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Ask HN: I feel trapped in my job and city

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Re: Ask HN: I feel trapped in my job and city

#221

Post by agent008t »

nickthemagicman wrote: post #192
soylentgraham wrote: post #159

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Google juniors are more like £40k in london. Jobs over £100k are not the norm, even in finance in london. The awful london housing market (small market, people do NOT sell) starts around £320k for a terrible studio. Banks nowaways tend to loan around 4-4.5x gross salary. (And you need a good chunk already saved, which is also hard as tax and rent is high) £100k salary doesn't buy an average 1 bed in london (and you'r…

Wow, I just learned so many shocking things. (Not being sarcastic) Google pays Londoners wayyyy less. It's impossible to afford a house in London on a six-figure salary. We live in strange times.

Another thing to note is that the income distribution in London seems bimodal. And so if you are earning a good amount, you may still find it a bad idea to assume similar good income in the future and therefore not want to get into a huge mortgage.

So yes, you may technically be able to afford a decent house, but in practice find it a very bad idea to do so. E.g. imagine if the OP got herself into a massive mortgage - she would feel even more trapped than she is now.

Re: Ask HN: I feel trapped in my job and city

#222

Post by akvadrako »

SilurianWenlock wrote: post #219
akvadrako wrote: post #54

Due to the pandemic there is a lot of remote work available these days. You can probably find a freelance gig or a full-time position with a North America-based company that pays better than most London-based positions. And I don't mean Google, but one of the thousands of smaller companies. Often their interviews have almost no technical aspect, it's just chatting. At least that would be a partial solution.

Where do you find these?

Although I think it's best to find companies directly instead of going via recruiters, I found my most recent gig via https://www.a.team/

Re: Ask HN: I feel trapped in my job and city

#223

Post by thebrowncat »

akvadrako wrote: post #222
SilurianWenlock wrote: post #219

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Where do you find these?

Although I think it's best to find companies directly instead of going via recruiters, I found my most recent gig via https://www.a.team/

OP here. What's the equivalent for data science / ML / stats type jobs? I'm not a pure software engineer. Any code I've even written in my job has been for experiments, not for end products.

Re: Ask HN: I feel trapped in my job and city

#224

Post by thebrowncat »

SilurianWenlock wrote: post #218
caffeine wrote: post #139

Finance in London is very hot at the moment, there is a lot of hiring going on and substantial upside available for talented individuals. Why not start speaking to recruiters and see if you can find a better and more exciting team? Stay way from banks, focus on funds and HFTs. PnL wise, a lot of firms are starting up coming off a bumper 2020 year. It sounds like fundamentally your problem is being in a bad team/firm…

What sort of quant finance is hot in London? It hasnt been hot in London for years? Also whats wrong with banks, this is usually where the majority of quant jobs are?

Banks have worse hours than hedge funds just due to tradition, and you have to wear proper attire to work, and the upside is not as large as in hedge funds.

Re: Ask HN: I feel trapped in my job and city

#225

Post by osullivj »

Yes, it's tough! And yes, London is cold. The rest of the country is not like that. However, you're not really trapped yet. Reading between the lines you don't yet have children, and a huge mortgage and school fees geared to your banking salary. Which is where I was post GFC in 2009/2010. In that situation, with banks and HFs firing and nobody hiring at the salary you need to meet obligation, you are in a tricky spot. I saw some pretty nasty stuff happen at my employer in 2008/9/10. IMHO the solution is to move out of London. There's lots of interesting dev work outside London in Cambridge, Oxford, Bristol, Birmingham etc. And very healthy salaries too. Check my profile and email if you want more on how I solved this dilemma.

Re: Ask HN: I feel trapped in my job and city

#226

Post by thebrowncat »

osullivj wrote: post #225

Yes, it's tough! And yes, London is cold. The rest of the country is not like that. However, you're not really trapped yet. Reading between the lines you don't yet have children, and a huge mortgage and school fees geared to your banking salary. Which is where I was post GFC in 2009/2010. In that situation, with banks and HFs firing and nobody hiring at the salary you need to meet obligation, you are in a tricky spot…

Yes, this point is lost on a lot of people here. Even if a bank gave me a huge mortgage for an ‘adequate’ house, what if I get fired? Or what if I go insane and can not keep working? It’s not easy to find another job at the same pay level.

And I’m very mindful of the global financial situation we’re in now, after Covid - rising inflation, almost every asset class already overpriced... it’s not sustainable. If they raise interest rates we’re utterly screwed..

Re: Ask HN: I feel trapped in my job and city

#227

Post by SilurianWenlock »

thebrowncat wrote: post #82
smabie wrote: post #68

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Do you work on the sell side or buy side? If buy side prop or fund? Have you considered other quant jobs? Maybe they will be more exciting.

Prop. The difficulty is getting the job in the first place.

whats the best way to prep for this sort of thing?

Re: Ask HN: I feel trapped in my job and city

#228

Post by SilurianWenlock »

akvadrako wrote: post #222
SilurianWenlock wrote: post #219

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Where do you find these?

Although I think it's best to find companies directly instead of going via recruiters, I found my most recent gig via https://www.a.team/

yes but if they are smaller, often you wont have heard of them

Re: Ask HN: I feel trapped in my job and city

#229

Post by SilurianWenlock »

thebrowncat wrote: post #223
akvadrako wrote: post #222

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Although I think it's best to find companies directly instead of going via recruiters, I found my most recent gig via https://www.a.team/

OP here. What's the equivalent for data science / ML / stats type jobs? I'm not a pure software engineer. Any code I've even written in my job has been for experiments, not for end products.

I think generally data science/ML/stats will pay much lower than SWE outside of finance, fyi

Re: Ask HN: I feel trapped in my job and city

#230

Post by cutthegrass2 »

soylentgraham wrote: post #159
nickthemagicman wrote: post #150

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Google people make 200k starting as Jr devs so I'm assuming 400k. Esp with PhD. Agreed not super clear what's going on.

Google juniors are more like £40k in london. Jobs over £100k are not the norm, even in finance in london. The awful london housing market (small market, people do NOT sell) starts around £320k for a terrible studio. Banks nowaways tend to loan around 4-4.5x gross salary. (And you need a good chunk already saved, which is also hard as tax and rent is high) £100k salary doesn't buy an average 1 bed in london (and you'r…

For a non-FAANG London salary data point; I did ~5yrs Java development contracting in London/Finance and my day rates fluctuated anywhere from £600 - £950.

Converted to perm in 2020 at £140k base + $40k RSU's working for a consultancy that ships me into London/Finance gigs, effectively doing the same type of work.

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