Which is the wise choice? I'm a Ph.D in Computer Science from a top-tier institute, and working as a Quant Developer in mortgage area in a bulge bracket investment bank in NYC. My long term goal would be doing some quantitative front desk role.Now I have two offers at hand. 1 -- Equity derivatives analyst developer (I belive it's in IT unit) in Goldman Sachs; 2 -- Mortgage credit risk quant in a top mortgage insurance company. Which one should I choose?1 Pro -- It is Goldman. It is equity, so I get exposure to another market area instead of locking myself in mortgage. Con -- It is developer role in the IT unit.2 Pro -- It is quant role, and aligned with my long time goal. Con -- It is not a wall street firm. It's still locked in mortgage and credit area.

Mortgage Credit Risk Quant.

Sure the GS name is kewl, but it seems like the mortgage insurance role is what you want. Settling for the name alone might not make for a long life at GS.

What is the answer if it is a bulge bracket IB front desk quant developer (in C++, Perl, etc) vs. a mortgage insurance firm quant modeler (in statistics, SAS, etc)? I declined the offer from Goldman Sachs, but am still struggling between these two positions.My analysis is that working as a front desk quant developer can get myself familiarized with the trading floor stuff and the financial products. But I don't think that knowledge is hard to catch up. Without much mathematics/statistics going on, I may end up with being in such a position doing a lot of IT job in a front desk environment.For the quant modeler position in the mortgage insurance firm, I get my mathematics/statistics exposure and can become a quant strategist or quant modeler based on this experience and my strong math/stat skills. And at least I will still be able to land with a desk quant developer position in future if I want to; anyway, I'm a Ph.D in Computer Science; my programming skills are still there.Any ideas?

mortgage insurance firm quant modeler.Stick to Quant over IT.

You'd be better off sticking with CS. Maths is another subject.

Hinstings, you're in a tough spot if those choices are your only two. On the one hand, the GS role is undesirable because it's in strategies, where morale is low and mobility limited. On the other hand, mortgage insurance may not have much of a future (see the stock price).However, if you have two offers in this job market, that means you're eminently employable and can afford to wait until a third option arrives. Good luck!