Changing firms as an early career quant
I am an early career quant at a large funds (2 sigma / jane street / citadel / DE Shaw / etc.). Joined after school, with my team for ~1-1.5 years. I want to switch firms and teams, and need advice from experienced folks.
I want to be in a team which directly manages P&L. Current role well-paid but low ceiling long term. My goal would be to be in a team which manages P&L as an entry-level quant.
Need advice on:
- Does leaving before 2 years look bad / signal weak performance? Or would having experience help me stand out for entry-level roles? I'll have ~1 year non-compete after.
- How to make most of non-compete? Options are: (i) leave for research scientist / data scientist at tech then recruit for quant after a year, (ii) self-study new techniques (e.g. large scale deep learning, which I want to pick up) then recruit after a year, (iii) recruit now before leaving. I prefer (i) and (ii) as I'll have more time to prep for recruiting.
- What level should I recruit for? Ideally I want a high-performing team at entry level, but also prefer to avoid competing with new grads / online assessments / etc
I think having a 1 year non-compete with 1.5 years experience is a little tough although 1 year non-compete is probably on the shorter side for quants these days. It's hard to know whether you will be successful in finding the seat you want recruiting now but assuming you are fine to stay at your current firm for another year or so if you don't initially succeed it also seems the least risky. If you would rather be a research scientist/data scientist than stay at your current firm then (i) also seems like a good option. (ii) strikes me as unnecessarily risky if your biggest complaint with your current firm is low ceiling long term as it's not certain what the hiring market will look like in 6-12 months and it may be hard to show evidence of what you learned from your self-studies during interviews. Assuming during the non-compete you receive some compensation but less than your current TC (ii) is also likely the least financially rewarding in the short term as a new quant firm would likely give you a signup bonus for the difference between your current TC and compensation received during the non-compete. I would also be cautious about posting too many details relating to the non-compete if you are worried about people guessing your current firm.
Thanks. On reasons for wanting to leave: (1) I am concerned being at current team another 1+ years will make me too specialised and only eligible for QR/ senior QR roles at other teams doing the exactly same thing, (2) recruiting whilst at job difficult given current hours (can get interviews but need more time to prep).
I think it's fine to look for another role already but if you aren't successful now I think it's somewhat risky to quit without something lined up and hope you will be able to find something good in one year. And you would presumably have a lot less leverage after quitting the offers you would get are probably going to be less generous as well. I don't have enough knowledge to know if finding a good role in data science would be easy for you and how TC might compare in that role to your current role.
I understanding finding time to prep for interviews while working full time is tough but I would also think if you are looking while still employed you don't have to be in much of a rush to find something either.
Makes sense- I’m leaning away from (ii) for now. One other aspect of recruiting now is many -not all- teams want to fill roles within 6 months, so longer non-compete makes me not eligible currently.
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