Best groups at Citadel?

I don't think there is an ITAP rotational program anymore, but I could be wrong. I have no idea what the most coveted groups are - would also like to find out.

The itap rotations have been eliminated. Ftap still has rotations, I think. From what I've heard, the most prestigious groups are GMQS (global macro quant strategies) and high freuency. Global equities is pretty popular too.

Citadel's recovered very well since 2008 - up 60+% in 2009 and going strong. I'm not entirely sure why they got rid of ITAP rotations, but I heard it had something to do with individual desks complaining about having to train new associates for only a few months before losing them to another desk.

And the pay is still really good. My full-time offer last year was for 100k base + 20k signing, 8k relocation, with year-end bonus buckets of 40/60/100.

That's very good comp.

I hear they fire around 10% per year and that the culture is very cut-throat. Is this accurate?

Also, I know they hire bankers (post 2-yr analyst stint) for Global Equities. Anyone know what comp is for this?

Yes, the culture is very cut-throat. It's called the "revolving door of Chicago". Some people do get fired early on in their rotations, but it's not a standard practice. 10% would only be 1-2 people anyway, so an arbitrary percentage like that doesn't make any sense for such a small class. But it is still very competitive. Associates are ranked based on test scores and evaluations. Group placement depends a great deal on rank, so there's enormous competition to be ranked highly, especially among FTAP-ers who all want to get one of the few quant positions instead of a shitty IT role.

As for post-banking GE, the pay I've heard is very good as well. I don't know specifics, but it's probably ~300-350k all-in, depending of course on bonus buckets.

That's sounds pretty good - near mega PE comp. Thanks for the info.

I assume you didn't take their FT offer. Was the culture the reason why?

I didn't take the FT offer mainly because I wasn't passionate about hedge funds and trading in general. I wanted to do something more corporate advisory-like, so in the end, I took an offer for M&A at a BB. But the comp was definitely very attractive, by far the highest I've heard of an undergrad getting directly out of school.