Debating offers
Hi all,
I'm currently debating between taking an ABCD trading internship offer and a BB quant role possibly in risk. For an internship, what do you think will look better on a resume?
FWIW: Comp is significantly better for the BB role
If you know you want to trade, ABCD is better. BB quant is definitely not bad, and will be broader (might be able to lateral in S&T FT, prop, or something quanty and non-finance), but it will be harder to get a trading role specifically. I think it's largely a personal decision based on what sort of stuff you like to do.
I have prior internships in prop and s&t. If I decide to recruit FT somewhere else, do you think either one would be fine in terms of brand?
Was in a similar position two years ago. I went with an ABCD basically because of the following three conditions
I knew I was interested in commodities
I preferred markets to math even though I studied engineering
I hate NYC
Tbh unless you are in the unique situation where either of those conditions hold true I would go with the bank offer
It’s a slog to get a book for commodity trading
You will likely be using your skillset to do some modeling like pricing bespoke structured deals at the commodity trader but there is a risk hr/the team at the ABCD will be stupid and stick you booking freight or something which is valuable for learning to trade but likely not the best use of your skillset.
If you know you love the math which chances are you do given you got a quant offer then be aware that 99% of the time you will be doing more complex work from a mathematics standpoint as a quant at a bank.
Thanks for your detailed response, I am interested in commodities, but I'm not too happy about the compensation trajectory (at least my imagination of it). I was thinking about using the quant offer to leverage FT within the same bank to commodities desk.
For sure, know your worth 100%. Be aware quants in risk make less than you might expect after a couple years. Everyone has a fuck you thats too low number and nobody is gonna blame you if you reach out to the hiring manager (if they are a trader not hr) at the commodity group and ask for an honest conversation about comp. You have tremendous leverage in this instance; use it on the commodity trading side given it sounds like the BB offer is ready to go so don’t piss of that side. If they tell you to piss off who cares you have a terrific offer in another hand. If the ABCD puts some stuff in writing or they show you a semi defined comp track that you like and believe is honest then power to you and you got a tough choice.
Trying to get on the commodity trading team at a bank is a totally valid plan while interning just don’t piss anyone off trying to get on there and realize they might not have headcount or want to take you on.
Totally depends on what you want to do...Do you want to trade or do you want to build models/program algos? If you've been offered a BB quant internship you're going to run circles around most of the guys you'll find at an ABCD on a "technical" basis. If you think you want to trade commodities take the internship there. Go in and use your technical skills to update a lot of their archaic ways of doing things and be an asset to the trader/ops guy you're working with.
Take the quant role, comp will be 2x the first 5 years. If you’re a quantitative person and like sophisticated products it’s a no brainer. I started at an ABCD and found ags extremely boring, couldn’t imagine spending my life trading them
Do you think having an ABCD internship would be helpful for energy trading FT recruiting (compared to a quant role at least)?
Yeah I’d say it’s a good internship, saw some people transition to energy for full time from the intern program
Do you plan or considering grad school?
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