I watch science focused videos on YouTube pretty regularly, and in the past week, I have seen two videos by different Youtubers that were were sponsored by quant hedge funds (one was sponsored by Jane Street, the other by HRT). Never seen that before.
But I think it goes to the fact that quant firms want to hire students who have a natural love for STEM, and not seeking these jobs just for the money. It’s the same reason quant firms sponsor so many in-person math competitions (such as HMMT and PUMaC) for high-schoolers. They are just getting their name out there early.
Here is one of the videos, which is about the maximum height of a siphon. The Jane Street sponsorship starts at 13:54.
Agreed. Most people who are successful seem to have top notch Math, Stats, Physics, CS backgrounds. I also think its a brutal industry for people who are in it just for the money. Also the reason why a lot of people vanish from the industry after 2-3 years.
With respect to JS, they put out a lot of different opportunities for the truly curious to engage - the JS Puzzle Page being one of them. Its such a non-recruiting focused activity that likely attracts the truly interested kids and I suspect those who participate consistently and/or finish high on the leaderboards have a lot better shot at making through the resume screen filters, and the tough interview process.
