Start career at SIG or a top technology firm?
Hey guys, I am a senior in college. I've been trying to decide between:
1) An offer as a trader from SIG or
2) Offers from pretty good technology firms (Microsoft/Google/Facebook)
How is SIG in terms of industry standard? Is it below/above average? What's mobility like between different trading firms? Having gone through the SIG interview process, I know a lot about SIG, just not a lot about how it ranks against the other firms. I know it's no Jane Street or Getco, but hey, I'm not quite that smart, either ;P
I should add, I have a background in mathematics/computer science.
All answers appreciated. Thanks for the help!
If I'm not mistaken, SIG is up there in terms of prop shops. Regarding inter-firm mobility, I would assume that depends on your performance as a trader. Lateral movement within the industry should be super easy if your P&L is up to par seeing as that is the single metric by which traders are measured. It boils down to what you want to do with your career because while both offers are fantastic, congrats btw, they are also very different.
depends on your appetite for risk
Ditto to the above. SIG is very reputable in the trading space, and your trading performance will be the most relevant determinant of your future mobility across firms.
I think the better question to ask is really where your interest lies, as the offers you have are fairly different in many regards. If you like what you're doing, you're more likely to do well and hence more likely to have greater employment prospects in the future. You should also consider how well your experience as a trader will be received if you decide to change to tech in the future, and vice versa.
doesn't SIG have a non-compete?
Junior - Yes, they do have a non-compete. It is also longer than many other firms. I seem to remember it being three years; pretty sure it is at least 2 years.
Training program is supposed to be good though.
its not 2 years. Its less and it is very specific to what you are doing. Same non-compete as all the other trading firms. Maybe less restrictive than some.
Depends where your interest lies and what kind of workplace suits you best.
I have a very smart friend who went to MIT, did the assistant trader program at SIG and did not get an offer to continue after the first year. They have a pretty high turnover after the first year, and the selection process down the road is somewhat random, based a lot on fit and trading results (hard to differentiate luck from skill at this stage imo, unlike quant research). If you choose to go here you should still think of back-ups or next steps in case it doesn't work out. In any case, it would provide you great training for anything after.
If you do solid research at any of the tech companies you mentioned, you should have no problem interviewing for quant positions after a few years if you're still interested in finance.
While SIG is nice and all, I'd do the tech firms (GOOG/FB/AAPL/MSFT) for CS. Just my personal opinion.
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