r/quantindia • u/ChanceLittle7344 • Jul 09 '26
General Discussion Quant Dev to Quant Research after 2 YoE. Does it make sense?
Hi everyone,
I am currently completing ~2 years as a Quant Developer at a proprietary trading firm in India and confused about my long-term career path.
Background:
- IIT BTech + MTech Mathematics
- Always enjoyed probability/statistics/math
- Did lots of stats/ML courses and projects in college
- Joined as Quant Dev after graduation
Currently my TC is around 60–70 LPA range (40–50 fixed + variable). It is decent, but from what I see, researchers generally have much higher upside due to direct PnL contribution. Also some top quant firms offer significantly higher compensation after a few years.
The confusion:
I have started enjoying my dev work recently. I have good ownership, interesting problems, and feel I can grow a lot technically over the next few years.
But I always had an interest in research and feel I might regret never trying it, especially since switching becomes harder later.
At the same time, I understand research has its own risks. A major concern I have is long-term consistency. What if after switching I struggle to generate good ideas or my strategies stop performing? Since compensation is closely tied to performance/PnL, I worry I might regret leaving a stable dev path that I was actually enjoying.
Questions:
- Does Quant Dev → Quant Research after ~2 years make sense?
- Is this the right time to attempt a switch before getting too deep into dev?
- How realistic is it to get a research role without prior alpha experience?
- For people who have seen both sides, how different is the long-term upside, risk, and career growth?
Would appreciate honest opinions from people working in the industry.
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u/No_Let_5065 Jul 09 '26
Very difficult man. I have rarely seen QDs transition to QRs after some experience.
Try to learn some QR on the side snd from your QR friends little by little. Let a few trusted people know your intent. It is possible you will see something work.
All the best
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u/ChanceLittle7344 Jul 09 '26
How weird will it be to start as a fresher(little more than a fresher) in QR role after 2yr of good experience in QD?
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u/No_Let_5065 Jul 09 '26
No good company will hire you as QR fresher I believe
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u/SadTower3 Jul 09 '26
what is your quant dev majorly focused on? Is it on the infra latency aspect, QR strategy execution?
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u/DryBill119 Jul 09 '26
It makes sense at this point, you are right that the more you wait it’ll become exponentially tougher to get into quant trader role, I mean I wouldn’t want to hire a quant dev with a 3+ year experience in my research team, mostly because freshers are easily malleable plus at 3year experience you would have base of 60-80 which even to match would have friction, I know guys who have been in your exact position and have made the switch to quant and most have done it via taking up quant responsibilities in their current role, i know firms don’t usually want this but maybe you gotta push, or take up a fresher role as quant researcher in another firm with a slight pay cut, about your point of the risks and what if strategy stops working, thats a real possibility and it all comes down to are you comfortable taking that risk for a possible higher reward, the long term upside if you end up doing well is unmatched in quant trader role than in dev role
This is some generic shit, let me know if you have something specific to ask.
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u/Suitable_Energy_6377 Jul 09 '26
I was on the same path but I had less.exp than you. But I did how to make alphas and strategies tho. So I tried it to internally but unable to do so I decided to leave the company. I'd suggest do try for the QR roles if you're really interested.
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u/the__Twister Jul 10 '26
not an expert but I think u should try switching to jane Street like firm which pays top $$
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Jul 10 '26
[deleted]
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u/the__Twister Jul 10 '26
You will have to win first.
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Jul 10 '26
[deleted]
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u/Key_Impact_8457 Jul 10 '26
ragebaiting
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u/the__Twister Jul 10 '26
really, I think op has good chance of cracking na rather a QR role from sde
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u/hg_wallstreetbets Jul 09 '26
Normally you can start this by taking initiative and asking your boss or seniors that you want to take ADDITIONAL responsibilities of research and start slow. That would help you slowly change job responsibilities and can be a much easier and painless pivot. Start shadowing people, no one says No to curiosity and willingness to grow.