Thanks. I know it's top tier performance. As a little additional game within the game, I try to give myself performance bonuses. Today was option expiry day. Last month's expiry I set an aggressive target last expiry to be an a cumulative +38% at today's close. And that would have gotten me a new 1080p TV, but alas, it was not to be. +37% got me a set of steak knives.
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How to build a resume to work as a trader?
- Thread starter aknaya1
- Start date
Thanks. I know it's top tier performance. As a little additional game within the game, I try to give myself performance bonuses. Today was option expiry day. Last month's expiry I set an aggressive target last expiry to be an a cumulative +38% at today's close. And that would have gotten me a new 1080p TV, but alas, it was not to be. +37% got me a set of steak knives.
Quote from BeatingtheSP500:
Thanks. I know it's top tier performance. As a little additional game within the game, I try to give myself performance bonuses. Today was option expiry day. Last month's expiry I set an aggressive target last expiry to be an a cumulative +38% at today's close. And that would have gotten me a new 1080p TV, but alas, it was not to be. +37% got me a set of steak knives.
If you are trying to look professional, you might want to put a few sites under Links...
You're right. It's a new site and the look will evolve over time. The links are really under the Ideas heading.
Quote from ProfitTakgFool:
Having U Chicago on your resume will definitely earn you a look but just being smart and graduating from an Ivy League school doesn't mean you'll succeed in trading. If you have the time and effort give IIT a look. They have a decent certificate program that will give you as close to real life experience as you'll get other than actual trading. Based on my experience -- and I have a lot of it -- analyzing the market from a statiscal viewpoint is the superior way. I imagine U Chicago is telling you statistical analysis doesn't work because the markets are non-mean reverting, and have non-stationary and unit-root problems. Watch what happens to the market when the market goes +/- 3 sigma on non-news driven events and 3.5 sigma on news driven events. All bets are off on the Fed. Throw a little money management in there and you have the perfect recipe for success. Also based on my experience, and a point most traders will argue with, you can't time the market and trading with close stops will just gaurantee your failure. The market is a lot more random than people thing but not 100% random. Just random enough to make statistical analysis the superior way. Good luck with school and trading.
I agree with you on the statistical analysis. I'm hoping to get another fund managment company going that can live on beyond me (wont be hard) and generate money for cancer research, esp the orphans, and I really hope I'm one of the dumbest people in the room as I hire people. Princeton has a very good, and unique, program in quantative finance at the Bendheim Center, I've talked to a few guys there with very interesting backgrounds like Art History and Finance, Anthroplogy (Dont diss anthro) and Finance etc. Certainly much more interesting than your typical Econ, Finance, Financial Engineer etc.
Quote from Gyrene Dertra:
I got my series 3 and worked with a broker for a few years and learned a lot about trading. Take the ET pessimism with a grain of salt...
Big fucking deal. Means nothing. You ended up pressing a button for your boss when HE told you to press it. Way fucking different than YOU making that decision.
Actually, becoming a broker may not be a bad idea. Now, most brokers are pretty much worthless in terms of value added beyond simple execution. Indeed, the reason electronic trading has taken off is because many of the younger people getting into the business realize that they can push their own buy/sell buttons and save money.
However, if there is a subset of brokers who deal in value-added transactions. By that I mean if you can spot an opportunity not obvious to a customer (5Y5Y forwards anomaly in the curve, buying a conditional steepener at 0 cost when you know it fits the client's book, etc) then you create a reason for the client (hedge fund, prop desk) to deal with you. I personally have known of more than one person who has started out this way and moved on to the hedge fund trading desk they were covering. I also know of a person covering one of the largest hedge funds in the world who continually gets asked to join the fund but stays on the other side covering them because he makes more money that way and doesn't have to live with the headaches of the market.
With an MBA you already have one credential that you can make use of. Use your imagination and start marketing yourself agressively.
UC is a premier school...why don't you call your buddies that went on to trading positions after graduation?
