Hello All,
Sorry for jumping on to this post, out of nowhere. I have just recently joined this forum (though I have been visiting it for some time now). I must appreciate the excellent work you guys, particularly Andy, are doing by maintaining this forum and sharing your vast experience with the community.
To start with, I have a Phd in electrical engineering/applied physics. I am considering switching to the field of FE. I know it has been said several times before, in this forum, that one should only become a quant if he/she loves to do this. I think that people choose professions for two reason: 1) they love that profession or 2) they love the rewards associated with it. People told me before I started PhD that I should do PhD only if I love it. Let me tell you that I have hated it the entire duration of my PhD studies (though, I have published more papers during this time than any other PhD student has published at my school- I have graduated from a top 20 ranked school in world). So, I will have no hesitation in switching to quant field if it comes with substantially better rewards than EE.
I have looked at the salary database at this forum and also looked at some job postings in other places on the internet. The thing that confuses me is that the salary (considering the median or avg. value) for quants with even >5 years experience lies around 100K. Is that true from your experience ? Somewhere else, I came across the figure of 300-500K after 5 years. There seems to be a big gap between, say 100K and 300-500K.
In short, my question is: does anyone have an idea what is the salary of the majority of quants after 5-10-15- or 20 years. I know, people say in this field there is no limit and future is extremely unpredictable. But, from the past, can anyone comment or make a calculated guess based on his vision. I know if I stay in my own field, my salary would probably saturate at around 100-150K. Is there a saturation figure for most of the quants. I can't imagine all the thousands of quants end up making 300K or 500K in 5 or even 10 years (or then, I can be wrong !).
Guys, your comment will be much appreciated ! Thanks in advance.
