I Just received a call from a recruiter of an investment firm for a SWE role in Python/C++ He set me Up with an interview and he said the TC would be in the range of 350 - 500K. Currently preparing for a Google and Facebook interview for a Research Engineer (ML oriented roles). I m also in touch with an Uber recruiter. How is WLB in investment firms ? YOE : 6 Current TC : 90K ( yes miserable TC , just base no Equity at my company )
Which firm?
Citadel
I have a finance background and can tell you Citadel is one of the worsts. They call it revolving door. Just check LinkedIn and count number of people on Garden Leave (got kicked out and cannot join another company due to non-compete). Is it on the hedge fund side or market making?
Citadel money is great, WLB is bad. I mean...I would take the money. With 6 YOE I would even say 350 is low ball.
How bad ? More than 50h/week or worse ?
Probably about 55 60, I personally think that's doable. Save time in life by using delivery services more often and such.
If some 'external' recruiter (not an employee of the firm you're interviewing at) tells you expected TC, take it with a huge grain of salt. Their strategy is to get you into the interview process with large TC promises. Then do a bait and switch, and talk about TC over long term career. I worked in quantitative finance for a long time. Most external recruiters are scumbags.
Thank you for your insight ! I Will take it into account ! How was WLB for tech background folks ?
I was a quant, so don't have first hand experience with WLB of devs. WLB will be worse than the average tech company, but not by a lot. Certainly not more than 50 hours.