Perhaps surprisingly, the funds considered elite are biased against people with prior work experience, outside of academia. The best time to join the elite firms is right out of a PhD program. That said, money is money, and I'd honestly rather take a great position at an above-average hedge fund than an entry-level spot at one with a gold-plated reputation. By the time you're in your 30s, you evaluate the position rather than the company.
Some of these funds have a passionate hatred for "job hoppers" are are inaccessible to almost anyone in tech. It's normal to change jobs every 2 years. Not getting promoted? Switch. Your manager left for greener pastures? Follow him. Hedge funds do a better job of internal promotion, so you're more likely to end up on a track that would merit a longer stay, but they tend to view the average tech CV negatively, because they're extremely paranoid about IP and changing jobs every 18-24 months until you get lucky and "click" with someone powerful and are on a protege/leadership track (which is what you have to do, in tech) is frowned upon.
Learning finance is important for showing an interest in the field (and not just the money) but most of the hard effort is going to be in learning statistics, computer science, microeconomics, and technology.
Some of these funds have a passionate hatred for "job hoppers" are are inaccessible to almost anyone in tech. It's normal to change jobs every 2 years. Not getting promoted? Switch. Your manager left for greener pastures? Follow him. Hedge funds do a better job of internal promotion, so you're more likely to end up on a track that would merit a longer stay, but they tend to view the average tech CV negatively, because they're extremely paranoid about IP and changing jobs every 18-24 months until you get lucky and "click" with someone powerful and are on a protege/leadership track (which is what you have to do, in tech) is frowned upon.
Learning finance is important for showing an interest in the field (and not just the money) but most of the hard effort is going to be in learning statistics, computer science, microeconomics, and technology.