Pros
Figured I'd give an honest-as-possible review since it seems there's a mix of polarizing 1 and 5 star reviews, many of which seem like either A. salty people who were laid off or B. HR posing as employees. Overall, I like it a lot here and would recommend working at Belvedere, especially if you're a talented individual looking to break into the industry. - Work environment is great. When I first started I was worried about the 'fratty' reviews, since I'm a nerd and associate it with bad fraternities. I've only seen the 'good fratty' working here: wonderful coworkers, people that are fun to talk to without being unprofessional, etc. If you're on the nerdy side, you'll fit in, but more so if you're also able to hold a conversation. - The majority of the people I've worked with, whether on my team or on teams I've collaborated with, are intelligent individuals who know what they're doing. - For my role, work-life balance is good. I only work more than 40 hours in a week when there's something that needs to be done, which isn't often. - They're willing to teach people without any trading industry experience. Learned a great amount about trading here, though mostly through the actual work itself and not the brief 'classes' they give you, which mostly just teach basics and terminology. - Opportunities to lateral within the company (within tech roles or trading roles, haven't personally heard of jumping between the two) - Unlimited snacks in office, daily lunch through Fooda, decent benefits. Note: there is in fact beer on tap in the office, but I've never seen anyone drink while working. Or at the very least, they're very sneaky about it.
Cons
- Compensation is quite a bit lower than competitors. This is my biggest gripe. - Belvedere tech in general is mediocre. I hear it was quite bad in the past, but I admit they are actively investing in trying to get it up to speed. As of today it's 'okay enough' in my opinion and has a trajectory to continue improving. - I've seen a fair bit of dysfunctionality and misunderstandings between management. Sometimes there's some path a team lead and the department lead wants to take, then later two other team leads come up and explain why they need to change plans, thus wasting all the work that has been done. - Communication between teams in general needs work - I still don't even know what every team does, especially since many are just named by a random color and I don't think there's a directory with explanations. - I've heard it said that 'Belvedere is about mediocrity' and unfortunately I can't disagree. Nothing about Belvedere is spectacular, but on the other hand I can't think of anything that's terrible either. It's just a solid, unremarkable quant firm, particularly for those trying to break into the industry or for those who value WLB.