Hello all, I am an international masters student in physics at a top school in Canada. I am interested to break into algorithmic trading, but I understand that my chances are slim because the Canadian financial market is highly regulated and most of the algo trading jobs are in NYC. Furthermore, my degree in physics does not really help either. However, I have been teaching myself data science and looking for data science jobs in top companies with the goal of eventually breaking into algo trading. My questions are the following: 1. Am I being delusional in my goal of breaking into algorithmic trading? 2. Is a PhD useful in securing a job in algo trading? 3. Is it possible to transition with 5 years of experience in the data science industry into the algo trading industry? Thank you.
Continue to get a phd in physics and you'll likely be surprised at how relevant it is. I think you'll find that firms looking for people to develop algorithms need to posses the ability to solve problems that either nobody has solved before or in ways nobody has solved them before, which is precisely what academic research is focused on. Do you have any research publications as part of your masters? I can't answer your 3 questions exactly, but I do know that firms actually hire people with physics degrees. The important thing is understanding a scientific and data driven approach. Understanding complex systems and their relationships. All of which physics is directly applicable. Good luck.
Thank you for your comments. I find that most Masters students in theoretical physics continue with a PhD. Almost no one quits after Masters. But I have been talking to a lot of people outside academia and they have been telling me that a PhD is also useful to get into R&D jobs. And that a PhD is just a recruitment filter. Therefore, I have been debating if 3 years working in the data science industry gaining work experience would be better than spending 3 years learning material that I will never use in the workplace after my PhD. Also, during those 3 years working in the data science industry would allow me to save money and start doing retail algorithmic trading in order to become more competitive in the job market. But I am in a lot of fear as almost no one quits after their masters (people usually quit after phd or after one or two postdocs). I am not sure if I am being too aggressive and will run into trouble. In the end, getting a PhD is the safe option.
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A few quick points (a) out of the entry level resumes that cross my desk (I am a quant(ish) PM at a large fund), probably only 50% have a PhD, so it's not required (b) experience as a data scientist is pretty valuable in quant trading at the moment, but that's because data science is en vogue in general - who knows what would happen in 3-5 years (c) to become a quant trader, best approach to have a chat with a few firms and see what they say, you got nothing to lose except for your Markov Chains (d) if you are in the NYC area, feel free to reach out, I will take a look at your CV - we are constantly looking for bright people
For inspiration/affirmations your on the right course watch the movie 'Margin Call'. System trading is in the stone age - you should do just fine - the arms race has just started.
I think Conan the Barbarian is a far more inspirational movie to watch if you want to work for a hedge fund.