[applecrazy]

Thank you for the list of resources. Given the current situation, this will make interesting reading/study material.

If you're comfortable, could you please share how you made the transition to quant from a programming/SWE background?

[qnt]

I'll give the paths that I saw available to someone with a usual CS background. Not hard rules, but the distinction between developer (support) & trader (revenue generation) will be harder to overcome the later on in a career that it happens. Trading/research roles are typically compensated as a direct function of the money you generate, which is where the real upside is.

1) Quant Developer: Trading infrastructure, working on research platforms, taking algorithms created by researchers & deploying into production. Wouldn't want to do this at a bank, but at a hedge fund or proprietary trading firm it'd be fun. Compensation is good, lower variability, but somewhat more limited upside. DE Shaw, 2 sigma, Jane Street, etc.

2) Quant Researcher: A high quality quant masters degree at a minimum (think Baruch MFE), but often a PhD. Working on systematic trading research, market making algorithms, optimal hedging for large books of derivatives, etc. Usually a decent salary, but total compensation varies wildly based on performance.

3) Trader: More and more similar to #2 these days, but more focus on execution of strategies and real-time action rather than research, and more directly responsible for PnL. Optiver, IMC, SIG, etc. A quant masters degree probably isn't required to get a foot in the door, but I think it would help in the long term (e.g. helps build more rigorous understandings of why what you're doing might be working).

[applecrazy]

This was very helpful. Thanks for sharing.