then that might be classed as
your starter for ten.

Most banks use considerably more clever maths
these days to price various things.

This completes your pointer to the shallow end.

[nammynake]

dcb said:

nammynake said:

I understand you need extensive C++ experience and solid maths skills (PhD level)?

I agree that any useful financial quants will need
Maths at the PhD level.

If you can understand 30 year old basic stuff like this

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black%E2%80%93Scholes

and code it up in C++, then that might be classed as
your starter for ten.

Most banks use considerably more clever maths
these days to price various things.

This completes your pointer to the shallow end.

I have a PhD, but in astrophysics. It wasn't particularly heavy on the Maths, so my Maths skills are mainly from my physics degree. I have no C++ experience but I use SAS daily, and could probably learn the basics of C++ in my own time.

[stefd]

I'm in a similar (ish) position. I'm an engineer and I'm now half way through an MBA in the city. It's slowly dawning on me that my mathematical skills, when compared to my banking peers (who have been in the industry for years), are far far superior. Something as simple as disseminating the information in a graph is second nature to me but appears to be a bit of a challenge to the other students.

I can't program for toffee and won't have a PhD, although a first class degree and distinction in MBA ought to prove useful, and I'm wondering if some form of banking could be my vocation?

When I'm solidly into my second year of MBA and preparing for a job change I may well email some of you to see how you're getting on.

[voicey]

I studied Mechanical Engineering at Uni and obtained a BEng and an MSC. I went straight into a large UK bank on their grad scheme and been there ever since. Most of my career I was a structurer (working with assets including FX, Commodities, Fixed Income & Inflation) but I have recently moved and now run our derivatives middle office.

A route in might be to look for a job in Independent Price Verification (IPV). This is a middle office/market risk role that requires a strong understanding of financial models but is a little less intense than a pure quant role as you would be operating the models as opposed to developing them. It could be a good starting point to move across to. I've never hired an experienced engineer (as in someone who's worked in engineering for a few years) but do hire straight engineering grads and also PhD grads in many disciplines. I proud of the number of people I have helped move into front office and quant roles from my team.

Good luck!

[nammynake]

voicey said:

A route in might be to look for a job in Independent Price Verification (IPV). This is a middle office/market risk role that requires a strong understanding of financial models but is a little less intense than a pure quant role as you would be operating the models as opposed to developing them. It could be a good starting point to move across to. I've never hired an experienced engineer (as in someone who's worked in engineering for a few years) but do hire straight engineering grads and also PhD grads in many disciplines. I proud of the number of people I have helped move into front office and quant roles from my team.

Good luck!

This sounds quite interesting. Do you know of any web resources which explain this type of role in more detail? Regards.

[stevieb]

I have been looking to change career for some time, but have been uncertain on how an experienced engineer would get on in the industry.

My main element of my job is Transport Modelling, specifically developing/Calibrating/Validation the models. My Background in in Aerospace Engineering (MEng) and a Postgrad MSc in Transport modelling. Both of these have a heavy bias towards maths, with some statistics thrown in to the mix.

I do have some C++ and VB experience, but i am a little rusty with C++. But i can brush up on these skills in my owntime before i apply/get a job.

My main problem is trying to break into the industry, is it best to go direct or to go through an agency?

Thanks in advance

Steve

[NoelWatson]

stevieb said:

I have been looking to change career for some time, but have been uncertain on how an experienced engineer would get on in the industry.

My main element of my job is Transport Modelling, specifically developing/Calibrating/Validation the models. My Background in in Aerospace Engineering (MEng) and a Postgrad MSc in Transport modelling. Both of these have a heavy bias towards maths, with some statistics thrown in to the mix.

I do have some C++ and VB experience, but i am a little rusty with C++. But i can brush up on these skills in my owntime before i apply/get a job.

My main problem is trying to break into the industry, is it best to go direct or to go through an agency?

Thanks in advance

Steve

I think people of your calibre will be able to break into the industry as long as you are prepared to work for a lowish salary for a couple of years.

[stevieb]

NoelWatson said:

I think people of your calibre will be able to break into the industry as long as you are prepared to work for a lowish salary for a couple of years.

Thanks, It depends on what is considered a lowish salary.. These things are all relative. I am in engineering and the pay in not great, the money is not really a big motivator to me to be honest. Its nice to have but i want something that is more stable and does not have a 6 week workload cliff.

Steve