"Stepping stone roles" for experienced hires

I had a weird recent career history that is making it hard for me to get a job in quant trading. I have 4 or so years of relevant experience but I took a couple years to start a company in an unrelated field which is making it now difficult to break back in. I did something super niche in trading and people aren't really hiring for that right now (and/or the roles that exist are super limited). I still am really keen to continue to pursue a career in quant trading over the long term, but I think its reasonably likely that I will fail to score a role in a reasonable amount of time. What are "stepping stone" roles that are similar that I could apply to, ideally at relevant startups or tech companies? One option I considered was going back to grad school but I don't know what else I could really do.  

1 Comments
 

Voluptate aperiam quae animi possimus et odio. Aut voluptatem in minus deserunt facere beatae accusamus. Eos distinctio porro non ut cum minus ut. Sunt sunt voluptas quam ut et enim. Autem vel doloribus esse fugiat repudiandae nesciunt eveniet. Minima saepe cumque qui autem maxime et.

Beatae sunt cupiditate repudiandae itaque. Aliquid distinctio deleniti dolorum eius asperiores labore est. Ab nisi atque in possimus. Repellendus totam et placeat vitae ea.

Laudantium odio impedit ipsam magni in tempora at. Est est consequuntur eaque ut fugit. Sapiente eum molestias non fugiat ea. Quis minima enim recusandae suscipit architecto sit. Rerum numquam tempore unde voluptatum. Dolor similique itaque qui qui id.

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

Career Advancement Opportunities

July 2026 Investment Banking

  • Evercore 01 99.4%
  • Moelis & Company 01 98.9%
  • JPMorgan 01 98.3%
  • Guggenheim Partners 01 97.7%
  • Morgan Stanley 07 97.1%

Overall Employee Satisfaction

July 2026 Investment Banking

  • Moelis & Company No 99.4%
  • Morgan Stanley 02 98.8%
  • Evercore 01 98.3%
  • BMO Capital Markets 12 97.7%
  • Banco Santander 01 97.1%

Professional Growth Opportunities

July 2026 Investment Banking

  • Evercore 01 99.4%
  • Moelis & Company 01 98.9%
  • Morgan Stanley 06 98.3%
  • Goldman Sachs 01 97.7%
  • JPMorgan No 97.1%

Total Avg Compensation

July 2026 Investment Banking

  • Vice President (15) $434
  • Associates (45) $258
  • 3rd+ Year Analyst (8) $210
  • 2nd Year Analyst (22) $179
  • Intern/Summer Associate (13) $156
  • 1st Year Analyst (79) $150
  • Intern/Summer Analyst (73) $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
Secyh62's picture
Secyh62
99.0
3
BankonBanking's picture
BankonBanking
99.0
4
kanon's picture
kanon
99.0
5
GameTheory's picture
GameTheory
98.9
6
CompBanker's picture
CompBanker
98.9
7
Betsy Massar's picture
Betsy Massar
98.9
8
DrApeman's picture
DrApeman
98.9
9
dosk17's picture
dosk17
98.9
10
Linda Abraham's picture
Linda Abraham
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...”