I'm a new grad finishing up my master's and am fortunate to have to decide between the two following opportunities. I'd be grateful if people could drop their own two cents.
Since this is more of a finance/quant forum, my questions are more oriented towards the quant role. I
1. Long term total comp is important to me. On average, it seems like the total compensation of a long term career trajectory of a quant starting at a BB bank does not come close to starting out with FAANG software engineering, or am I incorrect? The main issue I'm having is that I don't really know what quants do long term in their careers, and so I'm not sure how compensation changes compared to something like software engineering.
2. How transferable is the work I do to a non-finance data science role?
3. Anecdotally, what are the usual long term career trajectories you've gone through, or seen your peers go through starting from a BB quant role, and are they happy? (i.e. Data science? HF? Management?)
4. How technical are the quant roles in BB banks? How true is it that they mainly use dated tech? I know I'll learn a great deal in finance, but will I also learn a lot in data science/current research (or only deal with conservative methods)? (I'm thinking all of this is probably more team dependent, but think average master's grad quant). Takeaway is, am I cutting myself short in terms of learning/growth by going to a BB bank compared to FAANG (though is not DS centered, I am able to take on ML/DS projects)?
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Additional Comments:
My original plan was to to do my M.S. to get my foot into data science, and I'm currently doing part time MLOps work right now. However, I've actually never held a software engineering position before. So, I'm thinking that the FAANG is a great opportunity to get a resume boost and try out SWE. However, I will definitely be stunting growth for at least the DS/quant career path, especially if I end up not liking SWE. I'm also not sure if I can retain a lot of my current knowledge in the field. So it boils down to:
Software Eng Role Pros: - Brand recognition and learn a great deal (in mainly SWE). I heard my long term career is solidified in FAANG.
Quant/Data role Pros: - What I think to be is more in line with what I want to do (not particularly finance, but DS work.) Might provide be with good experience to move to a DS role not in finance (if I don't like it).
My general uncertainties:
I might be able to transition into a MLE/DS role while at FAANG, assuming internal transfers are easier.
I might actually like software engineering a lot more than I anticipated, and vice versa I might like/dislike the data science/quant role, and opportunity cost of salary/career growth.
Great long term career trajectory in software role (assuming I'm enjoying the work, I'll likely perform better). I.e. higher long term salary versus average quant (not at a hedge fund/prop shop,.. unless that's where they usually end up)
- Quantitative Analyst (data science oriented) at a BB bank ~$130-140k + bonus total comp.
- FAANG Software Engineer ~$160-170k total comp.
Since this is more of a finance/quant forum, my questions are more oriented towards the quant role. I
1. Long term total comp is important to me. On average, it seems like the total compensation of a long term career trajectory of a quant starting at a BB bank does not come close to starting out with FAANG software engineering, or am I incorrect? The main issue I'm having is that I don't really know what quants do long term in their careers, and so I'm not sure how compensation changes compared to something like software engineering.
2. How transferable is the work I do to a non-finance data science role?
3. Anecdotally, what are the usual long term career trajectories you've gone through, or seen your peers go through starting from a BB quant role, and are they happy? (i.e. Data science? HF? Management?)
4. How technical are the quant roles in BB banks? How true is it that they mainly use dated tech? I know I'll learn a great deal in finance, but will I also learn a lot in data science/current research (or only deal with conservative methods)? (I'm thinking all of this is probably more team dependent, but think average master's grad quant). Takeaway is, am I cutting myself short in terms of learning/growth by going to a BB bank compared to FAANG (though is not DS centered, I am able to take on ML/DS projects)?
- If you've been/know someone in a similar situation, what did you/they pick?
__
Additional Comments:
My original plan was to to do my M.S. to get my foot into data science, and I'm currently doing part time MLOps work right now. However, I've actually never held a software engineering position before. So, I'm thinking that the FAANG is a great opportunity to get a resume boost and try out SWE. However, I will definitely be stunting growth for at least the DS/quant career path, especially if I end up not liking SWE. I'm also not sure if I can retain a lot of my current knowledge in the field. So it boils down to:
Software Eng Role Pros: - Brand recognition and learn a great deal (in mainly SWE). I heard my long term career is solidified in FAANG.
Quant/Data role Pros: - What I think to be is more in line with what I want to do (not particularly finance, but DS work.) Might provide be with good experience to move to a DS role not in finance (if I don't like it).
My general uncertainties:
I might be able to transition into a MLE/DS role while at FAANG, assuming internal transfers are easier.
I might actually like software engineering a lot more than I anticipated, and vice versa I might like/dislike the data science/quant role, and opportunity cost of salary/career growth.
Great long term career trajectory in software role (assuming I'm enjoying the work, I'll likely perform better). I.e. higher long term salary versus average quant (not at a hedge fund/prop shop,.. unless that's where they usually end up)
