OPT employment relation to field of study

[sg654]

Hi, 

 

I am a PhD student in Physics from an Ivy league school and have an offer to work in a bank. One of the conditions of OPT is a direct relation between the job and course of study. I have letters from my hiring manager and thesis advisor about how techniques developed in my PhD will be used in my work for financial modeling. 

 

Is this adequate or do I need to furnish additional documents in case this comes up during my OPT or later?

 

Thanks!

 

 

[jairichi]

That is not possible.

[rahul412]

 I have letters from my hiring manager and thesis advisor about how techniques developed in my PhD will be used in my work for financial modeling.

Interesting, never heard about the relation between physics and finance.

Please update the status after you apply for OPT.

[sg654]

@ Rahul: Physicists working in wall street is very common, see: http://guava.physics.uiuc.edu/~nigel/finance.html. They are hired in 'quant' roles for doing quantitative modeling.

 

@Jai: Thanks for your response. Can you explain in a little more detail. It might help to know that I did a CPT (which also has a similar course of study related to work employment.) with the same bank for 3 months. Theoretical physics doesn't really have any 'practical' training and so many graduates find jobs in 'big data' and financial modeling to apply their quantitative skills in practical settings. 

[rahul412]

@ Rahul: Physicists working in wall street is very common, see: http://guava.physics.uiuc.edu/~nigel/finance.html. They are hired in 'quant' roles for doing quantitative modeling.

That's why I said, I never heard about that. Thanks for that url though.

[jairichi]

@ Rahul: Physicists working in wall street is very common, see: http://guava.physics.uiuc.edu/~nigel/finance.html. They are hired in 'quant' roles for doing quantitative modeling.

 

@Jai: Thanks for your response. Can you explain in a little more detail. It might help to know that I did a CPT (which also has a similar course of study related to work employment.) with the same bank for 3 months. Theoretical physics doesn't really have any 'practical' training and so many graduates find jobs in 'big data' and financial modeling to apply their quantitative skills in practical settings. 

Quantitative analyst roles in Wall Street with Quantum Physics knowledge is genuinely interesting. But, did you read the following sentences.

 

"The days are over when you could get in with no knowledge and expect that your physics Ph.D would be enough. A useful qualification is to do a Masters of Finance course, if your institution permits it."

 

What you are trying to justify is like saying some one in research field working for years on projects have project management experience and can be considered for a project manager in IT field. Does it work like that?

[F1struggle]

I haven't heard of physics in banks either. I work in the financial services industry. Financial engineers and quant people like math, statistics are seen around but never seen a physics person. Talk to your DSO.

[JoeF]

@ Rahul: Physicists working in wall street is very common, see: http://guava.physics.uiuc.edu/~nigel/finance.html. They are hired in 'quant' roles for doing quantitative modeling.

 

@Jai: Thanks for your response. Can you explain in a little more detail. It might help to know that I did a CPT (which also has a similar course of study related to work employment.) with the same bank for 3 months. Theoretical physics doesn't really have any 'practical' training and so many graduates find jobs in 'big data' and financial modeling to apply their quantitative skills in practical settings. 

 

It should be possible as a quant.

But, quants have a rather bad name since the 2008 recession, because they were the ones who came up with the models that caused banks to crash...

[JoeF]

I haven't heard of physics in banks either. I work in the financial services industry. Financial engineers and quant people like math, statistics are seen around but never seen a physics person. Talk to your DSO.

 

The NYT had an article back in 2009 about physicists at banks, e.g., as quants.

Search for "They Tried to Outsmart Wall Street".

It starts with:

"Emanuel Derman expected to feel a letdown when he left particle physics for a job on Wall Street in 1985."

And continues:

"Dr. Derman, who spent 17 years at Goldman Sachs and became managing director, was a forerunner of the many physicists and other scientists who have flooded Wall Street in recent years, moving from a world in which a discrepancy of a few percentage points in a measurement can mean a Nobel Prize or unending mockery to a world in which a few percent one way can land you in jail and a few percent the other way can win you your own private Caribbean island."

 

And the guy wrote a book, “My Life as a Quant: Reflections on Physics and Finance."

[rahul412]

The NYT had an article back in 2009 about physicists at banks, e.g., as quants.

Search for "They Tried to Outsmart Wall Street".

It starts with:

"Emanuel Derman expected to feel a letdown when he left particle physics for a job on Wall Street in 1985."

And continues:

"Dr. Derman, who spent 17 years at Goldman Sachs and became managing director, was a forerunner of the many physicists and other scientists who have flooded Wall Street in recent years, moving from a world in which a discrepancy of a few percentage points in a measurement can mean a Nobel Prize or unending mockery to a world in which a few percent one way can land you in jail and a few percent the other way can win you your own private Caribbean island."

 

And the guy wrote a book, “My Life as a Quant: Reflections on Physics and Finance."

100% agreed. Actually during 70's and 80's most of the people on wall street were people without any financial major BG.