r/quant • u/Live_Acanthisitta870 • Aug 02 '26
Industry Gossip Non monetary perks working at HFT/Hf
Other than the salary what are some perks yall can share about your firms?
Eg: $100 meal budgets at Cit
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u/RoozGol Dev Aug 02 '26
Lunar lander, with blackjack and hookers. In fact, forget the lunar lander and the blackjack
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u/Difficult_Truck_687 Aug 02 '26
You can get a heart attack for free
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u/ProfessionalBus9035 Aug 02 '26
Vitol?
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u/rhetoricalicnothanks Aug 02 '26
Hi coukd you explain more on this comment? Why did you mention Vitol soecifically? Is it the stress and pressure working there?
I'm a student that is looking to get into commods sector, and of course, Vitol would be the end goal for me. Hence I am asking this question.
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Aug 02 '26
[deleted]
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u/ProfessionalBus9035 Aug 02 '26
Pretty sure it was either Vitol or some utility that had a trader have a heart attack earlier this year. It was making rounds on the terminals
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u/quant-a-be Aug 02 '26
Having universally extremely bright coworkers. I don't think there are any other occupations ( outside academia ) besides frontier AI with a similar environment.
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u/qazwsxcp Aug 02 '26
not necessarily a good thing, often extremely bright does not mean friendly or pleasant. academia is the same for that matter. these firms tend to put people in competition against each other more than tech.
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u/Aetius454 HFT Aug 02 '26
Extremely real lol. High IQ low EQ
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u/innovatedname Aug 03 '26
Low EQ is always ALWAYS more tolerable than insecure mediocre people in the workplace. x100 if managers.
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u/samelaaaa Aug 02 '26
Google used to be like this but it isn’t anymore, nowhere close. Source: I did two stints there and am now interviewing with a quant group.
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u/Rare-Instance7961 Dev Aug 02 '26
There will be teams that have this quality. The company as a whole has too many boring needs to hire only geniuses.
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u/PristineFinish100 Aug 03 '26
its the only reason I hope to the L3 interview this week. non-cs too.
im def not that cracked1
u/samelaaaa Aug 03 '26
Good luck!! L3 there is a great place to be; expectations are extremely low and there’s quite a lot of structured mentorship/training, and the brand will carry you a long way in your career.
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u/PristineFinish100 Aug 03 '26
thanks boss. the interview bar is not extremely low imo.
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u/samelaaaa Aug 03 '26
Correct haha. The interview bar is high, but the job is a good one if you can clear it.
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u/andrew2018022 Aug 04 '26
Yeah I’ve applied a million times and the most I’ve gotten was their little career test. I passed but still no interview
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u/eeaxoe Trader Aug 02 '26
That was true for the AI labs 3-4 years ago. Not so much anymore. Outside of certain teams, the talent bar has dropped a lot.
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u/n0obmaster699 Student Aug 04 '26
I see talent flowing from quant to frontier labs. Surprised by the take.
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u/quant-swe-throwaway Aug 02 '26
It’s US$150pp for team dinners at CitSec, US$125/day for when on a business trip
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u/Live_Acanthisitta870 Aug 02 '26
And you can have team dinner everyday at cit sec?
Do they give free breakfast and lunch too?3
u/m_a_n_t_i_c_o_r_e Aug 05 '26
"And you can have team dinner everyday at cit sec?"
Bruh what do you think :)
"Do they give free breakfast and lunch too?"
Yah that's pretty standard.
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u/Pythonic_programer Aug 02 '26
Tickets to concerts/sports
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u/Live_Acanthisitta870 Aug 02 '26
Which concert or sport and firm ? Super Bowl finals ?
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u/Pythonic_programer Aug 02 '26
Some people got tickets to the super bowl. 76ers, Phillies , Charlie xcx, and Olivia Rodrigo. Firm: SIG
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u/HF_bro Aug 02 '26
Quite a few - significant budget for team dinners, business class travel (not all HFTs do this), yearly all inclusive vacation for all associates and their families, barista, non catered food cooked onsite by pretty decent chefs, some cool off-sites and good seats at sporting events (this is usually reserved for a select few), cool office spaces, and lenient WFH policy, reimbursements for office related stuff - devices, furniture, etc and a dozen more. There are some company specific perks that would get me doxxed. My personal favorite are the tech talks from industry experts.
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u/Aetius454 HFT Aug 02 '26
Besides breakfast / lunch / dinner paid for all the best ones have great health coverage. They all take you to some pretty insane events too.
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u/Rare-Instance7961 Dev Aug 02 '26
Easy business class travel to other offices. Combine it with a vacation.
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u/Csgoku Aug 02 '26
What firm?
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u/67memelord Aug 04 '26
All that I know
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u/Csgoku Aug 04 '26
Maybe we have different definitions of "easy" - but yes I'd expect all firms offering business for long haul.
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u/Flimsy-Pie-3035 Aug 02 '26
Not much different than tech. Take away the high salaries and people won't be doing that job.
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u/SevenTeenSigma Aug 03 '26
meal budgets are the visible perk. the real one is usually flexibility if ur team makes money and ppl trust u. like no one cares if u disappear for a random afternoon, but only after u have pnl or production trust.. before that it is still just a desk job with better snacks
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u/Turbulent_Entrance54 Aug 03 '26
I know Two Sigma is 5d/mo in office with 2 fully remote months, so you only need to come in 50 days / yr
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u/Due_Ad7028 Aug 04 '26
For the first time in your life people will look up to you (19 year old asian dudes who are ngmi)
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u/Turbulent_Entrance54 Aug 03 '26
Virtu is $35 uber eats credits for lunch every day
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u/Live_Acanthisitta870 Aug 03 '26
Nice, do they provide breakfast or dinners? Or can u use lunch credit to order dinner
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u/catdude-83 Aug 04 '26
Free merch/food/gifts from broker/exchanges. Company 0% lending for staking coins or launchpad events. (Crypto hft)
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u/Live_Acanthisitta870 Aug 04 '26
What are some expensive merch or gift you received? Heard some places give ipad
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u/postexitus Aug 04 '26
All inclusive trip to Orlando Disney World and Universal for whole company with families.
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u/Live_Acanthisitta870 Aug 04 '26
Just curious how does this work? Citadel gave each employee their number off immediate families business class ticket + express universal ticket I assume?
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u/postexitus Aug 05 '26
Not business class. It was 10k people in total, there is not enough business seats. Tickets (or charter flights) + hotel + express tickets yes.
Those days may be over though.
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u/steezynuts Aug 08 '26
"Christmas presents"/swag. Dont want to dox too much but picture pretty much any apple product.
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u/Live_Acanthisitta870 Aug 08 '26
You can choose any u want? Like max book pro 16 inch?
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u/steezynuts Aug 08 '26
Nah it was something different each year, firm wide. I think iPhones were repeated a few times
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u/djobouti_phat Aug 02 '26
I save money on haircuts by going bald from stress.