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Quants at prop trading or buy-side HFT (not banks).

There’s a lot of substance in those jobs (denominator), but the status is insanely high (numerator).

Smart. Quants are generally “smart” with diverse software, hardware, and math knowledge.

Scarcity. In the United States, the entire industry might hire 1,000 to 2,000 new grad quants per year.

And most importantly, a realistic path to $1M+ TC by 5 YOE, and $10M+ TC is not uncommon for 15-20 YOE.

I think these roles only hire from top tier colleges and if you didn't get into one, too bad the ship has sailed. Can't argue on comp though. These jobs post very well.

I see a handful on LinkedIn from state schools working at top quant firms.

nah it's not top tier college, it's just being insanely smart in the mathy way.

I work at one of these funds in the UK. The majority of our quants -- and, indeed, our front office engineers working on the trading stack -- are Oxbridge grads.

If you want to be a quant, getting a post-graduate education at a top-tier university is pretty much a requirement. If you want to be a software engineer/SRE/etc. in the front office, you might be able to find your way in by going to the tech industry proper and then pivoting.

“ And most importantly, a realistic path to $1M+ TC by 5 YOE, and $10M+ TC is not uncommon for 15-20 YOE.”

That’s wild, if true.

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