Trying to break into Chicago finance
Have an educational background in finance, professional experience is all over the place, most recently in operations. Have some basic programming aptitude in C++ and Python. Is this enough or is a master's degree going to be a worthwhile investment? Trying to break into trading/something tangentially market-related.
Your programming skills would be more valuable than anything else in the trading world.
What I'm worried about is that they're still very entry level. Not sure if they're up to par. Working on completing a c++ financial engineering certificate currently.
Or you could use both. My company writes software for traders. We have openings in Chicago. Message me if interested.
I don't have DM access currently, unfortunately I don't have a working corporate email at this time. What sort of programming proficiency level do you look for in new hires?
Take a look at www.vestmark.com/careers. Also take a look at Glassdoor for Vestmark. There are a few details on interviews and what was asked of the candidates.
Citadel needs people all over the spectrum. don't need to be a trader to hit it big, but like others have said, everything is moving towards software development.
A master's degree is only worthwhile if you personally want it, not for career advancement purposes in my experience. For HFT/prop trading, nobody is going to care much about a finance degree, sorry. Do you want to be a trader? Be very good at fast and accurate mental math. Do you want to do software developer in trading? Standard dev education and interviewing skills apply, on par or beyond major tech companies.
Trading is my goal. Seems the coding skills are quickly becoming the primary thing they look for now.