I got offered a position at citi, but am wondering about the quality of people there, and comp.- Citi had smart people before the crisis. How bad was the brain drain, and have they managed to re-hire top notch people?- How is the compensation compared to other banks (it's a P&L linked quant position) ?Thanks.

I was getting some calls from them. I had the same question.

My information is incomplete and from the outside, but they definitely have retained some good senior people in the rates/credit quant area.

QuoteI got offered a position at citiFirst of all congratulation, whether or not there are any decent people in Citi, it is always a good personal satisfaction to be given an opportunity to join a shop.I understand that you cannot provide much information, but unfortunately it's very hard to answer your question: according to Wikipedia, Citi employs approximately 260,000 staff. Some are very bad, some are very good and most of them around average.From my experience (not necessarily about Citi), going for a new job is always a big lottery: it doesn't matter the job description or how precise the recruitment process is; one never knows what he is going to do eventually.There can be some research department where you will be surrounded by very good people and others less so. What impression did you have from your interviewers? The level of questions and the discussion you had can already give you an idea on:1. the skills of the team2. the kind of questions asked should be an index of the job type you will be expected.gc

There are some good people at Citi, which is course why I'm trying to get them out

Thanks for you comments. I have made my oppinion of them while they interview me, and I am considering joining them.I am more woried about an ongoing brain drain going on, and the good people in the group leaving. Dominic's comment leaves me uneasy In other terms, how much should the fact that this is at *citi* (a bank that almost went bust, which might impact comp and quality of people left) weight on my decision?Thanks.

With Citi, I think the bleeding has stopped. For a while, they were just trying to survive, but now, they seem to be on the offensive. Also, their future prospects are good because they are well positioned in the emerging markets, perhaps more so than any other major bank. In some ways, the world has turned upside down due to the increasing regulation that penalizes risk taking. Now, large commercial/investment banks like JP Morgan are dominating, and pure investment banks like Goldman are floundering. This trend is likely to continue as Obama's financial reform is implemented.More important is which group you will be a part of. You say that the group has its own PnL? Are you a desk quant or quantitative trader?http://news.efinancialcareers.co.uk/new ... emId-33768

is this post for real? Your worried about "the brain drain". this is stupid. lots of talented people work at citi and have left other places to go work at citi, especially recently. if you arent capable of finding this out on your own i doubt you have an offer from them to do something interesting, if at all.

QuoteOriginally posted by: rmb623is this post for real? Your worried about "the brain drain". this is stupid. lots of talented people work at citi and have left other places to go work at citi, especially recently. if you arent capable of finding this out on your own i doubt you have an offer from them to do something interesting, if at all.I think the brain drain stuff is also an excuse for the (reasonable) comp worry. In big banks the brain power is something more team specific than firm wide.Did you join them eventually?

As rmb623 might expect, for some reason I don't have a job offer from Citi Somehow, I manage to bear that crushing burden.I do not think it is fair to think less of someone who doesn't have a good level of detail about the staffing at a firm he doesn't work for.I do this for a living and don't regard my data as good enough,.There is something going on at Citi, my current interpretation is that someone senior has decided to do a bit of strategic expectation setting in terms of bonuses which may not be working as he expects. He seems to feel that setting a low expectation will make people happier about the bonuses they actually get.That might be true, but the price his firm is paying is that cages have been rattled and recruiters have been contacted.Or not, firms are really rather less than open about pay and hiring.