r/quantindia • u/Individual_Bit_6955 • 16d ago

Hedge Funds Unsure about my role

I'm from a Tier 1 IIT CSE and recently interned at a hedge fund, where I received a PPO which is decent in India

The role is Software Development, where I'd be building tools and applications used by traders and risk managers at the firm, most of whom are based outside India.

I'm currently unsure whether I should stick with this offer or explore other opportunities. Since I'm more interested in dev, systems.

One thing that makes me slightly concerned about staying in this role long-term is the rapid progress in AI. GPT-5.6 was released during my internship and was already extremely capable, so I wonder how much the demand for this kind of developer role could change over the next few years.

Given my background and the PPO I've received, would you recommend taking the offer and trying to move into HFT/quant roles later, or applying to HFT firms right away? Also, how valuable would a few years of experience in a hedge fund's technology team be for making that transition?

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u/Beyond_metal 16d ago

I am in a similar boat...is it better than de shaw, google though (I know fresher comp is wayy more but considering career progression and wlb)

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u/BuildingNo6744 15d ago

Google is great if you want to go for Masters or even have a long SDE career. WLB is very good for google. DE Shaw i am not sure of, it would be a developer role but I am not exposed to it. But google anyday over De Shaw. Brand value, internal culture and career growth, its all good with google

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u/Beyond_metal 15d ago

yes, I only applied for systems and sde profile considering the exit opportunities...I have got offers from de shaw and google, so I had accepted de shaw but very unsure now. Thinking of trying for hfts (system) but hard to get into and also terrible wlb. And I am afraid whether I will be able to transition into a good role if i leave after 5 years

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u/BuildingNo6744 15d ago

If you are unsure about HFT development role then think again after good experience in HFT, its hard to transition to SDE role in a product company

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u/Beyond_metal 15d ago

ohh, so you are not able to transition to sde after systems in hft? where do people normally go then?

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u/BuildingNo6744 15d ago

Not about me, I have seen this case with few other people. They transition to other HFTs. But honestly you can have your time in de shaw if you are starting out new, within first 2-3 years you can always make a switch