2019 Q2 Summary
Some of you work at these companies. More of you will work at these companies in the future. The traditional market in financial services, i.e. IBs, continues to be slow and it’s almost certain that there won’t be any change for the rest of 2019. Banks over-hired in 2017 and 2018, and now they are working to manage budgets down. Q2 doesn’t look rosy. In trading, banks with higher market share have a significant edge in profitability, putting pressure on blue chips Goldman and Morgan Stanley. Meanwhile, investment in FinTech is soaring, and per TechCrunch, “There are more FinTech Unicorns than any other vertical in the Unicorn Club.”
In fact, we currently have an unusually robust array of opportunities (see Opportunities below). These positions are a mix of Buy Side, Sell Side, and FinTech roles.
We’re Number 1!
Bloomberg reported “New York Beats Out San Francisco to Be World’s Best Tech City.” The article is based on a report by Savills. That was fast!
Note to anyone interviewing at GS
You have homework! Goldman just released a documentary about itself, and it’s probably a good idea to watch it if you are going to interview there. After all, somebody might ask you this question.
Interview Preparation – Here’s what you’re up against
Our field is one in which you get paid for solving a series of technical/mathematical problems over the course of a few hours. You don’t have sales figures, turn-around stories, or a book of business to talk about. You get paid for what’s between your ears and your ability to communicate it. Of course, over time, performance must be sustained, but interviewing is the path to more lucrative opportunities.
How much prep is enough? Only you can determine what it takes to be ready but be aware that there are individuals who take preparation very seriously. We work with people who take months to prepare for interviews. One of those individuals may be interviewing for the same position you are.
We have recommended many resources over the years, but I want to call attention to Chapters 1 and 2 of Elements of Programming Interviews. These chapters contain a fantastic overview of what to expect, how to prepare, and how to manage the interview process. Do not skip straight to the problems.
What am I Worth?
This is one of the hardest questions I get. Everyone wants the answer, but the only way to know is to put yourself on the market and see. The market for talent is quite imperfect outside of commodity type positions, and we see tremendous variation. I see a lot of figures and can give you an idea of what’s possible, but there’s no sure answer until the market speaks.
Teaching Coders to Trade
A new program at Citi is teaching coders to trade and traders to code. Citadel’s NXT program is also very interesting. Companies are getting more creative at finding ways to appeal to top talent.
Opportunities
This is the most interesting mix of positions we’ve been working on in some time. Please call to learn more.
Current Priorities
FinTech
Numerate Python Developer – Successful UK-based quantitative startup opening NYC office
Java low-latency Engineer – Jr/Mid – Credit algo trading startup
Go/AWS/Javascript Engineer – Trade clearing startup
SRE – Trade clearing startup
Lead front-end engineer – Trade clearing startup
Data Engineer – Trade clearing startup
Buy Side
Lead C++ Engineer – HFT Trading, prop trading firm
Junior C++ Engineer - HFT Trading, prop trading firm
C++ Engineer - ETF Trading – Leading hedge fund
SRE – Leading hedge fund
Java Engineer – Leading hedge fund – Compliance Technology
C# Engineer – Jr/Mid - Green-field dev, new, strategic trading platform – New Large Hedge Fund
C#/Javascript UI Engineer – Data Science Group – Leading Asset Manager
Python/C# Engineer – Portfolio Analytics - Leading Asset Manager – Contract
Java low-latency Engineer – Trading Systems - Algo Hedge Fund
UI Engineer – C#, Excel Add-in – Data Science Data delivery
Junior/Mid Python Engineer – research platform – new algo fund @leading asset mgr
Data Engineer – SQL Server, C#, MongoDB/Spark – Healthcare hedge fund / VC
CRM BA - MS Dynamics CRM, Proj Mgt, SQL – Healthcare hedge fund / VC
Data Scientist - Python, SQL, R, C#, ML – Healthcare hedge fund / VC
Desktop Support – Healthcare hedge fund / VC
Sell Side
Senior Python/Javascript Fixed Income Engineer – Fixed Income Strats – Language agnostic
Java low-latency Engineer - Equity ETrading
KDB/Java/JavaScript Engineer – Fixed Income Credit Strats
Python Engineer - Equity eTrading Tooling and Instrumentation
Java/C++ - FICC eTrading Tooling and Instrumentation
Javascript, React Engineer – Strategic end-user research platform
Java eTrading Engineer, Fixed Income
Java/Scala Developer – Contract (mid rate)