How to get a job in a High-Frequency Trading firm (HFT)

HFTs pay the highest salaries in India. Many of the HFTs pay higher than 1 Cr INR per annum in India. This is much higher than software firms like Google, Microsoft, Adobe, Amazon, Flipkart, etc. In this post, I will guide you on the salaries in HFTs, different job profiles, the application process, preparation strategy for a job in HFT.

The reason I’m writing this blog post is the growing demand for a job in a high-frequency trading firm. I am a BTech in Computer science and Engineering from IIT Bombay. Being from one of the top branch in the best institute in the country, I came across some of the best job opportunities in India as well as abroad.

I have found that the most aspired job, as well as the highest paying job, has been the quant trader role in an HFT.

Before moving forward, let’s take a look at the salaries that the HFTs provide in India. These are for the role of Quant Trader/ Quant Researcher role for a fresher who has just joined the firm.

Some of the topics I will be covering in this blog post are-

• Salary in HFTs
• Different Roles or Job Profiles in an HFT
• How do College Students get a job in an HFT?
• How do graduates get a job or switch to HFT?
• How to approach recruiters for job opportunities?
• Job Referral Program
• How to Prepare for a job in an HFT?

Salary in HFTs

• Tower Research Capital – 57 Lakhs per annum
• Graviton Research LLC – 1.2 Cr per annum
• Quadeye – 1.2 Cr per annum
• NK Securities Research – 1.68 Cr per annum
• AlphaGrep Securities – 1.03 Cr per annum
• APT Portfolio – 64 Lakhs per annum
• Millenium Management – 62 Lakhs per annum
• Edge Focus Partners – 1.00 Cr per annum
• DE Shaw
• Black Stone
• Mathysis – 36 Lakhs

As you can clearly see in the above list, many of the HFTs provide salaries well above 1 Cr INR per annum in India. This is a huge amount and no software firm in India can compete with them.

See also: Top HFT Firms in India

See also: Why do HFTs pay high salaries in India?

Roles in HFT

There are various roles for which a High-Frequency Trading firm hires the top graduates from the top IITs. These are mainly characterized as

• Quantitative Trader/ Researcher or Strategist
• Infrastructure Developer (Software Development Engineer)
• Data Analyst

How do college students get a job in HFT

For college students, and by college students, I mean the Computer Science, Maths and Computing, Electrical Engineering Graduates from the top IITs can sit for placements and apply to these firms. They are required to pass various coding tests (generally 1-2 tests) before finally getting shortlisted for the interview.

After successfully giving the interview, the candidates are selected based on their overall performance.

I am writing another blog post that mentions details about the preparation strategy for the quant trader role in an HFT. I will update its link here, once I am done with it.

How do graduates get a job or switch to HFT

This section is for two kinds of people-

• Those who graduated or are in their final year at college but the firm doesn’t come in for placements at their college
• Those who have graduated and working at some other company or are in search for a job

For both these kinds of people, the proper way to get a job in an HFT is to go through the proper channel. This involves reaching these individual firms on their websites and applying for a job there based on their requirements for the specific role OR reaching recruiters on various hiring company websites or LinkedIn. Another possible way to get a job is through a referral.

How to apply for a job in HFT on their website

Search for the company’s name on Google or any other search engine to help you get to the company’s website. You can directly go to their website as well. On their website, you need to go to the careers page or any other similar page where they list down the vacancies for various roles in their firm.

If such a page is not available, then look out for the contact us page where they provide their company’s email address or HR’s contact information. You could reach out to this email or phone to query about any available opportunities for the required role.

They generally list down the number of people they are hiring or when their hiring process will start if not already hiring. You can look out for these dates and save them in your calendar. You need to check their sites regularly because they may update the date anytime.

How to approach Recruiters for job opportunities

There are various firms that are specifically searching for graduates to help them connect with their dream company for job opportunities. These are hiring firms. You can typically google search for the names of a few of such firms and contact them on LinkedIn or on their website.

These firms generally require you to upload your CV with them so that they may forward it to the companies through proper channels and they let you know if some companies are hiring in which you might show some interest.

I will suggest you update your profile on LinkedIn and connect with these recruiters. Whenever any company has a job opening they reach you on LinkedIn and update you with the job role.

Job Referral

This method is useful when you have a friend or someone you know already working in an HFT. You could ask your friend to refer you for a specific role at that firm.

Each company has a specific referral program in which any of its employees can refer their friends or people they know to the firm. Any employee who is referring someone gets inventive when the person who is referred gets selected by the firm.

How to Prepare for a job in an HFT (High Frequency Trading Firm)

Preparation for a job in an HFT is broadly divided into the following components-

Coding

Coding is required and is one of the most basic requirements nowadays for a job in an HFT. The firms require the candidate to be good in at least one of the languages (preferably C++ and python).

The candidate is expected to be good in Data Structures & Algorithms and Operating Systems. Now for any Computer Science student, these two topics are covered under their core course in the 4-year curriculum.

For students not coming from the CSE department, they should focus on taking basic courses in these two topics as it is one of the basic requirements in an HFT.

If you want me to write a post explaining in detail how to go through the preparation, please add a comment.

Probability

College level of probability is expected from the candidates. Go through all the basic probability courses which were a part of your college curriculum and you are good to go.

Puzzles

Another important aspect of this job is that the employee is required to be creative enough to solve problems. The ability to solve puzzles quickly and correctly is what is tested in the interviews.

Conclusion

Many students contact me and ask me whether or not they can get selected in an HFT. They are doubtful because they are not from the premier institutes in the country and they think that if the company doesn’t come for placements at their college then they can’t get a job in that firm.

This is completely wrong and many people who are capable enough don’t get a chance to apply to their dream companies just because they think that they can’t get into that firm.

I hope my blog post has helped you in getting the information you wanted. If you would like me to add on something, please let me know in the comments.