greetings gents, i've got a question from the american side. i've got to issue a disclaimer that i'm not a finance person, but have a question for a friend. he's about to get his ph.d. from nyu in applied mathematics, and has a job set up with a bank for $100k/year. now, i don't know much about this stuff, but it seems a little low to me and i don't want him to accept something which isn't right for him.a little background -- he graduated from an ivy league school for his undergrad, worked for some of the national labs in the states, and during graduate school he did a few summers work in quantitative finance at a hedge fund (not a huge one). his ph.d. is not in financial math per se, but it is in applied mathematics, and he did a bunch of courses on financial type stuff (sorry, can't say what exactly).so, does $100k sound right, or should he hold out a bit? i'd just like to see him make the right choice..

You are right.... 100K is too low... anything below a million and a half won't do... plus bonus + dental + company plane.Hope this helps.

come on, 100k per month would be ok, he really should push for 150k per month, +...., as suggested by FDAXHunter

The job market is not great at the minute. And your friend has no experience apart from internships.For a first job, 100k is excellent.

It depends on how much experience he has. That seems a little low, but without knowing specifically what experience or skills he has, it's hard to say.

QuoteOriginally posted by: ginagreetings gents, i've got a question from the american side. i've got to issue a disclaimer that i'm not a finance person, so, does $100k sound right, or should he hold out a bit? i'd just like to see him make the right choice.. this for the gents , Hold out a bit, right choice to take daxy cats clicky-analyst offer...more $$$

merci; thanks for the advice to those who gave some. frankly, the difficult part is that my friend doesn't have much experience with the 'culture' of finance, and so i don't think he understands what a ruthless game it can be -- people only being able to stay in for so long, having to compete with everyone else so heavily, etc. etc. other friends i have who are in other parts of finance understand this game.. but perhaps quantitative finance is a bit 'nicer', at least in the sense that you're dealing with quantitative people who might see something 'higher' in the mathematics/computer science of the field, and thus have something higher to commune over. perhaps that's idealistic... anyone have an opinion? is quantitative finance less cuthroat than other areas of finance?

gina, every quant I know and work with went to top ivy schools (Harvard, etc.) or top tech schools like Caltech, MIT, Berkeley, etc. and graduated top in their classes. In fact, many with these credentials can't make it to a top bank. The times are tough and $100k sounds right if not generous for base. Although if that includes bonus it sounds bit low. These days, usual first year package is around 30K (sign on + relocation) + $80-$90K base + $20-$30K (4 month bonus if starting in august).

http://www.efinancialnews.com/partner

gina, if he can fetch real-good coffee fast, I think he can hold out for a bit more than $100k. What area in applied math?