I didn't initially pursue a career in finance. I used to work for a data analytics company. During the pandemic I got laid off, but they sent my resume to a brokerage firm as they had connections there. At the time, I knew nothing about finance, but they gave me the opportunity to come in and learn. So, I was able to study up on derivatives, options, swaps, and all sorts of products that I didn't know about before. I got super interested in it because it's so profound, interesting, and challenging.
As I got more involved with the fund, I decided to pursue the CQF so I could spend more time on the funds and less as a software developer. I started working as a sales derivatives software developer, helping with the automation processes. After some time, I started working with a new system that was built from scratch. We had a bunch of spreadsheets that were used as systems for pricing derivatives and for communication between teams. They needed to develop an RFQ system, where sales could describe the financial products that they wanted to sell to institutional and retail sales teams, and the traders could analyze the spread and volatility. The goal was to develop this system, create our spread strategy, allow faster communication, and enable teams to book these trades more effectively. We worked in a team to develop more robust systems and that was one of my first projects.
The CQF was very important in this, because originally, I would see all these numbers and be unable to explain to the trader if they were wrong or right. They might have had questions, and I would have been unable to answer them. The CQF helped me to understand how these derivatives are priced, how these instruments are priced, how they are presented, the different names, and the terminology. I am a tech guy, but I work directly with business guys, traders, and sales. So, understanding how they think is very important and having this background of studying was valuable. The CQF was a safe choice. I could do it while working full time and learn from experienced professionals. This helped me a lot.
One of the important things to learn is that you can change careers, and I believe that having the CQF helped me pursue new opportunities in my transition.
The CQF helped me to understand both the business and technical side. You and your team can frequently get insights by evaluating computer graphics, numbers, modeling data, or by listening to stakeholders and seeing their thought processes. These things can help you to develop your own processes. But sometimes you can’t just read something in a book; sometimes you will need to learn with the pressure with tons of things happening live. So, this has helped me a lot. It also helped me feel more confident, especially when it comes to understanding how these products and derivatives work.
