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Is 200-500k still true? It used to be, but I think it has decreased significantly over the last decade. I'd say most junior people in this field are making about the same or less than software engineers these days.

But like you said, the range here is incredibly wide and largely depends on how well your strategies do and if you have your own desk/fund.

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I don’t think it is. I worked for one of the major HFTs and new graduates earned far less than that. In addition the churn rate was high - I’d say most new graduate hires didn’t last more than 2 years and what you learned in those 2 years was often not much use in terms of experience useful for other career paths.

Bonus distribution was reverse exponential. Like traditional consultancy partnerships, a small few of the old hands made serious money but those at the “bottom” made ok money but after a few years their FAANG based contemporaries were doing better. Advancing up the ranks was not guaranteed even if you survived the frequent blood lettings.

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