What are the career progression options for a quant?

I know that being a quant is a really lucrative job coming out of college, and I think I have the skillset to do it, but I'm curious what the career looks like 5/10/15+ years down the road.

For example, in investment banking, the classic career path is 2 years IB -> 2 years PE -> MBA -> pretty much anything, and that's if you don't want to stay in IB. If you stay in IB you can obviously get promoted internally to end up as an MD.

In a quant role, I know the goal is to go from an entry level role to eventually executing your own strategies (which is where you make big money), but what are the options like if you leave a quant role?

Let's say I do 2 years at a top quant firm and either don't like it or just am not good at it. Do people go to get MBAs? Can you go work in other areas of finance? I'm interested in the field I'm just worried about locking myself into a career that I don't know much about.

3 Comments
 

I am convinced the internet gives people an overdosis of information resulting in analysis paralysis.

Find something you like doing, build good relationships with people, and try to perform as well as you can at your job. If you have good technical skills you will most likely live a comfortable life. If you have good technical skills and solid communication skills, you are most likely heading towards an interesting and lucrative career.

Working as a quant or in tech in general means you are at the forefront of innovation in society. Things change very quickly. Planning your career 15 years ahead is a pretty pointless exercise in my opinion.

 

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