Citadel Securities vs FAANG
Citadel Securities seems to be paying way more, I passed the onsite interviews and I can get to a 500k TC based on what the hiring manager said. They are still working on the offer, they do a lot of due diligence. FB last year offered me an E5 position at about 400k TC, which I didn’t take for other reasons. I am just worried that I am going to corner myself into a situation that will hinder my career in the long term if I go with Citadel. Especially since I’ll relocate to Chicago. One other point is that they are looking for a semi tech lead position. I have 9yoe, mostly in startups as both SWE, infra SWE and tech lead. Citadel would be an infra SWE, not quant. What is your opinion? Should I go for Citadel or reopen a conversation with FB or with another FAANG (I am in touch with a hiring manager at Netflix as well for an infra SWE position)? The FB recruiter keeps reaching out to me every few months and says that since I passed the interview once they can give me an easier interview if I am committed to pursue the opportunity. Not making a poll because I’d like to hear your thoughts! TC: 300k
Citadel could be hire and fire. But can make richer much quicker.
With 9 YOE you could be an L6 at Google or Facebook, or 5B at Uber. These pay 500-600k+, and with bonus refreshers it’s even more. However that also requires you to do pretty well during the interview process. Most people don’t make the cut. What are Citadel’s bonuses like? Can they make your TC 600k+ after the first year? Career-wise, Citadel will probably be fine and there’s no stigma against them in the tech industry. Plus 500k in Chicago will go a long, long way. I have no idea what their work culture is like though.
No idea in the compensation split. But yea, from what it was described to me I think Citadel is expecting the impact of an E6, so unfortunately I didn’t perform well enough for FB to get that offer level.
If you can stand the Chicago cold weather, I’d say go for it — at the very least you gain a few years’ experience working at Fintech. You’re not marrying this company, you can peace out if you don’t like it. Plus from what I hear FB offers are valid for a year anyway. Plus now that you have a FB offer, the rest of FAANG can be more speedy in your interview process if you want to interview there. It also matters if you’re married or have kids — obviously moving to Chicago is a big deal in that case.
Citadel is probably a good choice for a new grad to get a huge initial offer (up to 400k) and get to 500k+ quickly. For a senior engineer, I have heard upward mobility could be limited, so FB might be a better choice.
Good insight. In this case, they would be hiring me for a tech lead position of a newly formed team (after some ramp up and assuming I don’t fuck it up, naturally).
I would rephrase it as upward mobility for an engineer is limited on a back office team. Also, the above is true for NFLX and isn’t true for Citadel front office engineering
Honesty if you’re feeling burned out at your current place, I don’t see why you’d expect citadel to be much different? It’d be a change of scenery for a little bit but after that do you really expect your work to not be much of the same? For someone with your experience I would honesty just find a startup that you’re really passionate about and basically run that company’s software engineering. Having that sense of purpose is going to pull you out of bed way more than $$$. Congrats on what you’ve done so far.
Thanks. I just think I want to learn more by looking at different things. I have been at this startup for 4 long years and I always focus on the same things. Same tooling, same problems. I need a change of scenery.
Citadel Securities doesn't have long hours for SWEs. 45-50 hours a week would be median. Also, contrary to what you hear, Citadel Securities isn't quick to fire at all. However, experience as an SWE in quant finance is useful only in quant finance. Given the time you spent in tech, you'll obviously get a good job in case you don't like Citadel. Say you spend 5 years at Citadel. You'll likely only get E5 at FB after that - your 5 years at Citadel won't help you get a better position. Citadel doesn't have levels, or 'tech leads' - the culture is very different from big tech, you might need some time to adjust :-) BTW, you won't get an 'easier' interview at FB just because you got an offer earlier. You'll likely skip the phone screen, but the on-site interview will be exactly like before. Source: I was a quant at Citadel before FB.
Thanks a lot for your perspective! I am really undecided on what to do and everything helps!
Also, for what is worth I wouldn’t be working in quant. I would be working on one of their core platform infra teams.
go for citadel fang is overrated
Work in infra at citsec. Pays better with better hours, more diverse people, in a better (and cheaper) city than my experience at FAANG and in the Bay. I'm in Chicago FWIW.
Thanks for your datapoint.
Can I reach out to you over PM?
🤔
Just to stop the “hire and fire” comments about citadel, according to LinkedIn insights average tenure is around 4 years for citadel and 2 for facebook.
Congrats thus far. Just a reminder more than anything - keep in mind your hourly salary. Are you really making a good 500k a year if you are working 70 hour weeks versus 300k at 40 hour weeks.
Yeah, but I need a new challenge, I am burned out with my company and feel the need to grow... I am going with the assumption that WLB would be just as bad as Citadel as it would be at FB
No SWE is working 70 hours at Citadel Securities. Maybe 50, lmao.