June 3rd, 2006, 6:10 am
I would think the most important thing is whether your offer will lead you to bigger and better things. For example, if you want to be a derivative pricing quant in the future, the most important thing is whether your job gives you exposure in models, products, numerical methods, C++ etc. 100k or 120k is relatively unimportantI made a mistake in the past of taking a first job that is superficially very glamorous, but in fact does not help me to build up a career as it involves none of the above. Working in that job for two years, and then move again, I can only get the salary of an entry level derivative quant, and thus lost two years of seniority. Two years of seniority will mean much more than 20k.