Should I join a small Hedge Fund?

[quantecon]

I am a final year Econ PhD student from a local university. I recently receive an offer from a small hedge fund, the pay is around $60,000 per year with discretionary bonus. I am thinking whether to take this offer or not.

At the end, I wish to join a top-tier firm. However, I did not have internship experience. I have some doubts here:

1. If I take the offer now, can I still apply to the entry level jobs in top-tier hedge fund, say 6 months later?

2. If I have this small hedge fund experience on my CV, will this be an advantage or disadvantage? In particular, I saw someone said that it is hard to transit from a small firm to a large firm. And I also saw someone said that you can learn a lot in a small firm as they usually requires you to be able to do different kinds of work.


I wish I can get some feedback. Thank you very much for the reply.

 

[rajanS]

Of course not. They are taking advantage of you. Do not work for them. Driving for Uber will make you far more.

You will also get fired very quickly in a small firm. Then you will be scratching your head why you worked so hard for 60k.

Any company that offers a phd 60k isn’t serious about the kind of work they do anyways.

 

[jarryds]

I am a final year Econ PhD student from a local university. I recently receive an offer from a small hedge fund, the pay is around $60,000 per year with discretionary bonus. I am thinking whether to take this offer or not.

At the end, I wish to join a top-tier firm. However, I did not have internship experience. I have some doubts here:

1. If I take the offer now, can I still apply to the entry level jobs in top-tier hedge fund, say 6 months later?

2. If I have this small hedge fund experience on my CV, will this be an advantage or disadvantage? In particular, I saw someone said that it is hard to transit from a small firm to a large firm. And I also saw someone said that you can learn a lot in a small firm as they usually requires you to be able to do different kinds of work.


I wish I can get some feedback. Thank you very much for the reply.

I work at a small firm, so I could probably answer this well. Small funds give you great exposure (less red tape and diluted work). You can really work on a range of projects which can give you unmatched experience (when compared to big funds/firms/banks).

With the being said, that salary is incredibly low. For a PhD, you should be looking at almost double that. Is your position in quant? Or are they listing you as a regular analyst (this could be the difference)?

The position is still better than nothing. If the alternative is nothing, I would accept, work 3-4 months, and start fishing for better jobs with your leveraged experience. Keep in mind: small funds may not be able to pay you a lot bc they don't make a lot. This can change.

 

[quantecon]

I work at a small firm, so I could probably answer this well. Small funds give you great exposure (less red tape and diluted work). You can really work on a range of projects which can give you unmatched experience (when compared to big funds/firms/banks).

With the being said, that salary is incredibly low. For a PhD, you should be looking at almost double that. Is your position in quant? Or are they listing you as a regular analyst (this could be the difference)?

The position is still better than nothing. If the alternative is nothing, I would accept, work 3-4 months, and start fishing for better jobs with your leveraged experience. Keep in mind: small funds may not be able to pay you a lot bc they don't make a lot. This can change.

Thank you for your reply. Your advice is very useful to me!

The job title is junior quant analyst. I got the job from Hong Kong, where I believe the pay would be lower than that in New York (as far as I know). But there are still a few months left for me to search for jobs. The pay is low but I was wondering if this is a good opportunity to gain experience so that my CV looks more attractive after 6 months, when I will definitely look for a better job. That's why I am still considering it.

I am more inclined to decline the offer actually. Given that there are still a few months left before I graduate.

 

[quantgrads]

As someone that actually recruits in this space, you are currently like every other economics PhD to exist if you have no experience. Nothing is differentiating you and you’re less experienced then many other people if you don’t have internships including people with more applicable PhDs. Take the job, and then reapply to other roles in 6-12 months. A year of paid relevant work is wildly helpful. And if you’re working for a hedgefund, your bonus is also important beyond your base.

You’ll see many senior individuals in top tier firms spent 1-3 years in slightly less rewarding roles in small funds, non-attractive banking roles, etc. It shows your dedication, not your ego.

 

[Liam]

I am a final year Econ PhD student from a local university. I recently receive an offer from a small hedge fund, the pay is around $60,000 per year with discretionary bonus. I am thinking whether to take this offer or not.

At the end, I wish to join a top-tier firm. However, I did not have internship experience. I have some doubts here:

1. If I take the offer now, can I still apply to the entry level jobs in top-tier hedge fund, say 6 months later?

2. If I have this small hedge fund experience on my CV, will this be an advantage or disadvantage? In particular, I saw someone said that it is hard to transit from a small firm to a large firm. And I also saw someone said that you can learn a lot in a small firm as they usually requires you to be able to do different kinds of work.


I wish I can get some feedback. Thank you very much for the reply.

Agree on the comments on salary. This may be a firm that were looking to hire a non-PhD and that they stuck with a non-PhD salary or they may be other explanations.

In terms of having a small firm on your CV, it can be hit and miss. Pros being that you will be on a small team, get exposed to a lot of projects that you might not get to see on a bigger team. Cons - could be that this firm is trying something that will fail. One or both could be realised - my first firm was small and on one hand it catapulted a few of my colleagues into roles after 2-3 years there at bigger firms that would have taken them 5 years to achieve (if at all). On the other hand there was shitloads of changing people's roles when the shit hit the fan aka ruining people's careers.

Worth listening to the advice re: better than nothing. It's the right phrase aswell - usually people use this phrase when trying to foist graduates into accountancy, not a bad profession but wouldn't have done you any good. When it comes to career progression, will be worth trying to highlight any exposure to management because quants that can communicate and manage responsibility are hard to find.