Back office to Front office transition; Master's in Finance

MandelbrotSet · Mar 20, 2009

Quote from theDudeAbides:

Late to the party, I'm afraid. Recruiters will not roll the dice on you as they have a thousand folks with the experience they value more (and no slots to fill them in).
Despite your VP title, an MBA would set you up for an associate level position at a bank...and you would likely be the oldest one by quite a bit.
Update this thread with what specific "front office" job you are looking for and maybe you will get a bite. It's brutal out there, but things will be different by the time you finish school.

theDudeAbides is spot-on correct.

The question you really need to ask yourself is why you essentially want to "start-over" again, if it is feasible, and if it will be worth it to you (you can also expect a substantative paycut ... you have after all, reached VP level).

If so, go ahead and get the degree, but expect to struggle to get a position (anything is possible, and things won't be bad forever), and work with people who will be 10 years younger than you, have more energy, no life, and be willing to work the 18 hours a day required for success in this field.

P.S. And don't foreget about out-sourcing ... those guys ain't no joke either.

TraderZones · Mar 20, 2009

Quote from ahead:

If all the input I wanted was from the media, I wouldn't be posting here, right?

I was looking for some useful insight from the folks working at big-name IB shops. My intuition tells me that you are not one of those folks

Your intuition would be misplaced. I have been working in the financial industry at some of the "big-name IB shops" for quite a while. And you seem very naive.

You come across like a fresh graduate from Secretarial School.

ahead · Mar 22, 2009

Quote from theDudeAbides:

Update this thread with what specific "front office" job you are looking for and maybe you will get a bite. It's brutal out there, but things will be different by the time you finish school.

Thanks for your reply, very insightful. As far as front-office jobs, I have an ideal outcome in mind, but if a different opportunity comes along, I would certainly jump on it as well. Primarily I am interested in something where I can put my math and client skills to work. For example, structuring a complex hedge for a client going through an acquisition of another company.

ahead · Mar 22, 2009

Quote from MandelbrotSet:

theDudeAbides is spot-on correct.

The question you really need to ask yourself is why you essentially want to "start-over" again, if it is feasible, and if it will be worth it to you (you can also expect a substantative paycut ... you have after all, reached VP level).

Thanks, good post. It does feel like starting over. I don't care about a cut in title, but I certainly hope to avoid a paycut.

mogul · Mar 22, 2009

Quote from Eddiefl:

Stick to IT, do you have a career where you re actually paid and the paychecks dont bounce, then be happy,

EF

I second that. Your base salary is nothing to be unhappy about.

If you really want to make the swicth, finish that PhD you started (assuming it's in math or theoretical physics), that would be the base level.

An Ms in Finance will get you nowhere.

ahead · Jun 3, 2009

A quick update, and another question...

Despite all of the advice I got on this board against Master's in Finance, I figured I'll put my application in anyway, and then decide whether or not to pursue it if I get accepted.

To finish my application, I had to take GMAT. That's where I surprised myself by getting 770. This in turn made me think about an opportunity to go for an MBA at a top-10 school, since I hear such score adds quite a bit of weight to the application.

What do you guys think an ROI on an MBA, say, from Harvard would be? Counting 2 years worth' of lost salary at about $300K, plus $100K for the MBA?

Thanks!

Ms Varima-Garch · Jun 3, 2009

Quote from ahead:

A quick update, and another question...

Despite all of the advice I got on this board against Master's in Finance, I figured I'll put my application in anyway, and then decide whether or not to pursue it if I get accepted.

To finish my application, I had to take GMAT. That's where I surprised myself by getting 770. This in turn made me think about an opportunity to go for an MBA at a top-10 school, since I hear such score adds quite a bit of weight to the application.

What do you guys think an ROI on an MBA, say, from Harvard would be? Counting 2 years worth' of lost salary at about $300K, plus $100K for the MBA?

Thanks!

what do you mean mba? what do you mean harvard? are you saying you want to leave us elitetraders here behind, just like that?!!!

you can't do that!! we have real-life, no nonsense, paper trading experience here . . . we have war stories . . .

sjfan · Jun 3, 2009

Congrats on your gmat. Keep in mind, though, that a good GMAT is like a high SAT score - it just means it won't disqualify your application. It's no guarantee (or even help, once you are above a certain cut off). MBA programs stand on work experience. It's hard to get in unless you got that going for you. Keep in mind that these few years are seeing record high applications for obvious reasons.

Further, a GMAT is also no guarantee that you'll get into a masters of finance program of your choice. Some of the more "snobby" programs prefer seeing GRE instead - and relevant research/work experience.

But that all being said, you got nothing to lose. Go shoot for it and see what comes back. A reject will only cost a few hundred bucks in fees.

Quote from ahead:

A quick update, and another question...

Despite all of the advice I got on this board against Master's in Finance, I figured I'll put my application in anyway, and then decide whether or not to pursue it if I get accepted.

To finish my application, I had to take GMAT. That's where I surprised myself by getting 770. This in turn made me think about an opportunity to go for an MBA at a top-10 school, since I hear such score adds quite a bit of weight to the application.

What do you guys think an ROI on an MBA, say, from Harvard would be? Counting 2 years worth' of lost salary at about $300K, plus $100K for the MBA?

Thanks!

Ms Varima-Garch · Jun 3, 2009

Quote from ahead:

That's where I surprised myself by getting 770

if true, that alone could do it

my friends who spetialize in the aplied mathematic got that sorts of the score.

in any event good luck. gmat does not have to be stellar, like applied mathematic, it can be the average, and then suplements by the personal statemnt, you showing determination, recommendation, experiece etc, working

sjfan · Jun 3, 2009

.... good lord, getting a high gmat has little to do with how much math you did in your undergrad. GMAT math is no more difficult than high school math and higher math definitely does not apply.

And no. It alone will not do anything. Please leave this discussion to people who have actually gone to grad school and have researched the numbers during their application time. As usual, you add exactly zero to this discussion other than misinformation to the detriment of the op.

Quote from Ms Varima-Garch:

my friends who spetialize in the aplied mathematic got that sorts of the score.