HELP ME CHOOSE! Blackrock Aladdin & Tech. Analyst vs. Microsoft Software Dev Engineer
I've narrowed my offers down to these two:
BlackRock is offering 70K base, 10k sign-on bonus and no stock options. This offer is non-negotiable. As is typical of finance firms, year-end bonuses are highly variable (does anyone have an idea what an average Analyst earns?)
Microsoft is offering 90K base, 10K sign-on and 1500 restricted stock units vesting over 4 years.
I have a B.S. in Computer Science and a Master's degree in Financial Mathematics.
I am more or less indifferent between the two jobs (both will involve coding), and both offices are located in the San Francisco Bay Area (one in downtown S.F. and the other in Mountain View, Calif.)
Here are my primary considerations:
I would like to maximise my earnings potential over the long term.
Software engineers at top tech firms tend to receive lucrative salaries right out of school; however, the amount of salary increase with accumulated years of experience isn't particularly high. For example, Microsoft's SDE 2 position, typically attained after 5+ years of relevant work experience, averages 97K/year according to Glassdoor.
I do have a strong personal interest in Finance (hence my graduate degree), and I can't expand my skill set in this area if I were to become a Microsoft developer. However, I've also got to be realistic about how far I can advance in a finance firm, especially being a minority. (In other words, I don't fit the typical white/male/Jewish banker stereotype...)
If you were in my situation, which offer would you accept? Any help/advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!
Go with MSFT. Given a choice between an asset management/bank's IT vs a real software company - always go with the software company. It will be easier for you to do the MSFT -> Aladdin switch in the future (if you choose) vs the other way around.
Wait, would you be doing IT (operations) for Blackrock or would you be front office. I was under the impression front office (highly variable bonus). If true, this is a no brainer: Blackrock. At blackrock you will be making over 100k starting out. With dramatic increases every year. If you are doing IT then badatadvice is right otherwise he is blowing smoke up your ass.
The thing is, at Microsoft I won't ever have the opportunity to transition into a "front office" role, since they're not a trading / asset management firm. I'll be stuck doing tech (or best case, being promoted to management) for the remainder of my career at Microsoft.
And I'm sure it's not "over 100K starting out" (given that I already stated my offer is 70K base), unless you're implying that average year-end bonuses can exceed $30K. And again the role I was accepted into is back office IT, not front office.
Thanks!
Apologies then. I was assuming front office. I have nothing relevant to add in terms of back office role so I would discount what I said. Best of luck.
It's surprising how little information there is about BR on this site despite that they're "the largest asset management firm in the U.S."
True that! That's coz they are negligent about their employees, business and even their website :)
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