However, if there is a subset of brokers who deal in value-added transactions. By that I mean if you can spot an opportunity not obvious to a customer (5Y5Y forwards anomaly in the curve, buying a conditional steepener at 0 cost when you know it fits the client's book, etc) then you create a reason for the client (hedge fund, prop desk) to deal with you. I personally have known of more than one person who has started out this way and moved on to the hedge fund trading desk they were covering. I also know of a person covering one of the largest hedge funds in the world who continually gets asked to join the fund but stays on the other side covering them because he makes more money that way and doesn't have to live with the headaches of the market.
With an MBA you already have one credential that you can make use of. Use your imagination and start marketing yourself agressively.
UC is a premier school...why don't you call your buddies that went on to trading positions after graduation?
Yeah no CMT for me. After doing more research, doesn't seem well respected. Will spend time on the CFA instead.
I have spoken to a couple of my friends from UC that are traders, and they have given me some insight. But this site has provided me with info as well---like deciding not to do the CMT, as an example. None of my friends from UC even knew what the CMT was...
Also, I follow and demo trade the commodity and currency markets, and almost all of my friends from UC trade equities or bonds. Not many MBAs from UC into commodity trading it seems....my background prior to MBA consists of working for oil and chemical companies, so I guess I am just more familiar with commodities. If pure trading doesnt work out, a backup plan could be working in the hedging division for one of the oil companies ....
I have spoken to a couple of my friends from UC that are traders, and they have given me some insight. But this site has provided me with info as well---like deciding not to do the CMT, as an example. None of my friends from UC even knew what the CMT was...
Also, I follow and demo trade the commodity and currency markets, and almost all of my friends from UC trade equities or bonds. Not many MBAs from UC into commodity trading it seems....my background prior to MBA consists of working for oil and chemical companies, so I guess I am just more familiar with commodities. If pure trading doesnt work out, a backup plan could be working in the hedging division for one of the oil companies ....
Quote from BeatingtheSP500:
You need trading experience, until then you'll be stuck basically fetching coffee.
I am trying things a little different, and have basically placed an on-line resume summarizing my trading (and today is the 1 year anniversary).
www.beatingthesp500.com
Good luck.
I don't know why you see "fetching coffee" as a bad thing.
Just from my own perspective there is a fine line with a site like that between showing your love of markets, drive, intelligence....and having too much bias that it could hurt you at some point because alot of ideas would have to be thrown out to trade the firms strategies...
To the OP, your best bet is to quit your current job and find one that inches you closer to a trading desk..while more education won't hurt..at some point you have to game/beat the guy for a trading job that is already on the inside, been doing 12 hour days of grunt work and has been talking/playing football and having happy hours with the traders on the desk for the past year..You have no chance against that guy in your current situation...
IMHO the UC MBA is a good credential that should help get your resume looked at, and oil industry experience definately helped me get my position. The CFA is not going to be looked down on, but I wouldn't both with any second rate college programs after UC - if you want more schooling do UC's Masters in Financial Mathmatics - it'd help you get on a derivatives desk.
If you're in the Chicago area and want to trade futures, why aren't you applying to the prop firms? Theres a thread in the prop trading forum that lists a lot of the best ones (CTC, Wolverine....). Also, most the bigger o&g firms have marketing desks, some of which trade as well as hedge.
Best thing you could probably do in the short term is switch your personal trading to live. Doesn't matter if its just a small account - gotta be able to talk about live trading, not just sim, in interviews.
If you're in the Chicago area and want to trade futures, why aren't you applying to the prop firms? Theres a thread in the prop trading forum that lists a lot of the best ones (CTC, Wolverine....). Also, most the bigger o&g firms have marketing desks, some of which trade as well as hedge.
Best thing you could probably do in the short term is switch your personal trading to live. Doesn't matter if its just a small account - gotta be able to talk about live trading, not just sim, in interviews.