"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
 

Vero numquam et ipsum ut nihil. Eos recusandae cumque exercitationem reiciendis est. Suscipit deleniti maxime facilis rem nihil magni. Ratione mollitia iure illum eos et minus. Asperiores neque laudantium quisquam sed et mollitia.

Quidem vitae nisi odio aut vero quo nesciunt. Voluptatem voluptas aut eos in. Saepe iusto aut dolores nihil quasi excepturi delectus. Ducimus adipisci aut suscipit sit ut. Aliquam provident perspiciatis aut reiciendis non sint.

Sunt aperiam qui rerum. Dignissimos quod placeat minus necessitatibus deleniti. Repellat deserunt voluptate temporibus voluptatibus necessitatibus quas odit.

Eum iste numquam cupiditate ipsam commodi. Quasi ut quo repellat.

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

Career Advancement Opportunities

October 2026 Investment Banking

  • Evercore 01 99.5%
  • Moelis & Company 01 99.0%
  • JPMorgan 01 98.4%
  • Guggenheim Partners 02 97.9%
  • Morgan Stanley 06 97.4%

Overall Employee Satisfaction

October 2026 Investment Banking

  • Moelis & Company No 99.5%
  • Morgan Stanley 02 99.0%
  • Evercore 01 98.4%
  • Banco Santander 02 97.9%
  • BMO Capital Markets 13 97.4%

Professional Growth Opportunities

October 2026 Investment Banking

  • Evercore 01 99.5%
  • Moelis & Company 01 99.0%
  • Morgan Stanley 05 98.4%
  • Goldman Sachs 01 97.9%
  • JPMorgan No 97.4%

Total Avg Compensation

October 2026 Investment Banking

  • Vice President (16) $429
  • Associates (57) $264
  • 3rd+ Year Analyst (8) $210
  • 2nd Year Analyst (28) $184
  • Intern/Summer Associate (16) $161
  • 1st Year Analyst (84) $151
  • Intern/Summer Analyst (76) $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
kanon's picture
kanon
99.0
4
BankonBanking's picture
BankonBanking
99.0
5
GameTheory's picture
GameTheory
98.9
6
DrApeman's picture
DrApeman
98.9
7
dosk17's picture
dosk17
98.9
8
CompBanker's picture
CompBanker
98.9
9
Betsy Massar's picture
Betsy Massar
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...”