Selecting for Summer Internship (trading)
Hii, I am a current Junior and in the recruiting process for 23 summer Internships. Hope could get some advice since I'm not so familiar with all the hedge funds and future career paths.
BG: Top 10, CS Major (double math but mostly cs)
Considering: HRT Algo/ Five Rings Quant Trader / SIG trader/ Virtu Quant Trader (some still interviewing)
Concerns:
- Wondering about Intern return rates? Dont want to go through recruiting season once more :((
- FT pay vs Intern pay? Wondering if internship pay is a good reflection of full-time pay, as some of them have a really high intern pay.
- More cs background than math and finance, so not sure if the trader is a good place to go. Still wants the job to have a decent amount of coding. Maybe HRT Algo fits more?
- Stability& future career path? Always hear rumors about how you get constantly fired in hedge funds, so wondering how are job stability and the next steps for these firms
so you've already received offers for those 4?
nah as said in the paranthesis, just in the process
None of those firms are hedge funds.
All of those shops pay a shit ton (300-600k) for grad.
Again, they're not hedge funds. Very different businesses. My career path is moving to other HFT/quant trading shops.
You can essentially separate firms into Trader-focused or Research-focused. Out of those 4, I think the best Research focused shop would be HRT, while the two trader-focused shops would be SIG/Five Rings. Virtu is an established HFT firm that has roots to KCG and GETCO, but I'd say HRT is a much better algo shop if you land that role. FT comp will be highest at HRT most likely. I hear SIG and HRT have great full-time conversion if you're a solid intern - and it's really hard to not be a solid intern at a research-focused shop/learning opportunity.
5 Popular Research and Trader Focused Shops: (I know there are more)
Research Focused (heavy math/cs and less discretionary/risk taking): (Most HFT's I'd say) HRT, Jump, Tower Research, CitSec (Systematic), IMC
Trader Focused: Optiver, DRW, Akuna, Jane Street, SIG, CitSec (Semi-Systematic Role)
Thanks! This is super helpful! Definitely felt research-focused is more reasonable for my bg. Just slightly worried since HRT seems to be expanding pretty fast in recent years and did not perform too well last year (purely word of mouth)?
Is the performance purely word of mouth from past interns who have little inside information other than surface-level discussions from other traders? Or have you heard from reputable headhunters in the space that there seem to be declining profits with rapid expansion? I have heard they are highly regarded in the space, huge in crypto, and made tons of money from previous initiatives during 2020/2021 there, and I believe they're one of the highest NG offers on the street at around 550-600K.
To be quite honest unless the firm is certain to blow up in the next year and you lose your role, I would say that as a new graduate/intern applicant I would not care a single bit about the performance of the firm if they're offering me a 600K new grad offer and a top tier reputation and education program for an HFT based role. When you are an experienced candidate and most of your comp is variable and tied to a direct P/L impact then I would be concerned with the profit split and how capital is managed, but when you are an intern or new grad you should be focusing on the best opportunity to learn with the biggest brand name and best compensation, which HRT will definitely give. If you don't like the comp or they blow up in a year, everyone on the street knows the kind of talent HRT takes and what they specialize in and I'm certain you will land at a similar competitor quite easily.
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