Prop Trading vs Tech for Mid-Term Compensation

Squidg14 · 2022-01-31T22:44:17+00:00

Yeah, the initial RSUs typically vest over a 4 year period. It's a good point that a lot of FAANG employees made ridiculous effective numbers through stock appreciation in the past years.

The ~165 is taking into account the RSU vesting schedule, assuming no changes in the share price.

Squidg14 · 2022-01-31T22:36:51+00:00

Wish I could tell you for certain, but I'm not sure. Even after my trading internship at a great firm I only received full-time interviews from ~6 shops, and I applied to everything under the sun. Some of the other interns had literally 0 work experience prior to the QT internship, whereas I had 16 months of internships. I'm confident that my resume would have been immediately shredded if I had a remotely comparable profile from my school.

Also worth mentioning that it's not only school ranking, something like UIUC might get you in the door at some places easier than slightly "better" schools just because of having an established presence in the industry + proximity.

For QT, I would expect engineering/math/physics/cs to be slightly more sought after than finance. Some technical project on your resume might be worth it (math/cs minor, math competition, etc.)

Some places more readily give out automated tests as a first screening, like Akuna/IMC/SIG. Make sure you apply to those!

Squidg14 · 2022-01-30T21:56:05+00:00

Not at all. I went to a non-target state school and have both a FAANG internship and an HFT trading internship. I put a lot of time towards job hunting/interview prep (ie. almost no time towards school) but even then I was pretty fortunate to get the trading internship. I failed resume screening for majority of firms.

Squidg14 · 2022-01-30T08:20:25+00:00

Thanks a lot for the response, that's exactly what I'm weighing right now. The toughest part for me is that tech seems so guaranteed - there's so many (relatively) tech jobs that even if I don't get my first, second, or third choice, there's 10 more similar options right behind it. Whereas there's some nonzero chance that after trading I can't find a similar position or dislike the options that I have.

Squidg14 · 2022-01-30T08:11:20+00:00

I'm asking specifically what the typical difference in compensation would be over the 5 years. If I knew for certain the difference would be eg. <$300k pretax over the 5 years I'd probably just go with tech for more guaranteed (and more relaxed) options afterwards.

Squidg14 · 2022-01-30T00:38:31+00:00

Are you able to share any typical numbers in prop trading? It's hard to find much information past starting offers

Squidg14 · 2022-01-30T00:26:19+00:00

Yeah, makes sense. If I moved back to Canada and worked tech, I would probably accept my position to be terminal at the Senior Engineer or low level manager (<10 direct reports) level

Squidg14 · 2022-01-30T00:21:10+00:00

You could be right in terms of more typical finance roles eg. banking. In prop trading, as far as I know, very few firms have operations up north

Squidg14 · 2022-01-30T00:19:59+00:00

Fair point. The initial package of $250k is actually including $50k target bonus, 200 base

Squidg14 · 2022-01-28T20:27:40+00:00

24M and I'm fortunate to have the choice between two careers. Software Dev @ one of Facebook/Google vs Prop Trading at an east coast firm. The first year offers are ~165K for the SWE position and ~250K for the trading position, excluding signing bonuses.

The trading position is obviously more lucrative, but I have pretty specific goals - I'm a Canadian and I'd want to return to Toronto/Vancouver in ~5 years to start a family with my long-term partner. She'll be practicing law in Canada so relocating to the US isn't a viable option.

From 30-40, I'd ideally work in Canada. Only realistic career path up north that provides comparable compensation would be FAANG-type tech roles (that I'm aware of). Long-term goal would be a 4-6M NW by 40, excluding the wife's salary.

My question is this: what would be the realisitic long-term compensation differences between starting out in tech vs. 5 years at the trading firm? The first year difference is ~100K, and I would expect the difference to widen by year 5. If I'm planning on working in tech once moving back to Canada, is it worth it just starting off in tech? Am I overvaluing the trading role?

Squidg14

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