Early Career Profiles: Recent bachelors-level graduates in the mathematical sciences

Brad Golding
Head
Americas Division, MTS

Brad Golding graduated with a B.S. in Applied Math from Stony Brook. On a referral from a professor, he was interviewed by a Chicago brokerage company for a position as a financial analyst. After a stint as an analyst and an institutional futures and bond broker, he was promoted to a Vice President in The Chicago Corporation.  Subsequently he helped direct an international currency fund, worked for a large Japanese bank, and now serves as the North American Business Manager for one of the leading international bond trading syndicates.

When hired, Brad was still nervous about his limited financial background. Most of his coworkers had MBA's and PhD's from the country's leading universities. A co-worker said, 'Given your math background you should be able to pick the basics up.'  The advice turned out to be correct; again Brad was pleasantly surprised. "Now I feel comfortable and skillful at analyzing financial problems, even in new situations I have never seen before."

"Looking back at [my initial job] interview, I realized that they had asked me very few questions about financial markets and economics. The majority of the questions were about math, computer programming and tests of my logical abilities. After years of taking Applied Math classes and wondering what they were preparing me for, I was beginning to understand." 

Brad went on to observe, "The quality of my decisions and the speed at which I arrive at them are of utmost importance. At times this can be deciding if I should buy one option and sell another or how a news story will affect bond prices. Developing my problem-solving abilities and logical thinking was the greatest benefit I received from my Applied Math training at Stony Brook. And, if at some point I change jobs again, I am confident these skills will remain valuable."