Hey guys, I'm a software engineer with 9 YoE, and I want to work in finance. Could be in IB, a hedge fund, whatever. I also want to relocate to NYC because I don't like the west coast (and that goes double for the Bay Area). My work experience includes Amazon Web Services and a couple of retail banks in their capital markets divisions, so I believe I have both the technical know-how and the domain knowledge necessary. I also exited a startup successfully, so I guess that demonstrates my self-starting, entrepreneurial side as well. My reasons aren't that I don't like software engineering. I love what I do. It's just that I am sick of the fake "making the world a better place" mindset of startups and the endless rat race of big tech. Ideally, I'm looking for a role with as much upward mobility as possible. I have lead experience so a tech lead or a PM position would be nice, but I don't mind grinding my way there, as long as the people are tolerable... and I wouldn't mind a fat paycheck either. Here's what I'm curious about: * Are there any firms in particular that are stepping stones for moving to finance/NYC? The name Bloomberg comes up a lot. * What are the TCs like in hedge funds? * How to make myself attractive to investment banks/hedge funds? * After AWS I joined PayPal mainly because I want to leverage that into such a position via either internal transfer or by it looking good on my resume, good idea or a waste of time? * Overall where do I start? Any comments & tips are appreciated. Referrals doubly even triply so. Stay safe TC:250k YoE:9 #finance #interview #hedgefund #ib
I think - to the extent that you can - it’s helpful to narrow down which category of firms you want...bulge bracket banks, asset managers like BlackRock and their Aladdin platform or platforms/data analytics/ news likeBloomberg (like you mentioned), Reuters, etc. Once that’s established, you can pepper cold contacts or referrals at those firms to learn more
This Is pretty good advice right here. Different life, work, and comp at all these different place s
Would reach out to a HF recruiter. Think that’s the best option
D E Shaw would be a good start to join in NYC.
How is wlb?
from what I’ve heard it depends on you’re a trader or quant, but around 60hrs a week
But be prepared...finance is waaay slower than tech companies. You must be patient and get approval for every single technology you want to use.
Think this is just at the big banks. Other small ones or HFs I’m sure would be willing to adopt better tech
Check out Goldman Sachs
@Op any competent driven person can make a career change. Start hitting up recruiters. Next questions: What do you hate about the Bay Area? There are things I hate some things here too, we all do, but I can assure you most are now worse in NYC with DeCommio in charge. Newscum is a lunatic but NYC is now the Mad Max Escape From New York Zombie Apocalypse twilight zone. Also the taxes are higher in NYC, and you will find that the cost of living is similar. But you will make less money. If you want to change to Vince go somewhere other than NYC to get started.
Taxes are higher in NYC than in California? Doesn’t look that way to me from the tax brackets, can you explain more?
NY State income taxes are lower than in CA, but combined NY State plus NYC taxes are higher (and in fact the highest in the US). That has nothing to do with DeBlasio; he has not changed the rates.
Hedge funds and investment banks are wildly different so you need to narrow your focus
^ this
Yeah completely different jobs and respobilities
You should apply to Jane street pass their math test and get in. They give a list of all the people who pass their test and it's a bunch of asian and french names. All PhD/130+ IQs. You will get 500k TC. Just venmo me $100 when you get in thanks.
It depends. Sell-side (IB, brokerages etc) jobs are a lot more plentiful. Pay decent base ~180-200K. But TC is a bit low ~230K for 10+ years of experience. But the management positions pay really well. MDs get paid millions. Buy-Side (Hedge Funds, prop trading, private equity) base pay is a bit lower that Sell-Side. Bit a lot more heavy on bonus. If you’re in profit center (Front Office/Trading, SOR/Algo etc) then profit sharing is common and TC could go really high. That’s especially true for tech/quant driven hedge funds (HFT etc). Where technology is the most important important part - core of the business.
This is one of the more honest and informed blind posts I've seen on finance comp
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Thank you AAPL and NVDA
Use a third party recruiter. That's how a lot of hedge fund recruiting is done. Usually some will contact you on LinkedIn. Most are garbage, some are good.
how to tell the good ones from garbage?
No real way. Just set your expectations low.