FWIW, my experience has been different (I work at a proprietary HFT firm in Chicago).
-Open office space (no one short of C-level gets an office). We all work together in a large open space to collaborate better. We have reasonable sized desks though, with 4-8 monitors each
-No dress code (I'm wearing jeans and t-shirt, and shorts/sandals/t-shirt isn't uncommon).
-A lot of C++ and Java. But more Python, Haskell, and Erlang every day. If you can prove your solution is better (mostly faster), we'll use it. It is true that some of the people writing code are physicists/mathematicians, and don't get some SE best-practices. But they're pretty damn smart and will learn if you teach them.
-Best hours I've ever worked (<50 hrs/week). Home by 5PM most days.
-You have access to any tech you need. If there's an expensive piece of hardware or library that will help, it's no problem.
After watching the original Wall Street again last night, and looking forward to the new one I'm thinking these days its guys like you who are at the cutting edge, not the actual people on the floor. Your job sounds great!
-Open office space (no one short of C-level gets an office). We all work together in a large open space to collaborate better. We have reasonable sized desks though, with 4-8 monitors each
-No dress code (I'm wearing jeans and t-shirt, and shorts/sandals/t-shirt isn't uncommon).
-A lot of C++ and Java. But more Python, Haskell, and Erlang every day. If you can prove your solution is better (mostly faster), we'll use it. It is true that some of the people writing code are physicists/mathematicians, and don't get some SE best-practices. But they're pretty damn smart and will learn if you teach them.
-Best hours I've ever worked (<50 hrs/week). Home by 5PM most days.
-You have access to any tech you need. If there's an expensive piece of hardware or library that will help, it's no problem.
-Catered meals, smart team-mates, good pay.
Incidentally, we're hiring too (Allston Trading).