The four entry routes
Which route fits depends far more on what you already have than on what you want to do.
- —PhD in physics, mathematics, statistics or machine learning → quant researcher. The dominant route into buy-side research.
- —Strong quantitative undergraduate degree → quant trader. Firms hire for probabilistic reasoning and speed, not experience.
- —Computer science or software engineering → quant developer. Direct lateral moves from large technology companies are common.
- —Financial mathematics masters → quant analyst at a bank, then a lateral move to the buy side after two to four years.
What firms actually test
Quant interviews test a narrow set of things extremely hard. For research: probability, statistics, time-series reasoning and the ability to explain your own past research clearly. For trading: expected value under time pressure, mental arithmetic and market-making games. For development: algorithms, C++ or Python depth, and systems reasoning.
Notably absent from most processes: knowledge of finance. Firms will teach that. They will not teach probabilistic thinking.
A realistic timeline
From a standing start with a quantitative degree, three to six months of focused preparation is a reasonable target for trading and development roles. Research roles are gated by the underlying research credential rather than by preparation, so the timeline is the PhD.
Lateral moves — software engineer to quant developer, bank analyst to buy-side research — typically take one hiring cycle and depend heavily on how the existing work is framed rather than on new qualifications.