SWE at FAANG vs Quant Dev at a small hedge fund
If you had the option which would you pick? A standard SWE role at a FAANG company or a Quant Developer role at a smaller/lesser known fund (not TS, HRT, Jane Street, etc)? Basically same-ish work but what would be the difference between the two types in terms of growth, tech stack, WLB, comp, etc? TC: 160k
TC?
Fixed
Is that FAANG Amazon? If yes, then HFT
Depends what you want from your next job. If itโs more growth opportunities in a faster paced environment then go for the quant role. Itโs very common for quant developers compensation to grow very rapidly if you are good. However, compared to faang you lose out on job security and wlb during rough weeks. Tech stack at the fund will most likely be much worse unless itโs a new fund < 10 years. The quant role will also definitely open up opportunities to those companies you mentioned if that is of interest to you.
Depends on what you prioritize - WLB desired, money faster, faster growth, moderate growth etcโฆ. Being in FAANG Iโm sick of the slow growth, work hours and bad politics. I want to change to a Hedge Fund, atleast you get paid a lot more to deal with BS. I optimized for time, now I want to optimize for money/time
Interesting you mention slow growth, always thought hedge funds were worse since itโs a more flat hierarchy. Guess though if aiming for pure money wouldnโt matter as much
It boils down to money for me. If Iโm a junior dev making $800k, call me a junior idgaf ๐