software engineer path

Quote from stevegee58:

You can't just look in the mirror one morning and decide you want to be an engineer "because it makes sense".

Every engineer I know (including me) knew they were going to be engineers when they were like 10 years old. It's either in your blood or it's not.
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Ed Witten, perhaps the greatest theoretical physicist alive, studied History until one day in college he decided he wanted to be a Physicist.

Granted, this is not normal, but there are no generalities.
 
Quote from nickhat:

Hi all,

I'm currently a sellside broker working on the institutional side. With the obvious shift toward technology, I'm interested in pursuing a career in software engineering, specifically working on and developing trading platforms at large institutions (i-banks, hedge funds etc). I have no prior programming experience. I've looked into the MSE online program at Brandeis which seems like a good way to start. I'd appreciate any and all advice. Thanks
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Start fiddling about with your own spreadsheets & macros.

Ask your desktop guys for help if you have to.

Talk to your algo / dma guys.

Ask them how long they studied & how much they earn.

Then stick with your current (I assume) execution role and just wait out the cycle, keep your insto clients happy & talking to you.
 
Obviously no one here has attended a good university...
As opposed to "reading articles" and "talking to people".

That's because a good university FORCES you learn hard things...
And do things in a CERTAIN way, often counterintuitive...
And APPLY knowledge in a creative manner...
Using constant time PRESSURE and FEAR of failure...
Plus weeds out slackers by only allowing 50% to progress to the next year.

Every engineering program of note is a brutal, competitive, near-sadistic grind...
Which elevates your thinking and problem solving skills to another level.

This place is full of people who still think at the high school level...
They are very easy to spot... and are wasting their time "trading".
 
Quote from lesserfool:


Some of the most talented people I've known have come from outside the industry...english majors, physics majors, even a family therapist. Feel free to PM me with any further questions.

-lf
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Programming skills by itself mean much less now. Ability to program combined with broad knowledge in specific science or application field makes your skills more marketable.
 
Quote from vicirek:

Programming skills by itself mean much less now. Ability to program combined with broad knowledge in specific science or application field makes your skills more marketable.
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I disagree with this.

While some people say as above, the reality is firms just want strong coders.

And, no IT manager will hire a guy with more markets domain knowledge than himself.

"Real world".
 
Quote from Rationalize:

I disagree with this.

While some people say as above, the reality is firms just want strong coders.

And, no IT manager will hire a guy with more markets domain knowledge than himself.

"Real world".
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Not much to add but just want to comment on one little detail that due to outsourcing and number of graduates years ago programming became commoditized and that is where a little bit of extra skill can help.
 
Quote from vicirek:

Not much to add but just want to comment on one little detail that due to outsourcing and number of graduates years ago programming became commoditized and that is where a little bit of extra skill can help.
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:D if you think thats true then you can make money recruiting because many firms i know of cant find anyone
 
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