Getting a "real" job as a trader
- Thread starter Cityslick
- Start date
There are plenty of pro firms out there (especially NY or Chicago) that offer education for free if you can put up a little money to cover your (potential) losses.
The key tho is the following:
1. Finding a market that gives you the greatest opportunity to succeed. IMO, forget stocks. Go right to forex, futures, or options.
2. Weed out the pros from the schmos. You have experience trading so by now you should be able to tell the hucksters who repeat the same bs mantras and those that offer something different that *may* work.
3. Make sure that there is some sort of program in place that offers potential if you do well and will guide you and that you are comfortable with the people who run it.
4. Get money to trade. 2K minimum, 5K+ ideal. Beg, borrow, or god forbid work a job beneath your station in life to scrape the cash together. Heck your parents might even give it to you if it means you'll shower daily and get off of the couch. Consider this "tuition" with your goal being to pull a tommy boy and stay in school as long as possible.
5. Be patient and manage your risk. Pros want to see low-risk trading, not who can make the most money. Find somoeone who has a reporting system that will allow you to develop a track record.
6. Don't expect anyone to pay you to learn. Offer yourself for FREE to experienced traders and be thankful if they buy you lunch or offer to get you a metro card. Highlight the skills you have to make their day go easier. This used to be called an "apprenticeship", now its unheard of especially if you do have 100K debt from a wasted college degree at a 2nd rate school.
7. Work your ass off and devour everything you can about the market. Ask many questions but don't be a PITA. Your goal for the first year should be to show that you are a stand up guy who doesn't complain and is willing to do whatever it takes to get ahead. In that year's time, your knowledge will increase immensly if only by accident and you should be at a point where you can place resonable trades that are low risk and eke out gains.
8. Use your new "good-guy status" to network from a position of experience and not some newb with nothing to offer. By now you should have a reasonable amount of money to trade with that will allow you to make enough money to move out on your own and put yourself in better position for a trading "job".
9. If you have any programming or math skills, highlight those to get a junior role and use your trading record to bump ahead of those with zero understanding of trading to begin with.
10. If you can't or are unwilling to do any of the above, try online poker because you are clearly not cut out to be a trader and are someone who is looking to rely on chance or luck and not hard work.
Good luck to the OP and others who are in his boat!
The key tho is the following:
1. Finding a market that gives you the greatest opportunity to succeed. IMO, forget stocks. Go right to forex, futures, or options.
2. Weed out the pros from the schmos. You have experience trading so by now you should be able to tell the hucksters who repeat the same bs mantras and those that offer something different that *may* work.
3. Make sure that there is some sort of program in place that offers potential if you do well and will guide you and that you are comfortable with the people who run it.
4. Get money to trade. 2K minimum, 5K+ ideal. Beg, borrow, or god forbid work a job beneath your station in life to scrape the cash together. Heck your parents might even give it to you if it means you'll shower daily and get off of the couch. Consider this "tuition" with your goal being to pull a tommy boy and stay in school as long as possible.
5. Be patient and manage your risk. Pros want to see low-risk trading, not who can make the most money. Find somoeone who has a reporting system that will allow you to develop a track record.
6. Don't expect anyone to pay you to learn. Offer yourself for FREE to experienced traders and be thankful if they buy you lunch or offer to get you a metro card. Highlight the skills you have to make their day go easier. This used to be called an "apprenticeship", now its unheard of especially if you do have 100K debt from a wasted college degree at a 2nd rate school.
7. Work your ass off and devour everything you can about the market. Ask many questions but don't be a PITA. Your goal for the first year should be to show that you are a stand up guy who doesn't complain and is willing to do whatever it takes to get ahead. In that year's time, your knowledge will increase immensly if only by accident and you should be at a point where you can place resonable trades that are low risk and eke out gains.
8. Use your new "good-guy status" to network from a position of experience and not some newb with nothing to offer. By now you should have a reasonable amount of money to trade with that will allow you to make enough money to move out on your own and put yourself in better position for a trading "job".
9. If you have any programming or math skills, highlight those to get a junior role and use your trading record to bump ahead of those with zero understanding of trading to begin with.
10. If you can't or are unwilling to do any of the above, try online poker because you are clearly not cut out to be a trader and are someone who is looking to rely on chance or luck and not hard work.
Good luck to the OP and others who are in his boat!
The people who talk about working hard and getting an education are right in a sense but mostly wrong. The way people get jobs are through connections...referrals...etc.
you are right, Monica Lewinsky has connections.......
Take a shortcut since that is your question.
Take a trip (Lufthansa 455). Have business cards.
You need to leave on a Sunday (beginning of business week for your destination).
During the 22 hours flight (and before boarding in SF) you do not sleep you talk and put business cards from others in an alphabetical small three ring binder. (use a 3 or 4 high)
Keep these prospects in mind for futre name droppig as the flight continues. If possible introduce others to those you are speaking with at the time.
Lay over for more than a week. Come back on a Friday.
Look for those already in your binder. Follow up with Q's on their successes. Keep meeting new people especially those in your home neighborhood.
You are a fake and most of them are too. Your objective is to get a job that lets you network in your neighborhood.
Your parents will foot the bill to get rid of you. They see the future and your future request to trade their money when you give up on getting a job in the financial industry.
Your prime target in all of this is to find someone dumber than you; say like all those who have encouraged you.
You are never going to be a successful trader.
Take a trip (Lufthansa 455). Have business cards.
You need to leave on a Sunday (beginning of business week for your destination).
During the 22 hours flight (and before boarding in SF) you do not sleep you talk and put business cards from others in an alphabetical small three ring binder. (use a 3 or 4 high)
Keep these prospects in mind for futre name droppig as the flight continues. If possible introduce others to those you are speaking with at the time.
Lay over for more than a week. Come back on a Friday.
Look for those already in your binder. Follow up with Q's on their successes. Keep meeting new people especially those in your home neighborhood.
You are a fake and most of them are too. Your objective is to get a job that lets you network in your neighborhood.
Your parents will foot the bill to get rid of you. They see the future and your future request to trade their money when you give up on getting a job in the financial industry.
Your prime target in all of this is to find someone dumber than you; say like all those who have encouraged you.
You are never going to be a successful trader.
Actually, if you have a working system there is no emotionality involved at all. it's quite boring. Psychology is only interesting for those who are discretionary, which is cherry picking trades so this doesnt work or for those who are gambling or even those who are simply too leveraged.
For the people who want a serious trading job here's my advice. You need solid programming skills, preferrably in C, Python or VB and strong excel skills. A passion for trading and programming skills will get u a job as a developer on the trading desk. This will help open your mind to trading ideas as well as properly test your strategies. Its hard to backtest using daily data when you want to trade intraday. Are trades stopped out before they become profitable? So do I have to trade intraday? You'll notice that many smaller firms don't have the risk limits to allow you to hold overnight. Hope that helps 