ADVICE FOR YOUR CAREER JOURNEY
ALUMNI SPEAKS My job
TAKING TIME TO NURTURE YOUR INTERESTS Brandon Sim Bachelor of Engineering Systems Design, Singapore University of Technology and Design, 2018 Market Data Engineer Millennium Management LLC
I think the key is to be honest about areas you might not be as strong in compared to other candidates while demonstrating an eagerness to learn.
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SUTD career guide 2022
As part of a team supporting the data operations of a $57bn hedge fund, my day-to-day job involves ensuring that portfolio managers and traders receive clean, accurate data to help them make the right decisions. This includes the development of APIs to ingest data and a deep understanding of multiasset financial datasets (e.g. equity, indexes, options, bonds). I also conduct exploratory analysis to validate and improve the quality of data. As a hedge fund that employs a systematic trading strategy, I am also currently involved in projects that identify additional datasets that generate alpha for the portfolio managers. In the next six months to one year period, I will be involved in a project to assess and migrate our data to the cloud so that will be pretty exciting!
How I got my job I was approached by a recruiter who came across my LinkedIn profile. The interview process was fairly extensive, involving technical discussions, financial tests, a Caliper assessment and interviews with the team and several senior managers. I think the toughest part was that I did not possess all the desirable skillsets that were mentioned in the job description. There were a few programming languages that I was unfamiliar with (e.g. unix, kdb, C++), but I was upfront about it and indicated that I was highly willing to learn these languages. I think the key is to be honest about areas you might not be as strong in compared to other candidates while demonstrating an eagerness to learn. Play to your strengths and minimise your weaknesses.
The highs and lows I like that my job is very challenging and fast-paced, and I am learning something new every single day. I would consider myself fortunate to join the team at a time where management is very open to experimenting with many new technologies and projects. Our team culture is very open to experimenting and iterating with new technological solutions, which resonates with my personal motivations. One of the biggest challenges is that you require speed and accuracy, as every minute there is a delay in a critical project, it could mean potential lost revenue for the portfolio managers and traders.
My happiest moment at work I am working on a project to help one of the biggest trading groups in the company identify additional datasets that they can trade. The project involves devising a systematic method to investigate the datasets using a couple of programming languages, having a deep understanding of the financial data itself and finding the delta. I enjoy that the project allows me to work with many stakeholders and it is nice to see how our work can directly impact the company’s profits.
Some advice Discover what you are interested in, and then invest time into building relevant experiences that helps you achieve that dream. Finally, invest time into building a strong LinkedIn profile. A strong LinkedIn profile is particularly important today as Covid-19 has brought everything on a virtual platform and your Linkedin profile is the first impression you have with a prospective company. Having a strong digital presence could set you apart from other candidates.
