Canadian College Grad Looking at Swift

C

Canuck Equity

I will be graduating from College this coming April and am looking for an entry-level position as a Trader, or as close to the Traders as possible.

I work at one of our nation's top banks, but they are only offering sales positions because 2 years teller experience, a college degree in Financial Planning, and my CSC, PFP, and WMT accreditations "aren't enough".

I came across an opening at SwiftTrade in London, Ontario that was quite appealing. Through the wonders of "googling", I stumbled upon one of the forums here at EliteTrader and joined immediately.

I would like some opinions on SwiftTrade or any other Canadian firms that offer Trading opportunities. Thank you for any help you may provide,

Tyler
 
There is quite a lot of info about Swifttrade and prop trading on this board already, and i would suggest reading through at least some of it, but im a little bored right now so ill try to sum it up for you quickly.

No schooling or accreditation is going to help you if you go to a place like Swifttrade. Thinking otherwise will be cancerous to your potential success. Swift will hire pretty much anyone, as the criteria is generally someone smart, quick, computer savvy, and money hungry. Some of the best traders i know never set foot in an educational institution. Your chance of success is not high, but the rewards for succeeding are of course great.

I really suggest thinking more about what you want to do with your life. Working at a prop place might not be what you think it is. Be careful if you think someone is going to 'train' you to make money and you will have a shot and bringing home vast riches. Generally its 20 young guys swearing at screens pounding in and out of shares all day to try to make a living, with 1 or 2 doing very well, 8-10 doing ok or surviving, and 10 making nothing. Thats not to say you cant be that 1 or 2, but you have to understand your window for doing 'something else' with your education and accreditations fades like your age expectancy with every cigarette.

That being said, if you 'have the bug' for trading, would regret not trying, and you can afford to give up 6m-1y of time and wages to give it a shot, go to the swift office, go to the title office, talk to the managers, see the trading floor, and give it all you got!
 
Thank you for the quick response and honest opinions. I did take some time (roughly an hour) to browse through the previous threads, noticing that there was more comical bickering than information. In that time though, I did take note that there are a large number of seasoned investors here and appreciate the insight.
 
By the end of this fall, I will obtain basically the same degree as you, without the teller experience.

I've looked into Swift, but decided against it. I'm trying to break into the brokerage side of things through internships and networking. Going pretty good so far.

Keep looking for openings at other prop firms, too. Swift isn't the only one in town.
 
Sure, they'll teach you how to scalp GE for pennies.

End of month if you aren't one of the many that lose,

gross = 10,000
net = 2,000
 
Read Charles Kim book "SwiftTrader". It is pretty good and will give you an idea about prop trading. The technologies have changed since 2000, but you will get the gist.

One thing that is not mentioned in the book is how prop benefits from your trades. Nothing wrong with that though.

But here is an advice, you can get a better deal, if you decide to day trade futures for yourself, though the learning curve will take time.

Regards,
redduke
 
Thank you all for your help; I've taken your advice and checked out other prop firms and will be buying the book with my next paycheque (I hope traders don't live paycheque to paycheque!).

This site has been such a great resource!
 
Quote from Szeven:
No schooling or accreditation is going to help you if you go to a place like Swifttrade. Thinking otherwise will be cancerous to your potential success. Swift will hire pretty much anyone, as the criteria is generally someone smart, quick, computer savvy, and money hungry. Some of the best traders i know never set foot in an educational institution. Your chance of success is not high, but the rewards for succeeding are of course great.
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If trading interests you give it a shot. What Szeven says is true though, the vast majority of people fail at trading and your schooling won't help you at all. That said, Swift is a great opportunity for a regular guy to have a chance to become a successful trader with time as the only thing you have to risk.

Just accept the odds and give yourself stops as far as time invested is concerned. Also, make sure you have enough money to live off of for at least a year or a part time job you can survive on.
 
howdy canuck - looks like most of the stuff u've asked for has been covered but i'll toss in my 2 cents because im in a pretty similair position to you.
I'm 21 and a 4th BSC econ grad to be as of next april. Since last june i took what i refer to as a "co op" placement at a prop firm here in Victoria BC at Title Trading. Its not a true co op because i dont see the need in paying the school 600/term for a job i found. Its been an awesome experience if you're looking for some real live screen time because as a daytrader you're right on the cutting edge of the day to day market movements.
The money piece can be a bit of an issue, it is nice to be getting a paycheque on a regular basis, somthing that will most likely not happen for the first few months of your trading. My acc was negative for the first 2.5 months but since novemeber or so i've pulled in decent coin obviously some months better then others.
If you have any questions send me a pm
good luck!
PS - considering doing a cfa?
 
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