Europe Quant Opportunity
I am a Master’s student at a private business school in Western Europe. The school is decent locally, but it is not highly ranked globally.
I was lucky enough to get a Quant Research internship at a large US asset manager. Before this, I also completed an internship at a local asset manager in an engineering/data-related role.
Recently, I have been reading more about how competitive it is to break into quant, especially in the US. What really shocked me was seeing the profiles of this year’s interns in the US office. Most of them come from top Master’s and have very strong backgrounds.
This made me realize two things: first, I was very lucky to get this opportunity; second, I may have been too naive in assuming that I could simply find another quant role in Europe after graduation if I do not receive a return offer.
I would really appreciate perspectives from people who know the Western European quant job market, especially for asset management / systematic investing / quant research roles.
My main questions are:
- How competitive is the Western European quant job market compared with the US?
- How much does school reputation matter in Europe if someone already has relevant internship experience?
- If I do not get a return offer, what should I focus on during the next 6–12 months to improve my chances?
Any observations, personal experience, or practical advice would be very helpful.