OT: Career advice Part II

[Kane One]

Maybe that’s what it is IDK my accountant hasn’t explained it to me yet. I thought I just pay him then he gets dinged for whatever he’s filing.

Definitely make sure to understand it because you can get in trouble if you’re not withholding enough of their taxes.

 

[HockeyBasedNYC]

Anyone know a legit site or side opportunities to earn some extra money? Has to be remote. Thanks in advance.

 

[SnowblindNYR]

Anyone know a legit site or side opportunities to earn some extra money? Has to be remote. Thanks in advance.

Have you tried Upwork? I tried it briefly and got no takers so it's not a guarantee or anything.

 

[SnowblindNYR]

Interview was going great until I got one of these gotcha questions. How many of X are in city Y? I rambled on and on. I gave some good tidbits and good variables that I was looking for but I was completely thrown off.

 

[MikaMiller26]

Hey folks,

Looking for some career advice here!

I am a BA currently in the EDI realm, most of our tools are internal and I am thinking of the next thing in my career and long-term career path.

I am thinking of developing myself on the side and learning SQL & Google Cloud through courses with the aim of taking and obtaining certifications as I have been thinking about getting into Data / Data-Analytics.

I have a friend that works at a great company and most of the positions seem to be Data Analyst positions, making the move would present more future growth opportunities for me once my foot is in the door.


For those that are in the tech industry or within those fields what do you think about Data in general and the career trajectory with it with the likes of AI being introduced in many tech orgs etc.

Any input and advice is much appreciated.

Thank you,

 

[CasusBelli]

Hey folks,

Looking for some career advice here!

I am a BA currently in the EDI realm, most of our tools are internal and I am thinking of the next thing in my career and long-term career path.

I am thinking of developing myself on the side and learning SQL & Google Cloud through courses with the aim of taking and obtaining certifications as I have been thinking about getting into Data / Data-Analytics.

I have a friend that works at a great company and most of the positions seem to be Data Analyst positions, making the move would present more future growth opportunities for me once my foot is in the door.


For those that are in the tech industry or within those fields what do you think about Data in general and the career trajectory with it with the likes of AI being introduced in many tech orgs etc.

Any input and advice is much appreciated.

Thank you,

I’m a quant in power markets, focusing mostly on derivatives and exotic financial instruments. My background is operations research and finance; my peers come from math, financial engineering and physics. Now, with the emergence of AI and increasing acceptance of learning models, we’ve all become data scientist and analysts of sorts. But that’s not where the value is.

GPT can tell me the descriptive statistics, give me all the stationarity diagnostics and build me a Markov models in a day. I wouldn’t pay someone to do that. I would, however, pay someone who can connect the dots, so to speak, and come up with solutions that either make me money or save me money. That is, if you apply for a position in my team, econometrics, stochastics, calculus, Ito calculus, decision trees and neural networks, statistical inference and production grade Python are basic requirements. I need you to show me how you’ll make me money with all that knowledge. What trading strategy can you create with that knowledge? How can you improve our risk management? So my advice would be: learn Python and learn it well; look at Kaggle competitions for applications.

That’s off the top of my head; more than happy to provide tips or references. I just don’t want you to think that an analytics program is a magic wand. A STEM background remains more valuable.

Interview was going great until I got one of these gotcha questions. How many of X are in city Y? I rambled on and on. I gave some good tidbits and good variables that I was looking for but I was completely thrown off.

Those are useless; I call them “asshole questions” and generally a red flag when I started my career. They say they’re meant to see how people reason; I call them schadenfreude.

 

[CasusBelli]

Yeah, it makes no sense to do that. But the process is torture. I have grown as a professional where I am no longer dreading interviews. In fact I learned a very healthy approach. Rather than dreading or fearing interviews, I am excited to show the interviews what I've got. It's led IMO to better interviews. But the odds are so stacked against any one candidate that you can do everything right and not get the job. And waiting after the interview to hear feedback is the worst.

Truthfully, there’s no single correct approach to interviews. Some people, perhaps most, want to see how a candidate reasons in an unexpected situation. I like a guy who says “I don’t know”, rather than bullshit me. A guy who tries to come off as a know-all but doesn’t know anything is far more dangerous than a guy who admits his ignorance.

