[pgviper]

Anyone work on the technical side of HFT?

Only two years out of college and possibly looking into finding a position on the development side of HFT. I am strong with VHDL development but not so much in C/C++.

Point of this thread:

1) Looking for some possible career advice.
2) Looking to see where this field will be going considering the ethical dilemma of HFT.

Thanks in advance!

[E90Alex]

Any reason you are interested in HFT in particular?

Why not other funds/portfolio management companies?

[F1Venom]

If you develop a program which gives your firm a 0.0001 sec faster transaction time, you'll be a very rich man.

[pgviper]

Originally Posted by E90Alex

Any reason you are interested in HFT in particular?

Why not other funds/portfolio management companies?

I have an electrical engineering background and was looking into possible routes that I could take, not exactly the most obvious ones. Being that I really enjoy doing digital hardware design (FPGA's) I came across HFT. I started researching and saw that there was some descent overlap between what I had been doing in school and in the field with what these HFT developers work on.

THEN... I started reading about the ethical dilemma and it worried me because I don't want to start on a path that could end up hitting a wall within the next couple years.

At the end of the day, no reward without taking the risk.


Side note is that I really don't know anything about finance. But when it comes to job positions as an HFT developer, they all say that finance experience is not necessary. Makes me think that they aren't looking for the finance type, as if they are trying to pull someone similar to my background into the mix.

[Hisam135i]

Originally Posted by pgviper

I have an electrical engineering background and was looking into possible routes that I could take, not exactly the most obvious ones. Being that I really enjoy doing digital hardware design (FPGA's) I came across HFT. I started researching and saw that there was some descent overlap between what I had been doing in school and in the field with what these HFT developers work on.

THEN... I started reading about the ethical dilemma and it worried me because I don't want to start on a path that could end up hitting a wall within the next couple years.

At the end of the day, no reward without taking the risk.


Side note is that I really don't know anything about finance. But when it comes to job positions as an HFT developer, they all say that finance experience is not necessary. Makes me think that they aren't looking for the finance type, as if they are trying to pull someone similar to my background into the mix.

Read the books flash boys by Michael Lewis and dark pools by Scott Patterson to get some insight into the industry. Also look into pursuing a Masters of financial engineering or a master in financial mathematics. If not a masters choose the phd route (I'm currently working on a doctorate in financial Econ). It's a hard industry to get into, look for a headhunter to try and get you an in.