Recently got an offer from a hedge fund in NYC. Curious if anyone has experience switching from tech / startup companies to big bank / finance firms. How is the culture different? Pros/cons? What's it like being in NYC vs SF? About 2 YoE, is that a good point to start something new?
Expect fewer if any perks. More work. Longer hours. Less flexibility.
Would prefer NYC to SF given everything else equal
If you’re not a quant, you’ll be treated like IT instead of an engineer not that IT is mistreated horribly around here.
Firms will have dedicated IT that’ll be treated like IT.
Pros: - All cash comp. - Clients of any software you write are usually always internal. Feedback and updates can happen more organically with more direct communication. This is why if I go to a FAANG I think I would most enjoy working on a library team. - Teams are generally smaller (idk how if this is true vs Pinterest but def true vs FAANG) so you’re more likely to have significant ownership. Cons: - Clients are always internal. I listed this as a pro but I know some people get satisfaction from knowing they contributed to a product that goes into the hands of public consumers. - Teams / desks can be quite siloed from each other for financial/security concerns. This means you’re shielded away from the big picture plans of the firm as well as the big picture financials of the firm. Less of a problem / nonproblem in tiny firms (ones with <100 headcount). - Some firms have perks as good as the most generous SV companies (Jane Street and HRT come to mind for having excellent perks) but on average trading firms are more stingy with these things.
~240k. 160 base and 80 bonus, but the bonus is pro-rated and we're halfway through the year. They also do a deferred payment plan which would start paying back in 2021 (so a bit of a time commitment).
Yeah the main difference for me would be cash bonus instead of equity. Just a different way of thinking about comp.
Do you know if you’ll be on a front office team @op?
The role is for infrastructure (quant systems)
Don’t do it. This is the right time to be in tech. Jump to another good tech co - if you’d like to. Also - plenty of them have openings in NY now, including F/A/G/U and smaller ones like Affirm/Etsy etc. Only move to finance if you’re really interested in the domain and want to specialize long term as a quant dev. NYC over SF/Seattle anytime
Not even if it's Two Sigma or DE Shaw?
Yeah. Not even for them. This is mainly given the OP’s experience at 2 years. Elite HF or not, you’d only benefit by being in finance if you want to specialize in the domain long term. Next 2-5 years at a FAANG with the right learning will open a lot more doors for him/her(including 2S and DE) but not vice versa.
OP don’t you want your shares to vest?
My way of looking at it is that shares are just part of compensation. At least the way I see it, I haven't been 'paid' those shares yet, so moving somewhere with equivalent compensation in different shares / straight cash bonus isn't a huge loss. The main difference would be if the next offer had a cliff or something w.r.t. vesting.
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Aren’t you waiting for your Pinterest stock to vest?🙂