[smc-]

What time frame are you comfortable with? It sounds to me like you're looking at a 1-2 year span to get your feet wet. There is so much to learn, particularly if you are coming from a non-finance background, I would urge you to consider committing to it for a longer span. Which would mean that you would have greater flexibility and desirability on the other side, should you choose to leave. Otherwise I would urge you to avoid the space..

There are plenty of bankers, traders, and other sell-side guys that move around. But don't use that as a template for what you're looking to get into.

To answer your question, will there be restrictive covenants, yes - especially if you are going into buy-side HFT with proprietary in-house algos.