College grad w/ job offer and questions

financial companies need them to find ways to build models & crunch numbers.

financial companies do not need them to trade.

merill morgan goldman want engr ppl to join their analysis team more than other undergrad degrees, because they can count.

since you're in chicago your situation is diff. im in a west coast school, and finance companies are not looking at engr students as much.




Quote from thomer:

If engineers make the worst traders why are those firms knocking on the doors of the engineering college at my school?

They seem to particularly like EE, CE, and CS grads.
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You are correct, there has been quite a recruitment effort at my school for engineering students for analysis positions, crunching numbers, developing models, etc.

But they also actively recruit them to trade. At least at my school. I can't say for certain about others.
 
I feel the same as roctrend on this issue and since I have posted quite a bit on here that should show just how strongly I believe. Everyone not in the business will steer you the other direction, people who are unsuccessful will do the same but you really need to look inside yourself for the answers. TRADING IS NOT THE HOLY GRAIL. It is a career like any other and you must take it seriously. All you part time traders on here who dabble with a few trades a week, I am sorry, you are not career traders and your advice on this subject isnt as pertinent as someone who does it full time. (you arent "traders", you make trades. Its very different.) Your main source of income is not derived from trading the markets all day everyday.
That being said, and I believe I speak for most career traders when I say that every one of us had to start from scratch, go through the learning process and frustrations but those of us who make it through and start to make some good money, know all of those efforts were so worth it!
 
Quote from Steve Tvardek:

I feel the same as roctrend on this issue and since I have posted quite a bit on here that should show just how strongly I believe. Everyone not in the business will steer you the other direction, people who are unsuccessful will do the same but you really need to look inside yourself for the answers. TRADING IS NOT THE HOLY GRAIL. It is a career like any other and you must take it seriously. All you part time traders on here who dabble with a few trades a week, I am sorry, you are not career traders and your advice on this subject isnt as pertinent as someone who does it full time. (you arent "traders", you make trades. Its very different.) Your main source of income is not derived from trading the markets all day everyday.
That being said, and I believe I speak for most career traders when I say that every one of us had to start from scratch, go through the learning process and frustrations but those of us who make it through and start to make some good money, know all of those efforts were so worth it!
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Steve,
Can you give us a little background? Your opinions are quite strong and your experiences may be different than others. It would be good to have some background to put your point into perspective.
 
I have had my ups and down just as everyone who becomes a full time trader. I came close to giving it up because I wasnt making it as fast as I would like, but I stuck it out, didnt accept that I wasnt good enough or that it was impossible to make money consistently. I spent countless weekends at home (while my friends went out drinking, to save money and spend extra time learning), looking at charts, learning to tape read properly and basically trying to find edges in the market regardless on market conditions. I basically dedicated myself to getting better and making good, consistent money. I am still very far from where I want and know I will be but I have made great strides and feel confident and comfortable that I can make money each and everyday. I do have down days but they are never more than a hundred bucks or so and I average LESS than 2 down days a month. Basically, if my experiences are different than most, its probably because I have put so much effort into learning the markets and, more importantly, learning how to overcome my shortcomings to make myself a better trader. Most people, I believe, have misconceptions about trading. They believe it to be "easy money" but soon find out that this is not the case. There are no secrets and no shortcuts in this game, just hard work and pure dedication and passion. If you want to work to be the best in anything, I believe you need these same qualities.
I hope this gives a little insight into why my posts are the way they are. I am just very in to what I do :D
 
Quote from Steve Tvardek:

I have had my ups and down just as everyone who becomes a full time trader. I came close to giving it up because I wasnt making it as fast as I would like, but I stuck it out, didnt accept that I wasnt good enough or that it was impossible to make money consistently. I spent countless weekends at home (while my friends went out drinking, to save money and spend extra time learning), looking at charts, learning to tape read properly and basically trying to find edges in the market regardless on market conditions. I basically dedicated myself to getting better and making good, consistent money. I am still very far from where I want and know I will be but I have made great strides and feel confident and comfortable that I can make money each and everyday. I do have down days but they are never more than a hundred bucks or so and I average LESS than 2 down days a month. Basically, if my experiences are different than most, its probably because I have put so much effort into learning the markets and, more importantly, learning how to overcome my shortcomings to make myself a better trader. Most people, I believe, have misconceptions about trading. They believe it to be "easy money" but soon find out that this is not the case. There are no secrets and no shortcuts in this game, just hard work and pure dedication and passion. If you want to work to be the best in anything, I believe you need these same qualities.
I hope this gives a little insight into why my posts are the way they are. I am just very in to what I do :D
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Your comments in this thread, Steve, are certainly accurate in most ways for those who intend to pursue trading as a career. However, I would caution against making blanket statements about what others are doing and whether or not they qualify as traders. I say this more toward the fact that you are making gross assumptions and judgements as a trader and it might be a reflection of how you think. You and I both know that things in life hardly ever fit into a category of this or that neatly. One must be flexible about all that they perceive and avoid judgement whenever possible. I'm not saying that I do this consistently, but I think it helps me stay in the flow in and outside of trading. It has certainly made me a lot more accepting and less resistant to change (two very necessary attributes for a good longterm trader).

Some of the opinions shared here are definitely in disagreement with yours and that makes for the best exchange of knowledge for the OP's benefit. However, dismissing others' opinions because they might not be doing 200 trades a day might be a little premature (not immature).

Congratulations on your success!
 
Many great posts, but I really agree with futurestrader.

I was in the same position as the original poster until only a few weeks ago. I decided to accept a job with a large firm doing analytical work and assisting traders who deal with a very particular cash commodity. I passed up the opportunity to trade prop.

It was a tough choice - so I made a huge list of pros and cons. Sure, it's cliche, but it really got me thinking about the situation.

Here are a few of the factors that helped me ultimately make up my mind:

The markets will always be there, trading will always be there. Job offers for fresh college grads are a one time deal.

I can work for a few years learning about the business while capitalizing myself and gaining some tangible resume items. If my career is unfulfilling at some point, I can then consider striking out on my own.

If I start trading and fail, I'd need to get a real job. How would I explain or account for the last year of my life in an interview? Let's face it, nobody likes losers, especially potential employers.

My mentor, a very successful broker who trades an enormous personal account, told me to get a job where I could learn the fundamentals of a market. If trading doesn't work out, the expertise, knowledge, and corporate experience is something to fall back on.

Those are just a few of my ideas. I'm keeping my goal of eventually becoming a trader in clear focus. I've heard traders say that timing is everything - I'd assume the same goes for deciding when to start trading as a career.

Good luck!
 
What about getting into financial institution as Software Engineer.
Writing code for financial applications should be good enough learning with good enough salary.

I still regret not learning more on trading and Risk Management when I was working at
one of the best Risk Management corporation.

I know there are a lot of Financial institutions in Chicago area who are looking for good programmers.

I don’t want to discourage anyone but if someone graduates with a Computer Engineering degree and doesn’t like it as profession than probably will have higher chance of failing as a trader.
 
I hope that if you go into trading you won't have a commitee like the one in this thread telling you whether you should take the trade or not. So far, if I had someone put a gun to my head and ask me if I thought you would succeed at trading or not, I would say no.

Almost every succesful trader I know is very independent thinking and is a risk taker. I am not suggesting that you need to be a gambler to suceed at trading, but you do need a little bit of that in your blood.

nitro
 
Look...no job is secure...none of them....

Trading offers true liberty...

No boss...live where you want to..
work when you want to...vacation when you want to....

I would take the shot for liberty any day...

You can always work for somebody else...which in turn does away with your liberties...and gives a false sense of safety as well...
 
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