Quant jobs are increasing in Ireland. Here's where to train for them

As we noted a few months' ago, quant jobs pay well in Ireland. The good news, is that there are more of them than there used to be.

Payl Smyth at recruitment firm FK International, says quant jobs have been increasing in the Republic for several years. They were increasing before 2008, says Smyth - and they've increased even more since.

“During the crisis, recruitment of quants fell off a little, as did hiring in general,” Smyth says. “However, post-crisis (end of 2009/start of 2010), quant roles began to pick up again."

Where can you work as a quant in Irish financial services? Smyth points to insurance, reinsurance and risk management. "There's been a huge pick-up in hiring for stress testing and modelling (credit modelling in particular)," he tells us.

Shane Burke from recruiter Paragon Executive Intelligence said quant opportunities increased in Ireland during the first quarter of this year as fund managers sought to fill roles in quantitative analysis, quant trading and quantitative portfolio management. "These houses already had fundamental research teams in equities and fixed income and wanted to use quant-based strategies as an extra offering to clients," he says.

How much can you earn in a quant role in Ireland? Smyth says graduate roles start at around €30k. Senior roles (eg heads of quantitative analytics) can command up to €200k.

What do you if you want to do one of these quant jobs? Smyth says you'll need to come from a hard science background: maths, physics or engineering.  “There are lots of good post-graduate courses in Ireland, which are very quantitative and focus on finance," he says.

Which are these?

1. The MSc Financial Mathematics, DCU (Dublin City University)

2. The MSc Quantitative Finance, UCD (University College Dublin)

3. The MSc in Finance, TCD (Trinity College Dublin)

4. The MSc Computational Finance,  University of Limerick

There is also the CQF Certificate in Quantative Finance which is designed for those in full-time employment, and can be completed as a distance learning course.