I originally signed up for the 2011 CQF cohort having heard about the program from my colleagues and manager who had already completed the course. They gave positive feedback on the course content which was one reason I was interested in taking it myself. I was working at the time in a team which built software around quant libraries but did not work on the modelling itself, and I was interested in learning more about the mathematical concepts behind Quant Finance and their practical applications.

I had already been out of university for a number of years so I was pleased to go through the Maths Primer which refreshed many of the concepts that I had learned but not used since. I found the first module particularly useful since I had not specialized in stochastic calculus; it was a challenge but very enjoyable and rewarding. Throughout the course I was impressed that the course emphasized practical learning, with several seminars from practitioners. The final projects were an excellent way to cap off the learning because building a concrete application of a pricing model helped me cement the knowledge that I had learned throughout the course.

The Lifelong Learning website deserves a special mention. Over the years that followed, this was an excellent place to refresh my knowledge whenever I prepared for interviews; it was easy to re-watch lectures and look through the annotated slides, and there is a wealth of information that is constantly updated and refreshed over time. Eventually I was able to move to a role in the FI Quant team using the knowledge that I had learned throughout the CQF.