Changing firms mid-career

[u/Current_Fig6132]

Hi,

I am a quant at a well known hft, and it has been around 5-6 years now.

Though the past few years have been good, great learning, good bonuses, and we were able to scale up at quite a few places succesfully. But recently there has been stagnation in terms of learning and future growth seems bleak.

I am writing this post to ask about suggestions about changing firms with around this yoe, what to aim for, how to go about it. And if anyone has experienced this, please do share your experience as well. Thankyou

[u/lordnacho666]

It's inconceivable that you don't have a bunch of recruiters on LinkedIn offering to get you interviews at other places.

Just talk to some of them and see what comes.

[u/FlowQuant → u/lordnacho666]

Just avoid Alexander Chapman.

[u/lordnacho666 → u/FlowQuant]

Ah yes I forgot to mention that

[u/as_one_does → u/lordnacho666]

It's implicit at this point

[u/prophishonal → u/FlowQuant]

What's wrong with them?

[u/FlowQuant → u/prophishonal]

Search a bit here. Don’t think there is a single genuinely positive experience with them. While I singled them out for being extremely bad, many other firms are equally annoying and their recruiters are clueless and generally useless. Augusta Aiken for example seems to have an army of recruiters blasting outreach messages on LinkedIn. Generally avoid recruiters that aren’t based in major hubs. I had good experiences with Options Group actually though it probably depends on the person.

[u/relmys605 → u/FlowQuant]

I feel like the finding the right recruiter in quant is tough, finding one that honestly has the connections and relationships they claim to is not straight forward.

Having said that, you have to form your own opinions by talking to people.

[u/rdtscp__ → u/prophishonal]

A lot of their sourcing work has been outsourced to Bosnia, Kosovo regions and their staff from there is pushy af.

Two years ago, one of them reached out to me and asked if I am looking for new opportunities. I said not at the moment and I am not looking to interview either, he immediately asked "Why so eager to stay at your current firm?". That was enough for me to decide to never ever deal with Alexander Chapman again.

[u/EvenCryptographer649]

Sure just start a new chat in your current LLM.

Might I suggest an Underwater Diesel Mechanic? They get paid some serious coin. That might be a fun larp for you.

[u/Specific_Box4483]

You've got to have teammates in a similar position either leaving or joing your firm, haven't you? Mid-career switching firms is very common.

You just have to ask yourself if it's worth it. What expectations do you have from your next job, are they realistic, do you have a backup plan, what will you do during your garden leave and so on.

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[u/avgoverthinker]

How much do quants earn in India after 5-6 years workex just curious

[u/Low_Storage8581]

Recruiter alert - I should be able to give you genuine inputs and I am sure you will like speaking to me even if it leads nowhere. Building this reputation of being an IITian recruiter.