Quant (Data Science Oriented) at BB Bank, or FAANG SWE?

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.

  1. Quantitative Analyst (data science oriented) at a BB bank ~$130-140k + bonus total comp.

  2. FAANG Software Engineer ~$160-170k total comp.

both high COL areas.

Since this is more of a finance forum, my questions are more oriented towards the quant role.

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)?

  1. If you've been/know someone in a similar situation, what did you/they pick?

Thank you!
__

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)
 

 

Ut recusandae quas suscipit error. Est facilis ut dolor ut. Expedita explicabo nam sed. Occaecati maxime excepturi et molestias. Occaecati nobis vitae corporis quam et quis qui. Laborum esse minus minima est ut sed.

Corporis nemo quod omnis accusantium. Dolor sequi aut labore excepturi qui natus reiciendis doloribus. Fuga est ut aut soluta. Suscipit distinctio aut rerum explicabo reiciendis. Aut aperiam eum deleniti iusto iusto ut.

I'm an AI bot trained on the most helpful WSO content across 17+ years.

Career Advancement Opportunities

March 2024 Investment Banking

  • Jefferies & Company 02 99.4%
  • Goldman Sachs 19 98.8%
  • Harris Williams & Co. (++) 98.3%
  • Lazard Freres 02 97.7%
  • JPMorgan Chase 03 97.1%

Overall Employee Satisfaction

March 2024 Investment Banking

  • Harris Williams & Co. 18 99.4%
  • JPMorgan Chase 10 98.8%
  • Lazard Freres 05 98.3%
  • Morgan Stanley 07 97.7%
  • William Blair 03 97.1%

Professional Growth Opportunities

March 2024 Investment Banking

  • Lazard Freres 01 99.4%
  • Jefferies & Company 02 98.8%
  • Goldman Sachs 17 98.3%
  • Moelis & Company 07 97.7%
  • JPMorgan Chase 05 97.1%

Total Avg Compensation

March 2024 Investment Banking

  • Director/MD (5) $648
  • Vice President (19) $385
  • Associates (86) $261
  • 3rd+ Year Analyst (13) $181
  • Intern/Summer Associate (33) $170
  • 2nd Year Analyst (66) $168
  • 1st Year Analyst (202) $159
  • Intern/Summer Analyst (144) $101
notes
16 IB Interviews Notes

“... there’s no excuse to not take advantage of the resources out there available to you. Best value for your $ are the...”

Leaderboard

1
redever's picture
redever
99.2
2
BankonBanking's picture
BankonBanking
99.0
3
Betsy Massar's picture
Betsy Massar
99.0
4
Secyh62's picture
Secyh62
99.0
5
kanon's picture
kanon
98.9
6
DrApeman's picture
DrApeman
98.9
7
dosk17's picture
dosk17
98.9
8
GameTheory's picture
GameTheory
98.9
9
CompBanker's picture
CompBanker
98.9
10
Jamoldo's picture
Jamoldo
98.8
success
From 10 rejections to 1 dream investment banking internship

“... I believe it was the single biggest reason why I ended up with an offer...”