Less than 2 years. My previous gig was 2.5 years. Before that was 2.5 years. It's obvious I never last long anywhere!

If I could switch companies easily I would. But you need to be insanely good at math/statistics to pass the interviews, which I'm not, and you need to show enthusiasm for the role, which is difficult.

I think you give yourself too little credit. You graduated with a PhD in CS, you must be well above average.

Well, I certainly have the ability to pass hard interviews with a lot of preparation, but there comes a point where you wonder if it's at all worth the effort.

I had to cram for a FAANG interview earlier this year after being unexpected invited to apply. I came close but didn't get the job and was told I can try again in 6 months. BTW, I'm in Los Angeles.

Then the past few months I've had several other big tech companies reach out and told them I'm not going to interview this summer.

I recently had a former Microsoft Program Manager tell me that "the more experienced the person being interviewed the worse they are at interviews because that haven't used that part the brain in 20 years".

The interviews are such a pain now make me kind of wish I was doing something other than Computer Science.

That I definitely agree with but if I understand you correctly you're quite miserable now so an alternative looks relatively attractive.

Can you try to get into the hiring committee at your current employer? You'll get some free practice.

Above average in which group though? If it's a competitive field where only the people with relevant PhDs get called back in for an interview, then you need to be at the top end of that group to get a job. Being above average in some broader population doesn't really mean much.

(I don't know OP personally and I'm not commenting on them specifically, they could be amazing)

In my (limited) experience there is definitely a bonus for being the very best but I also believe the London Quant job market is big enough to get a decent quant job without being IMO material.

You have summed it up exactly. The salary and talent pool have bi-modal distributions.

This was normal for me for good many years. Given that few companies promote internally (or that there are fewer promotions available to staff) means that if you want a change you will probably have to move on anyhow

I would say that your first concern is to find something that you actually want to do. When you leave to get away from a job you will probably end up in the same space and the cycle will start again

The money you get paid to work in London is in part because how expensive London is, so moving home with a pay cut may actually see you better off

Be careful of how this will affect your relationship. You don't want to get to the point where the line "I put up with is this shit for your career" leaves your mouth

Sports data (odds and pricing) is another area that ML could get you a job