Citadel vs Amazon for new grad
New grad software engineer (Not quant) Citadel: TC 225 + signing bonus 75 Amazon: TC 155 including signing bonus I am a new grad trying to decide between the two. All online reviews about citadel point to bad work life balance and longer hours. Is it bad even for back office infrastructure teams? Also for someone who is on H1-B, what would happen if I get fired? Will Citadel give me a notice period so that I can get a new job. Is the stress and the longer hours worth the extra money? How is the exit route for Citadel? Will I be able to get into other tech companies after a year or so?
Citadel dude. They fired that dolt Kevin Turner!
Citadel is an elite fund. Everyone you’re with is Harvard, Stanford, Princeton folks. It’s best to work among trust fund folks and they will help you be a part of that in the future. They use summer as a verb and you’ll be introduced socialite families. Amazon you get a ton of ok specialist UW folks. Nothings wrong with UW but how many Fortune 500 ceos come from uw and how many come from Harvard and Stanford. Prestige is always better.
I am going to be part of a back office software engineering team and the interactions with traders and quants are going to be pretty limited. By Harvard, Stanford folks I suppose u mean quantitative researchers.
Pretty arrogant thing to say dude
You don't have kids so you don't need wlb yet, unless you lack motivation
I would like to work hard and make an impact. But I am not sure what's the minimal expected work hours look like 50 or 60 hours/week? And is it sustainable in the long run? I don't want to get burned out in a year.
Amazon doesn't have wlb either for lots of teams. Take the money
Seems like a no brainer. Come to aws in a year if you don't like it there.
That's what I am thinking now. Work till I could and then switch over to a tech company. The only problem is citadel is famous for firing people and was wondering what would happen to my H1B status in that case.
You have 60 days to find a new job, not exactly a nice situation to be in.
I used to work at another trading firm with several ex-citadel people and heard plenty of horror stories. That said, if you’re unattached and able to move easily you can always give it a shot and leave if it’s not for you.
I used to cover them as one of my clients, pretty much everyone I worked with was a smart guy, but also most of them had the attitude to go with it which sometimes made them a bit insufferable. The team are cut throat, if you are not a type a personality, and at the top of your game you won't be there long or if your project is not valuable, your out for the next group to come in
No brainer. Citadel attracts the elite, pays more, and finance is so much more interesting than what Amazon does. I've been stunned at how many people at Amazon went to crappy schools. And finally, NYC and Chicago DESTROY Seattle.
This is bullshit and "obviously" you have never worked at finance .. back office team is not at the forefront of action. You don't contribute to the pnl directly - it's a subordinate role
This is obvious dude... Citadel all the way. Put up a poll in your question and you’ll see how far it leans towards Citadel.
I would like to see people's opinions about citadel's work culture. None of the blind posts recommend citadel.