 

[SnowblindNYR]

Truthfully, there’s no single correct approach to interviews. Some people, perhaps most, want to see how a candidate reasons in an unexpected situation. I like a guy who says “I don’t know”, rather than bullshit me. A guy who tries to come off as a know-all but doesn’t know anything is far more dangerous than a guy who admits his ignorance.

Well, I always feel like I have to answer. My friend told me that for the ATM question he wouldn't even try to fake an answer because his brain doesn't work that way and instead would say how he would go about getting an answer.

 

[Kane One]

I’m a quant in power markets, focusing mostly on derivatives and exotic financial instruments. My background is operations research and finance; my peers come from math, financial engineering and physics. Now, with the emergence of AI and increasing acceptance of learning models, we’ve all become data scientist and analysts of sorts. But that’s not where the value is.

GPT can tell me the descriptive statistics, give me all the stationarity diagnostics and build me a Markov models in a day. I wouldn’t pay someone to do that. I would, however, pay someone who can connect the dots, so to speak, and come up with solutions that either make me money or save me money. That is, if you apply for a position in my team, econometrics, stochastics, calculus, Ito calculus, decision trees and neural networks, statistical inference and production grade Python are basic requirements. I need you to show me how you’ll make me money with all that knowledge. What trading strategy can you create with that knowledge? How can you improve our risk management? So my advice would be: learn Python and learn it well; look at Kaggle competitions for applications.

That’s off the top of my head; more than happy to provide tips or references. I just don’t want you to think that an analytics program is a magic wand. A STEM background remains more valuable.


Those are useless; I call them “asshole questions” and generally a red flag when I started my career. They say they’re meant to see how people reason; I call them schadenfreude.

Adding to this, I actually don’t know a single person who was hired or brought on as a consultant just because of some certificate. Every software engineer, including myself, has a degree in CS or any math-related degree.

However there are plenty of consulting companies that give paid training to people with other degrees, and will get you placed as a consultant somewhere and you’ll pretty much be on a contract for X years with low pay. Monster upside: they get you placed at top financial companies and if you eventually get hired, you’ll get paid bank.

FDM is one, for example. You’ll likely find lots of complaints by former employees, but everything will work out in the end.

Well, I always feel like I have to answer. My friend told me that for the ATM question he wouldn't even try to fake an answer because his brain doesn't work that way and instead would say how he would go about getting an answer.

This is correct. Obviously everyone is different, but “I don’t know” is the worst possible answer to me. Ask more questions if you don’t know and you’ll eventually get the answer.

 

[SnowblindNYR]

Adding to this, I actually don’t know a single person who was hired or brought on as a consultant just because of some certificate. Every software engineer, including myself, has a degree in CS or any math-related degree.

However there are plenty of consulting companies that give paid training to people with other degrees, and will get you placed as a consultant somewhere and you’ll pretty much be on a contract for X years with low pay. Monster upside: they get you placed at top financial companies and if you eventually get hired, you’ll get paid bank.

FDM is one, for example. You’ll likely find lots of complaints by former employees, but everything will work out in the end.


This is correct. Obviously everyone is different, but “I don’t know” is the worst possible answer to me. Ask more questions if you don’t know and you’ll eventually get the answer.

I think I don't know in some contexts works. Maybe not I don't know but I have previously answered "I've never encountered this scenario but he's what I would do in that situation". Rarely, but I've done that. For a question where they want to see how you think, at least give a few assumptions and show that you are capable of at least making headway in the problem. Like start with population, even that is SOMETHING. How many people use the machine, that's also something. If you get there 30-50% I feel like you're showing your mind works in a certain direction.

 

[TheGortonConspiracy]

Hey folks,

Looking for some career advice here!

I am a BA currently in the EDI realm, most of our tools are internal and I am thinking of the next thing in my career and long-term career path.

I am thinking of developing myself on the side and learning SQL & Google Cloud through courses with the aim of taking and obtaining certifications as I have been thinking about getting into Data / Data-Analytics.

I have a friend that works at a great company and most of the positions seem to be Data Analyst positions, making the move would present more future growth opportunities for me once my foot is in the door.


For those that are in the tech industry or within those fields what do you think about Data in general and the career trajectory with it with the likes of AI being introduced in many tech orgs etc.

Any input and advice is much appreciated.

Thank you,

yes reverse engineering the role you want is good idea. look at the job listings and ask your friend for tips to bridge the gap. good luck