"I'm an engineer. I want to become an algo developer in finance"
I am a mechanical engineer. I have been doing this job for 17 years and I would now like to move into a developer job in the financial services industry. How viable is this?
In my current role I design mechanical equipment and software for infrastructure like wind turbines. It's a job I enjoy, but my real passion has become financial markets.
In my spare time, I write algorithms for automated futures trading and study financial markets mechanics. I spend a lot of time looking at real time orders and familiarizing myself with concepts like iceberg orders and stop-loss orders. I'm a quick learner.
I have a mathematics and statistics background and I can program in C, Python and Matlab. I'm competent at data analysis and can quickly create solutions - it's something I do all the time in my engineering job.
What are my chances of moving into finance? I applied for financial services jobs five years ago, but I had very little success at the time. Have things changed? As an engineer, I have managed teams of between 10 and 60 people. I am very willing to start as a junior team member in the financial services industry.
Please provide advice in the comments box below.
Have a confidential story, tip, or comment you’d like to share? Contact: sbutcher@efinancialcareers.com in the first instance. Whatsapp/Signal/Telegram also available (Telegram: @SarahButcher)
Bear with us if you leave a comment at the bottom of this article: all our comments are moderated by human beings. Sometimes these humans might be asleep, or away from their desks, so it may take a while for your comment to appear. Eventually it will – unless it’s offensive or libelous (in which case it won’t.)
Photo by Mert Kahveci on Unsplash
