Hi,

I am close to finishing my Ph.D in Computer Science and plan
to look for a job in Algorithmic/Quantitative trading. My Ph.D
is in "Analysis of Algorithms". Essentially, I take algorithms
that work well in practice  (Heuristics) and try
to explain the math behind them. I have a Masters in
Computer Vision and  a Bachelors in EE. I have done quite a bit of coding in C++.

I plan to target both the execution side ("VWAP",
"Implementation Shortfall") and the
Alpha generation ("Trend Following", "Statistical Arbitrage") side of Algo trading.

My questions are the following:

(1) I do not have any specific background in Finance, i.e., I
have not taken any courses in Stochastic Calc/Derivate
pricing, PDE etc. Will this be a problem?

(2) Since I will be applying in Algorithmic trading, how much
of the "traditional" quant stuff do I need to know for the
interview? Will I be expected to be familiar with PDEs for
instance? How about Statistics?

(3) Would some Algo trading gurus have some suggestions
about how exactly I should prepare (i.e., what I should read
up) for my interviews?

(4) Finally, how is the job market right now for Algo traders?

BTW, I am based in NYC.

Thanks in Advance,
Alok

Hey Alk,
How did the job search go? Persistence is more important than partial differential equations. Have you created and run any algorithms yet?