bank vs start up

[provisos]

I am a new PhD graduate in machine learning. I have a job offer from a major bank to do algo trading. A also have an offer from a high tech start up. The base salaries are almost the same. I like the start up company more.

The bank recruiters are telling me that I should go to the bank since it will be easier for me to go from the financial sector to the high sector down the road than the other way around. They are also saying that they will compensate much more once bonuses are considered. The startup offers stock (but that may or may not be ever worth anything).

Should I believe and follow the recruiters advice or are they giving me the sales job?

 

[Tsotne]

Should I believe and follow the recruiters advice or are they giving me the sales job?

Hi
The similarity between these two options is salary. You like start-up (that's one advantage of choice = start up), but in contrast they are offering the compensation (bonuses - advantage of the second choice = bank). So you should to weight and compare those advantages (the second one though cannot be assigned a dollar or any numerical value). If you feel your concern is much salary than enjoying your work more, then bank is the preferred choice.

And forgot to say:

The bank recruiters are telling me that I should go to the bank since it will be easier for me to go from the financial sector to the high sector down the road than the other way around

It's true. Switching from financial sector to high tech sector is much easier than vise versa.

 

[Andy Nguyen]

@provisos
You may find this post from Roger a good read as he has been both side.
http://www.quantnet.com/forum/threads/elite-quants-hedge-fund-vs-start-up.5315/

 

[MSFHQ]

Stock in a start up could be very lucrative. Depending where you are with your career will really add to this decision. I would think that if you are starting out you should lean towards the bank. It is larger, more well known and at this point in your career you really want to get 2-3 years of solid work experience. If this start up fails or has trouble you might find yourself looking for work in an off cycle time or being in between a junior person and an experienced worker.

Tough choice, but nice to have these two options.

 

[alain]

It's true. Switching from financial sector to high tech sector is much easier than vise versa.

I will have to disagree with this. It will be easier to go to finance. The skills you are going to gain in a startup are invaluable. I don't think I can say the same thing about a bank.

 

[Joy Pathak]

I recently had to make a a somewhat similar choice.

I have chosen the big bank. If you want to discuss this more send me a message.

 

[echostate]

I will have to disagree with this. It will be easier to go to finance. The skills you are going to gain in a startup are invaluable. I don't think I can say the same thing about a bank.

I agree with alain. Openings at finance firms will not disappear as long as you have your skills, while a good start up that matches your expertise and interests does not come along very frequently.

I think a key question is how good is that start-up opportunity ... well this is hard to evaluate. An easier question is, assuming the start up you join will eventually *fail*, how good is that experience on your resume compared to the bank job? Put another way, if you think the start up is a good choice only if the firm succeeds and you becomes extremely rich, you probably want to choose the bank. Otherwise, go ahead and try the start up.

 

[Tsotne]

An easier question is, assuming the start up you join will eventually *fail*, how good is that experience on your resume compared to the bank job?

And you'll have less opportunity to switch to bank after it. I stay on my opinion and I'll say why:

I will have to disagree with this. It will be easier to go to finance. The skills you are going to gain in a startup are invaluable. I don't think I can say the same thing about a bank.

I know many examples from my university graduates who had trouble moving to bank in USA after having gained quite a lot experience (one of them 1 year and the others on average 2-3 years) at high tech exactly because of incompatibility of experience earned in high tech to finance. The employers are more concerned with pure financial experience gained at financial institution so it's easier to move to high tech after that. To be honest the position also plays its part, what position you are applying for also determines which experience they prefer their employer too have.

 

[echostate]

And you'll have less opportunity to switch to bank after it. I stay on my opinion and I'll say why:


I know many examples from my university graduates who had trouble moving to bank in USA after having gained quite a lot experience (one of them 1 year and the others on average 2-3 years) at high tech exactly because of incompatibility of experience earned in high tech to finance. The employers are more concerned with pure financial experience gained at financial institution so it's easier to move to high tech after that. To be honest the position also plays its part, what position you are applying for also determines which experience they prefer their employer too have.

Perhaps these people are qualified for IT jobs but not for quant jobs since the beginning. This is quite common. But it may not apply to provisos. Provisos is a machine learning PhD who already got a bank offer. I'm not sure what high-tech offer he/she has, but it must be some kind of machine learning analysis job. I think in that case it should fairly easy for him/her to get a quant job later and transfer the experience.

But I agree that the best way to learn quant skills is to directly do a quant job (instead of any other job). So if the *ultimate goal* is to be a quant, we should probably choose a quant job rather than a start up. When we say the experience at a start up is valuable, we mean it is valuable for various other career paths (not necessarily for a quant career).

 

[Tsotne]

I agree. And also depends on the position he/she has been offered in both areas.