Google Brain SWE vs. Quant Research at hedge fund

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vnWx24

New

vnWx24
Nov 30, 2018 18 Comments

Given similar TC (~250k) what would you choose in the early stage of career (new grad, BS)?

Hedge fund say one of Two Sigma, Citadel, DEShaw

Both involve applied machine learning, in a different context

Both problem domains are academically interesting and challenging

Am curious to know which direction it would be easier to transition to/from, TC progression, etc.

Would love to hear some first-hand experience

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TOP 18 Comments
  • Microsoft / Eng
    twiddling

    Go to company page Microsoft Eng

    twiddling
    G Brain, because I have zero interest in working at a hedge fund.
    Nov 30, 2018 0
  • Roku
    Netflx

    Go to company page Roku

    Netflx
    If it is DE Shaw, then choose google. DE Shaw doesn’t pay that well even to QRs and you make better $ at google or FANG. TS and Citadel can pay you better. Citadel has toxic culture and you will not be working on core ML/algo until at least 4+ years( you will be doing SWE even if your title is QR). TS Is the most decent out of the 3, but even that is not very attractive since it is not as picky as it used to be. They doubled the size in the last few years, hired tons of people and diluted talent.
    I would choose google Brain because it’s very easy to go to Hedge funds later. The reverse is possible but not as straight forward.
    Source: Interviewed at all these 3 hedge funds (and a few more), turned down a great QR offer(considerably more than the one in the post) to be in tech that paid slightly less.
    Nov 30, 2018 5
  • At Brain you will learn a ton and I think you might have more leverage to go back to DE Shaw with after a year or two. Finance is volatile and you need to be ok with that. If you want to maximize earnings short term go finance, learning go to Brain
    Nov 30, 2018 0
  • Mesosphere / Eng
    Onesie

    Go to company page Mesosphere Eng

    Onesie
    It depends on what you want in your life. Being a quant researcher is a highly rewarding job (much more than an engineer at Google on average) but comes with risk. You might be able to add more value to the society by working at Google Brain.
    Nov 30, 2018 0
  • OP would you mind sharing your background ? How were you able to land such good offers out of just undergrad?
    Nov 30, 2018 4