Big Tech or Quant

[nuraV]

I am interested in both these fields and am currently pursuing undergrad in both cs and financial math. I was mainly concerned with he salary diecpreancies between the both, as I like each profession equally. From my understanding, most MFE grads start off at 100-150k, but is it even feasible to get such a salary and how competitive is it to progress in your career (salary wise) in quant compared to getting a MS in CS and joining a FAANG instead.

Any insight is helpful, thank you all for your help

 

[Andy Nguyen]

The compensation in tech is lucrative when it is in stock options, not salary. Your stock option making you millions depend on which startup your join and many factors, sometimes luck.
The compensation in finance is a base and bonus. The amount of bonus depends on how close you are to the front office and the PnL pot. Many people in mid or back office are making 100K a year which is more than most Americans.
Now, look at the cost of living, tax, whether you are single or with kids, the numbers are relative.
Focus on the jobs and what you will be doing in 5 years. If you are good with your job, the money will be there. If not, you will be miserable everyday because this industry is very competitive and stressful. You can get laid off at any given moment for no fault of your own.
If you join FAANG or whatever new tech firm, you may be working on some cool products that change the world. In finance, not so much.

 

[MRoss]

Andy made a distinction in tech between FAANG and startups.

At Dragin our employees won't make what they would at FAANG, but if in the next 2-3 years we are able to pull a $100M+ valuation, many will be quite happy.

At FAANG I don't agree. Even without a masters some of my clients have seen close to $200K right out of college. Consider a "tier 1" FAANG job on par, or even better than the top entry level finance job (Investment Banking).

I would say more than salary, consider your skills.

If you are an excellent developer, you can make a killing in FAANG, and do so very quickly.

If you love math/finance and excel at it, go Quant.

 

[nuraV]

Andy made a distinction in tech between FAANG and startups.

At Dragin our employees won't make what they would at FAANG, but if in the next 2-3 years we are able to pull a $100M+ valuation, many will be quite happy.

At FAANG I don't agree. Even without a masters some of my clients have seen close to $200K right out of college. Consider a "tier 1" FAANG job on par, or even better than the top entry level finance job (Investment Banking).

I would say more than salary, consider your skills.

If you are an excellent developer, you can make a killing in FAANG, and do so very quickly.

If you love math/finance and excel at it, go Quant.

From a salary standpoint, would getting a MFE put me on this same 200k salary if I get it from a decent program. Also, for the quant field- is cs skills also 'needed' to sustain a good career?

 

[nuraV]

The compensation in tech is lucrative when it is in stock options, not salary. Your stock option making you millions depend on which startup your join and many factors, sometimes luck.
The compensation in finance is a base and bonus. The amount of bonus depends on how close you are to the front office and the PnL pot. Many people in mid or back office are making 100K a year which is more than most Americans.
Now, look at the cost of living, tax, whether you are single or with kids, the numbers are relative.
Focus on the jobs and what you will be doing in 5 years. If you are good with your job, the money will be there. If not, you will be miserable everyday because this industry is very competitive and stressful. You can get laid off at any given moment for no fault of your own.
If you join FAANG or whatever new tech firm, you may be working on some cool products that change the world. In finance, not so much.

From a purely salary standpoint, If I join. decent MFE at the worst and start at 100k like you mentioned, what are the chances progression to the 200k+ salaries found in FAANG

 

[MRoss]

You have to stop looking at programs and look at yourself.

Do you have great experience? Amazing interview skills? Are you brilliant at math? If yes, $200K is a walk in the park.

Brand has little to do with what you will make.

 

[Andy Nguyen]

@MRoss probably has seen way more people with wide range of experience and expectations to know what works and not. Things are not as rosy or easy as people make it out to be.
Most people will have a few challenging first years to see if they can make it.