D.E. Shaw vs HRT vs Citadel Securities

Hello, 

I have full time offers for a quantitative research position from D.E. Shaw, HRT and Citadel Securities. I'm having a tough time deciding which one to pick and understanding the tradeoffs between careers at these different places.  

(First year compensation is similar in all of these places and the non competes are 1year, 1.5 years and 2 years respectively.)

Any insights would be very helpful. 

3 Comments
 
Most Helpful

Hard to give concrete advice. Main factor is which desk you land on. DES will tell you it doesn't matter- it does. Citsec you should have a good idea where they are placing you. HRT is somewhat more collegial but end of the year your desk PnL will still matter.

The only general advice I can provide here is that in aggregate, CitSec is the best (doesn't mean the desk your on will make money) though DES will provide the most rope for you to grow. HRT is very algorithmic / dev focused so even as a quant you will have exposure to skills that later can help transition to SWE in other industries.

 

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