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How much do Quants w/ a Ph.D. in Theoretical Phys. make with 0-3 yrs. of experience? Should I pursue a career as a Quant?

MihK

Joined
5/23/23
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I find myself at a crossroads in my career and would greatly appreciate your insights and advice on a matter that has been on my mind lately. You see, I am a student currently working towards a Ph.D. in theoretical physics, and I've been pondering the idea of venturing into the realm of quantitative finance.

I've had a discussion with my dad, who raised some concerns and advised me against pursuing a career as a quant. He believes there might be better options out there for someone with my educational background. (He works in tech and believes that I should go for a diff. career. But, I still want to consider being a quant as an option, to do that, I would need some info on salary prog.)

I am two years away from finishing my Ph.D. (hopefully haha) but I am still wondering what I should aim for as my uni. days are coming to an end.

(It would be worth noting I am attending a top-15 school for my Ph.D.)

What would be the expected salary from someone with my background?

Ex:

Total Comp with:

0-3 years of exp.

3-5 years of exp.

5-10 years of exp.

so on and so forth...

And, in your opinion, is being a quant fulfilling?


Anyways, that's about it...


Thank you for your insight folks!
 
The variance of TC explodes with increasing years of experience. Even for new grad, there's a wide range of packages depending on the firm, and it's hard to determine the expected salary from someone with your background since I have no idea of the probability density function of the firms you can get in/how good you are at interviewing. Just as a benchmark, I have friends making high 200ks straight out of school working FO bank roles, and friends straight out of school making low 600ks working QR roles at top shops. 3-5 years in really depends on performance, many people just stagnate while the stars are making x million at this point. Just a heads up, while I was a student I was enamoured with the numbers but once I actually entered the industry I realized nothing is really free - there is an equivalent amount of stress and expectations of performance that scale with the $$$.
 
QuantCoach said:
The variance of TC explodes with increasing years of experience. Even for new grad, there's a wide range of packages depending on the firm, and it's hard to determine the expected salary from someone with your background since I have no idea of the probability density function of the firms you can get in/how good you are at interviewing. Just as a benchmark, I have friends making high 200ks straight out of school working FO bank roles, and friends straight out of school making low 600ks working QR roles at top shops. 3-5 years in really depends on performance, many people just stagnate while the stars are making x million at this point. Just a heads up, while I was a student I was enamoured with the numbers but once I actually entered the industry I realized nothing is really free - there is an equivalent amount of stress and expectations of performance that scale with the $$$.
Click to expand...
What’re FO bank roles?

Edit: front office, got it:)
 
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