392 Frequently Asked Questions In Quantitative Finance

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f you enjoyed this book, and are looking for a job in

quantitative finance, you might be interested inPaul

& Dominic’s Guide to Getting a Quant Job. To whet your

appetite there follows the opening sections of version

1.0 of this famous guide. For details on how to get the

full guide [email protected].

Introduction

This guide is for people looking for their first or second

job in Quant Finance, the theory being that after a few

years you ought to know most of this stuff.

Making a difference If the hiring process is working well,

the people seen by the bank will be roughly the same

quality and from comparable backgrounds. Thus you

need to stand out in order to win. We speak to a lot

of recruiting managers, and we find that the difference

between the one who got the job, and the person who

came second is often very small for the employer, but

obviously rather more important for you.

You have to walk a line between standing out, and not

seeming too much for them to handle.

Understand the process Interviewing people is a major indus-

try all by itself, multiply the number of applicants by the

number of interviews they attend and you sometimes

wonder how any useful work ever gets done. Certainly

this thought occurs to interviewers on a regular basis.

They want it to end, soon, and although it is impor-

tant to get the right people almost no one enjoys the

process, and this is made worse by the fact that>80%

of the work is wasted on those you never hire. Thus

a core objective must be to make life as easy for the