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Comment by tombert | Hacker News Reader

I've tried for the last several years to go the other direction: tech -> finance. I've sent thousands of applications to hundreds of trading and finance companies, and gotten zero bites in the last two years.

I am currently just assuming that there aren't as many finance jobs as there are jobs at big tech.

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You just aren't as special or interesting as you think to them. Think about this, there are many finance focused graduates with several years of experience in that industry (buy-side im presuming from your comment) and being able to code isn't as special as SWE think it is.

This is another case of software devs thinking they can crack finance/trading because they know how to code. The myopia comes from the difference in culture and how risk is treated from tech organizations to finance.

Exception is if you have an advanced math/physics degree that will be useful in the domain of quant shops but I wouldn't recommend someone taking that route just because they want to make money.

There are lot of finance/trading jobs. I wouldn't waste time pursuing that field. Very few end up parachuting with a mid six digit figure salary even inside that industry and these are people with many years of finance specific experience.

I don't really think I'm terribly special. As I said in sibling comments, I have been trying to break into more of the software side, not the quant stuff. I don't think I need to be special in order to try to break in, as long as I set my expectations to "it's a long shot" mode.

I do think that I could learn any level of quant if I really wanted to, but I would rather focus on the software stuff.

I have about half of a PhD in theoretical computer science, but that's not usually the "math" that's useful in finance, outside of the software side.

> I have been trying to break into more of the software side, not the quant stuff

> I have about half of a PhD in theoretical computer science

There just aren't that many jobs in High Finance.

They can concentrate on hiring EECS/ECE/CS majors from MIT, Harvard, Stanford, UC Berkeley, UIUC, Columbia, and Princeton and call it a day.

But more critically, why would you even want to make that move? The RoI isn't that high if you aren't quant. You can make decently well working in most tech companies with a better WLB.

> The RoI isn't that high if you aren't quant.

The postings I see on Selby Jennings (and their equivalents) seem to show a considerably higher salary than the BigCo's that I've worked at. At least the salary bands that are listed.

That's honestly a big reason, but I also just find the world of ultra-low-latency software pretty interesting.

You'll also be expected to work 60-80 hour weeks.

You can earn the bottom end of those salary bands in West Coast Big Tech with much less hours worked (30-50).

> ultra-low-latency software pretty interesting

Then go into ML Infra. It's the same skillset and problem space (high performance computing), but better work hours and decent compensation.

I've tried; I've done what everyone has done and sent applications to OpenAI; they don't call me back. I don't really want to work for an AI startup.

I have found (in other areas - supply chain, hardware, mech eng, finance) that it's much easier for people to move from <field> in to tech than the other way around. I'm not sure if that's because other fields require proof of capability (like a bachelors) whereas tech seems more welcoming to someone from other backgrounds.

I think it's partly because "tech", as a career path, is relatively new, so its requirements aren't really as "solidified" as a lot of other fields.

I'm just assuming nobody is actually responding to job applications in any industry anymore.

There aren't.

I co-run a quant-driven prop shop. We never did and still don't do inbound recruiting, only outbound and referrals. It's the same with almost all quant shops now in the EU. I guess the US would be different, but only slightly - I guess every small quant shop does the same across geographies.

Also there are only a handful of big quant shops or hedgefunds actively seeking heavyweight quant guys.

The industry in general has moved to a strategy of doing more with less.

They are more pedigree focused

But cold applying isn't in vogue anyway

You probably gotta have some wild AI and Quant skills on your resume to get any sort of response.

I was trying to get into the more software-engineering side (e.g. stuff like what Jane Street advertises). I have plenty of experience at BigCo tech companies, but that doesn't appear to be enough.

I'm not bitter about it or anything, I'm not entitled to a yuppie finance job, but thus far no luck with it. There might be some magical configuration of my resume to make it stand out better to these companies, but I haven't found it yet if there is.

I don’t think it has to be that crazy. I only have a Bachelors in CS.

Find a recruiter.

Easier said than done! When I've reached out to finance recruiters, even for stuff that I'm more or less qualified for, they pretty much always ignore me. One of them flat out told me that they will only work with people with a bachelors from a "Top 20" school, which I definitely do not.

We are in NYC area. More in profile.

I emailed you.

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