Physics Phds

Submitted by phdfusio on Sat, 10/27/2007 - 15:55.

Ok, I've noticed recently that a lot of Physics Phds have signed up for this site. Since I have a Physics Phd myself, are there any questions you might have about non-academic careers that I might be able to answer? This is also open to non-Physics Phds, but be warned that your questions might be outside of my field of expertise.

Quantitative Analyst

Submitted by brsrini on Mon, 07/28/2008 - 23:53.

Hi,
I am a PhD physics student and will be graduating in next month. I was wondering if there is any good way of finding a career as a Quantitative Analyst with no prior experience. I have experience in Monte-carlo methods, probability theory and am very good in C/C++ programming. All said above I am an experimental scientist with research focused on Magnetic Nanoparticles for Cancer Treatment.

Quant

Submitted by phdfusio on Wed, 07/30/2008 - 21:55.

Sounds like you have some relevant experience, which is good. Knowledge of Monte-Carlo is good, since that's used industry wide (knowledge of PDE is also good, but from what I've seen not as common). At the moment it sounds like you're probably weak in financial calculus, which is something you can probably learn by yourself (given your background in calculus and probability theory). Some knowledge of basic finance is also good, and is something you can also probably pick up by yourself. If you're looking for textbook ideas, then there are many suggestions at www.wilmott.com. Books that might be useful are:

"Fundamentals of Investments" by Sharpe (intro finance book)
"Options, Futures, and Other Derivatives" by Hull (mid-level quant book)
"Financial Calculus" by Baxter and Rennie (mid-level financial calc book)

There are many other books you can read, but these are good starters. Given the current job climate for quants, you should have at least some basic knowledge. You can't come into the current job market cold.

Before I say more, where do you want to work?

Do you have some proposals?

Submitted by alexser16 on Tue, 12/18/2007 - 05:43.

Do you have some career proposals?
If so, hope to hear from you soon.

Alex
alexser16@yahoo.com

Proposals

Submitted by phdfusio on Fri, 12/21/2007 - 18:43.

Alex-

It depends on what you want to do. I'm in finance, so I know how Physics knowledge can transition into finance. Some of the other jobs I've looked at were in management consulting, education, and computer programming. What is your background and what are you interested in doing?

John

Hi John I am lucky to

Submitted by lehehe on Tue, 02/19/2008 - 23:30.

Hi John
I am lucky to see this post, I do need some serious help, let me introduce myself a little bit:I am going to graduate this August, my research field is magnetic semiconductor, exprimental so not good at programming. Just start job hunting, if go for management consulting or finance how to apply my experience to their field, generally what is the selling point of the Physics Grads?

pipilu.luxixi@gmail.com

Thanks

Job Hunting

Submitted by phdfusio on Wed, 02/20/2008 - 22:16.

The general selling point is that you are good at solving problems (Physics Phd), and can learn a lot of information well (Phds in general). When I say problems, I mean general problems that need a logical mind to break them down. If you're in finance or consulting, they don't expect that you know immediately how to solve a problem, but they expect you to be able to break it up into smaller pieces and figure out how to solve the whole process. It's like the problem they ask intro Physics students, "How many piano tuners are there in San Francisco?". You're not expected to know the answer immediately, or get it exactly correct, but with your training you should know how to logically break down the problem (e.g. population of San Francisco, type of people who would own a piano, etc), and come up with a reasonable answer. This is the same type of logic you apply to your dissertation, and the same type of logic that makes you useful in consulting or finance.

Now one of the important aspects of consulting or finance is that the time frame for projects is much shorter. One of the challenges is getting the essential information for a project in the scheduled time. You have to demonstrate that you can work in a "non-academic" time frame.

Those are some general comments about these fields. Anyone have other suggestions as to why Physics Phds are attractive?