/biz/ - Business & Finance

If you have an exotic phd (hard math and the like) means that your brain is abnormal enough to be part of THEIR database of possible candidates.

>>2953670
and who is they

>>2953635
Be a scientist.
Study statistics.
Focus on research (in whatever area you like).
Don't get involved with anything Wall Street before you finish your PhD.

From Lewis's Flash Boys:

>He returned for another round of Goldman’s grilling, which ended in the office of a senior high-frequency trader—another Russian, Alexander Davidovich. The Goldman managing director had just two final questions for Serge, both designed to test his ability to solve problems. The first: Is 3,599 a prime number?
>Serge quickly saw that there was something strange about 3,599: It was very close to 3,600. He jotted down the following equations:

3599 = (3600 – 1) = (602 – 12) = (60 – 1) (60 + 1) = 59 × 61

3599 = 59 × 61

>Not a prime number.
>The problem wasn’t that difficult, but, as he put it, “it was harder to solve the problem when you are anticipated to solve it quickly.” It might have taken him as long as two minutes to finish. The second question the Goldman managing director asked him was more involved, and involving. He described for Serge a room, a rectangular box, and gave him its three dimensions. “He says there is a spider on the floor, and he gives me its coordinates. There is also a fly on the ceiling, and he gives me its coordinates as well. Then he asked the question: Calculate the shortest distance the spider can take to reach the fly.” The spider can’t fly or swing; it can only walk on surfaces. The shortest path between two points was a straight line, and so, Serge figured, it was a matter of unfolding the box, turning a three-dimensional object into a two-dimensional surface, then using the Pythagorean theorem to calculate the distances. This took him several minutes to work out; when he was done, Davidovich offered him a job at Goldman Sachs. His starting salary plus bonus came to $270,000.

>>2953700
Also:
Learn to program in R really, really well.
Learn also:
1) Machine learning models.
2) Bayesian statistics.
3) Research design.

You don't have to give a fuck about finance until you finish your PhD. All you need to know is to collect analyze data to make predictive models.

>>2953682
The guys who won't test you unless you are the type of person who solves differential equations for fun while taking a dump.

>>2953749
>3599 = (3600 – 1) = (602 – 12)
step missing there senpai

>bachelors in CS
>be looking for quant/modeling work in software development
>go for interview at quant. finance company
>job is literally exactly what I have been looking for for months
>crush interview
>get through to second interview
>crush interview
>wait 2 weeks
>"We went with someone else"
>reach out for feedback through email
>guy never even replied

that broke my spirit, after 2+ months and 20 interviews, that was the last i could take. i have a job i hate right now as a software engineer, but I could only take so many "no"s

>>2953772
My bad, it's supposed to be
>(60^2 - 1^2)
I just copy and pasted from the book

Wtf is a quant nerd fag

>>2953762
>the type of person who solves differential equations for fun while taking a dump.
Solving equations isn't really important for a quant. What you need is to be able to 1) get a dataset and 2) use that data to predict the future.

>>2953635
you don't. it's the most nepotism ridden industry.

do you believe you can be one? good, get a bank loan as starting capital and do your thing.

>>2953772
60^2-1^2

>>2953832
It's a figure of speech...

>>2953635
get a phd in math or physics from an ivy league university.

>>2953749
Math major here. This is fucking stupid.

If real, no wonder those dipshits at Goldman went under.

>>2953935
goldman did well during the crash in 08.

But they dont really do much quant trading.

The best quant funds are renaissance and two sigma. And quantum fund before the closed it

>>2953950
Yeah, by defrauding people. Not by "muh on -the-spot math wizard genius."

Stop believing these people are smarter than you, or above you, or brilliant in any way. They're US-sanctioned fraudsters.

>>2953635
Phd in Physics or Math
Take LSD
Learn about chaos
From Poincaré's nightmare till cutting edge neuro science
Do some projects outside university that demonstrate your skills
Join me at Renaissance.

physics phd student here.
I study particle physics and we also deal alot with statistics and correlations.
Everyday you learn something new but everyday you feel dumber than the day before.
It's not a nice feeling but seeing all your older colleagues being accepted by great companies motivates you a lot

>>2953935
This was just final round bullshit. The paragraph before:

>And then Wall Street called. Goldman Sachs put Serge through a series of telephone interviews, then brought him in for a long day of face-to-face interviews. These he found extremely tense, even a bit weird. “I was not used to seeing people put so much energy into evaluating other people,” he said. One after another, a dozen Goldman employees tried to stump him with brain teasers, computer puzzles, math problems, and even some light physics.

This last test was just a pressure test. The rounds before were probably more grueling in terms of pure math.

I hate math. Currently stuck with Algebraic Geometry...
I feel dumber every day.
Loved commutative Algebra and fell for this crap.

Don't do pure math! Not even once.

>>2954064
>Don't do pure math!
Math is overrated. My computer can solve equations better than any living human.

What matters is HOW you use math to find patterns and make predictions. And that's the point of statistics and research design.

>>2954009
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2304096/Graduate-physics-PhD-31-fell-death-block-flats-taking-job-centre-qualified-for.html

>>2953777
Which city did u try?

>>2954175
boston

>>2954064
Algebraic geometry is a fucking meme. Do some real math.

>>2953762
>Tfw chemical engineer who enjoys diffeq.

Buy Bitbean. Derr.

>>2953635
phd in stats, math, and csci

>>2954079
>he thinks arithmetic is math
complete fucking brainlet detected
this board is a joke

>>2954009

Man, I wish I didn't suck at math.

Any tips for brainlets?

>>2956062

>>2956159

Have you tied being Jewish?

>>2953777
anon, they legally cannot tell you why they denied you, for liability reasons HR is cucking them

also very possible that you are 99% as good or even slightly better than the other guy but he would have been a cheaper higher or had a single specific skill they need

additionally if there is no rational reason for them to help you ace the interview at a competing firm, it only means less profit for them

anon if you are acing interviews of this level you won't have an issue finding a job you like

>>2956062
Chemical engineering is really hard to master though. Is your intelligence above average? You may have a chance.