Switch to Tech?
Monkeys, not to belabor the topic of switching to tech and becoming a SWE / PM, but am seriously considering it.
Currently an analyst in M&A. For background, I was part of a engineering/business crossover program where I studied CS and Finance. From the program, was around 50/50 split between those entering tech vs IB or other finance role after undergrad.
Have noticed that my friends in tech are much happier. Better WLB, better culture, free time outside of work, and more challenging work when they are working. Thinking long term I'd want to switch into a tech-adjacent role, is there a benefit to grinding it out for 2 years in IB and then 2 on the buy side first or just switch now?
Has anyone else made this switch from finance to tech and/or become a SWE?
I thought tech sector was on a decline? Companies aren't hiring but outsourcing their work?
IB and tech are fairly mutually exclusive so if you want to switch, do it now
Grass isn't always greener though, and you're considering the worst part of the whole finance career (IB stint) - it's fine if the work in tech is better fit for you, but you seem to be switching over in search of better WLB and other soft factors you can find in finance-related careers as well. Reflect on whether you like the day to day of tech or finance better - do you like financials / lots of group meetings, or are you happier working on code and mostly sitting by yourself throughout the day>
Thanks for bringing up those points. My thoughts are at some point in my career I’d like to switch to a 9-5 more or less with respectable comp. I look at the seniors who I work with, and while I respect them they don’t have the WLB I’d strive for at that age.
There are very solid 9-5s to be had in finance and still make good money. AM, IR, corp dev/strat, credit etc
SWE often tops out around the $400-500k range, so make sure you're looking at it over a career. Finance jobs will scale even if the ASO number is $200k or less for some corp jobs, SWE could start higher but may not grow past a certain dollar amount
Not to say finance is the end all be all, but I would not extrapolate IB hours/lifestyle as representative of all of finance if you otherwise like the type of work you do
Up to you! I'm one of those in belief that tech will eventually bounce back. Although, who knows how slow the tech hiring market or how frequent layoffs will be for the forseeable future. Early 2000s (2001 - 2003) tech job market after the dot-com bubble was really bad and mass layoffs were happening. I think the current market compares to that time period.
Most roles from big tech are being transitioned to India. My entire team was offshore'd not long ago.
However - there will always be a market for a strong developer - regardless of economic conditions.
Yep similar outsourcing happened in 2001 - 2003. Hope your job search is going well btw!
Hey - I studied Computer Science and now work as a Quant Dev in a bank, and had experience working at IBM, Google, and Microsoft as an intern. I've graduated in 2018 and most of my friends work in tech, so I can share my experience.
I personally find my WLB in the bank to be better than my friends who work at FAANG (Disclaimer, I work in Toronto - so the grind at FAANG here isn't as bad as SF or Seattle) - I rarely work past 5, and the pace is a bit slower but mostly because most quant applications are hundreds of thousands of C++ code in a monolith architecture and take 30-45 minutes to recompile/build from scratch...so I get a "free break" other than my lunch break everyday where I can catch up with my colleagues or go for a walk whenever I need to build. I would say the WLB is comparable to Uber, Reddit, Square and similar firms just below FAANG
The comp is quite good, and almost exactly the same as my friends in Microsoft, and a tad higher than IBM (Comparing to Team Lead SDE) - it is about 10% lower than Google (could be more factoring their HQ is in Waterloo and I work in Toronto, which is a lot more expensive), however, I get pretty sick benefits such as a big discount on my mortgage rate because I got it through my bank, cheaper car and home insurance, a great pension plan, and any other product that we offer to consumers.
My advice - before looking into tech, maybe speak to some of the Quant Devs/Software Devs in your bank and see how their teams are...you're probably at a much bigger advantage to get hired there since it would be an internal move.
Do I get bothered when I see some of these "Bank Dev" comments online? Not really, I enjoy the work I am doing, I think my pay is pretty good, I get to work with some of the smartest PhDs I've ever met and some of them are Quantitative Finance professors/instructors at some of the best universities in the world...
One more thing - when we had layoffs over the past year, the front office developers were pretty much untouched, so job security is relatively great compared to other areas of the bank and tech firms. Piece of advice, if you're going to tech don't become a PM. Very looked down upon, and they get paid way less than developers especially after you make it to Senior / SDE II.
PM getting paid less even factoring everything else?
PM in tech = Project or Product Manager, not Portfolio (Apologies if you already knew that)
Yes - Unless you're a back office PM managing an offshore team in India who is building a reconciliation tool, you have little to no value working with front office quants or devs. We can speak to S&T, understand what they need, build it out, and even make slide decks ourselves. No need for a middle man.
Speaking for my firm and my other friends who have similar roles, we get paid more than PMs in general, even ones who are ahead in terms of rank.
Hey , i would really like to know your opinions or thoughts on someone wanting to get into a role similar to yours, will it be ok if i Dm you?
Think a good point to be raised is whether finance (buy side specifically) is becoming oversaturated as you get more senior. At most established funds there’s little to no room to become a VP+.
How does that compare to tech? Is there a similar funnel where it’s increasingly difficult to become a managing position / L6+ level?
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