Quant Dev (2 YOE) → SDE2? Looking for advice from folks who’ve switched

I’m currently 2 years into a Quant Dev role at a hedge fund/startup (IIT grad, CSE). I’ve worked across the board — market data feed adapters, order execution, simulation, frontend dashboards for internal use, and automation scripts. Since it’s a small team, I’ve touched pretty much everything.

The upside: tons of exposure and ownership. The downside: long hours, production responsibilities (some systems run 24x7), and not a lot of depth in terms of structured SWE org practices (design reviews, career ladders, etc.).

I’m considering making a switch after another year (so ~3 YOE) into an SDE2 role at a product/tech company. I’m okay with slightly lower pay if I get better WLB.

Questions I’d love advice on:

Has anyone here moved from a finance/quant role into SWE in India? How did recruiters treat your YOE?

What did you focus on in terms of prep (DS/Algo + System Design vs. learning specific stacks like Java/Spring, etc.)?

Do SWE2 roles in India actually require “domain-aligned” experience, or is problem-solving + coding enough?

If I stick in quant, what does the promotion/growth ladder look like on the dev side?

Would really appreciate hearing from people who’ve done something similar, or seniors who’ve seen such moves happen. This decision is a bit of a fork in the road for me and I want to be thoughtful about it.