With words like "meltdown" and "turmoil" being widely used to describe the current state of the financial system, it may seem like an odd time for scientists to consider careers in finance. But in the spirit of good investment advice - buy low, sell high - this may be a good time for the finance-curious to give the industry a look.
Financial services companies - banks, investment houses, hedge funds, insurance companies, and so on - have long recruited financial analysts from the ranks of physical scientists and mathematicians. Such scientists are valuable, in finance as elsewhere, thanks to their mathematical chops and analytical (and programming) skills. In January 2001, a Science's Next Wave (the predecessor of Science Careers) feature on financial analyst careers said: "[In] a financial market that is becoming more and more reliant on complex mathematics to determine opportunities, scientists are being hired in droves."
Omit the words "in droves" from the end of that sentence, and the statement still applies...
Read more in a feature by Alan Kotok for Science Careers which complements a previous article on Quants by Alaina G. Levine.
You might also be interested in their feature by Amarendra Swarup on scientists who combine financial knowledge, knowledge of specific areas of science, and quantitative skills to advise investors on science and technology investments.
There's also a podcast (mp3) in which Science Careers correspondant Chelsea Wald talks to Lee Maclin of the Courant Insitute at NYU about the work of quants and their career prospects.
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