3 ms·

I've done FAANG, and I have friends who've done the HFT shops. HFT shops do indeed pay more. Perhaps at the top percentiles they're similar but at the median,

I've done FAANG, and I have friends who've done the HFT shops. HFT shops do indeed pay more. Perhaps at the top percentiles they're similar but at the median, HFT probably pays double, and it's cash, not RSUs that vest over many years. The downside: culture of always in the office (not sure how covid will affect this), software that is insanely specialized and uninspiring, and generally awful work/life balance. I'm sure some shops are different, but they expect you to put in a lot of time to earn that salary. Compared with FAANG where the burn-out is at little more prolonged (and of course the morally dubious business that is ad-tech). I've learned to stay away from both and have never looked back. But I think working a FAANG or HFT is a good thing for any dev to at least look into while they're young and ambitious and can "afford" a bit of burnout to see what life can really be like (or not).

vowelless 6y ago
> (not sure how covid will affect this) This is the big question for all of Wall Street right now. So far it’s not been too bad but there are gaps here and there.
logicchains 6y ago
Counterpoint: I've worked in two HFTs, and both have very decent hours and work/life balance.
- diehunde 6y ago
  Were you paid those insane salaries?
- nnoitra 6y ago
  HFTs are pretty much, here's a lot of money work all the time and forgo your life outside of office.
- calabin 6y ago
  Yea, I've spent time in a prop shop and the hours were incredibly decent. A lot of people checking in an hour before the open and checking out a bit after the close. In a lot of cases coming in for the open, seeing what's what, then hitting the golf course. Prop shops seem to have a pretty strong understanding of ROI in all things, including time spent, so if your killer strategy just doesn't have a ton to act on today go take an hour lunch and head home or wherever. The place I was at was known as an "arcade" or a bunch of unrelated strategies from various teams that happened to work out, so maybe it's different other places, but I can say for certain that I've done 90 minute lunches off site with senior traders in the middle of the trading day just because the volume in their primary product(s) was mostly just interns throwing 1 lots at one another.
- JAlexoid 6y ago
  Define "decent". Is it 80/60/50 hours per week? Because it's clearly not regular 40 hour weeks. Because I can work in a very chill environment and earn 200k-250k + stock. I can also work 60 hour weeks for 300k + bonus. I used to work in London on roughly $180k putting in about 20 hours per week.
  - wikibob 6y ago
    Where were you working? Or maybe you can say a list of similar places if you don’t want to be specific

vowelless 6y ago

> (not sure how covid will affect this) This is the big question for all of Wall Street right now. So far it’s not been too bad but there are gaps here and there.

logicchains 6y ago

Counterpoint: I've worked in two HFTs, and both have very decent hours and work/life balance.

diehunde 6y ago
Were you paid those insane salaries?
nnoitra 6y ago
HFTs are pretty much, here's a lot of money work all the time and forgo your life outside of office.
calabin 6y ago
Yea, I've spent time in a prop shop and the hours were incredibly decent. A lot of people checking in an hour before the open and checking out a bit after the close. In a lot of cases coming in for the open, seeing what's what, then hitting the golf course. Prop shops seem to have a pretty strong understanding of ROI in all things, including time spent, so if your killer strategy just doesn't have a ton to act on today go take an hour lunch and head home or wherever. The place I was at was known as an "arcade" or a bunch of unrelated strategies from various teams that happened to work out, so maybe it's different other places, but I can say for certain that I've done 90 minute lunches off site with senior traders in the middle of the trading day just because the volume in their primary product(s) was mostly just interns throwing 1 lots at one another.
JAlexoid 6y ago
Define "decent". Is it 80/60/50 hours per week? Because it's clearly not regular 40 hour weeks. Because I can work in a very chill environment and earn 200k-250k + stock. I can also work 60 hour weeks for 300k + bonus. I used to work in London on roughly $180k putting in about 20 hours per week.
- wikibob 6y ago
  Where were you working? Or maybe you can say a list of similar places if you don’t want to be specific