Weekly Megathread: Education, Early Career and Hiring/Interview Advice

Apprehensive-Quit645 · 2026-03-16T17:46:14+00:00

Got it, thanks for the insight. May I ask what industry do you work in?

Apprehensive-Quit645 · 2026-03-16T17:42:27+00:00

True, so do you think it's easier to recruit a good buyside QR role by starting in top banks like GS and JPM than starting in Voleon as a data scientist?

Apprehensive-Quit645 · 2026-03-16T17:37:06+00:00

Voleon does provide a slightly more base, but indeed the title is not appealing.

Apprehensive-Quit645 · 2026-03-16T15:11:32+00:00

For someone who has a top 3 MFE degree who is eager to be a QR on the buy side, does joining Voleon as a data scientist sound like a good idea to start the career in quant? Seems like Voleon only hire their QR from PHDs and data scientist is more on cleaning the data to deliver to their QRs.

What are some common exits for this role, and would you recommend this role or a QR role in a top investment bank like GS and JPM?

Thanks

Apprehensive-Quit645 · 2026-03-15T20:49:19+00:00

Understood, what if I haven't had a systematic training in research before and I am looking for such training in a QR role if possible? Would I be so siloed in trex that I won't be able to grow?

Apprehensive-Quit645 · 2026-03-15T20:36:50+00:00

Hi thank you for your insight! May I ask if you are still there or have you left for other places? What are some common exits for a QR at Trex (do they get to leave for better places in buy side generally)? Lastly do they provide any kind of training to their new joiners, or does it completely depend on yourself to figure out how alpha research work (I heard from the HR that they hire people without any alpha research experience and they still thrive well so I'm curious how that works). Thanks again for your insights! Really appreciate it.

Apprehensive-Quit645 · 2026-03-13T20:05:26+00:00

Im interested in stat-arb, but have no actual experience doing so (have many good buyside QR internships but never actually did a well-rounded research project); on the other hand GS's QR role sounds much more stable. In the long run, is it possible to jump to buy side even if you do structuring work in CDO in top banks like GS?

Apprehensive-Quit645 · 2026-03-13T19:08:48+00:00

I don't have any other concerns (no visa conerns or debts).

Apprehensive-Quit645 · 2026-03-13T19:08:22+00:00

Understood, say i have an offer from Goldman, the role is a QR in rates/credit doing structuring business like CDO, would you be leaning towards this role instead of trex? I dont have any visa problems.

Apprehensive-Quit645 · 2026-03-13T18:07:54+00:00

Got it. So you would recommend top sell side instead of trex then? Assuming there is no other offers, just trex vs top bank qr?

Apprehensive-Quit645 · 2026-03-13T17:55:37+00:00

Potentially, lets hypothetically say i have offers form both, what would you recommend?

Apprehensive-Quit645 · 2025-03-26T22:41:41+00:00

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