How to get your trading CAREER started...

K

ksmetana

I have been trading on my own for just about a year. I feel that I have a solid grasp on what I am doing and have a set of trading rules to minimize risk.

Either way, my question is...
I know with every fiber of my body I want to be a stock broker. I am 25 years old, I have my B.A. Anthropology from University of California, Irvine, minor Bio Sci.
Problem is, since my education is in a COMPLETELY different field, I know I'll have a hard time trying to prove myself to employers.

What can / should I do?
I have seen some websites, and found some local brokers, that claim they will front you their own capital to trade with. They do not list the specifics.... What are the requirements for getting trading capital? I did not call them up, as I did not want to sound like a moron.

I realize to get better jobs at hedge funds, etc, you need experience and your success needs to be documented. However, I am just looking to get my start. One of the big barriers is getting the series 7 test done. I have to get sponsored.

So perhaps someone can recommend a site to a person with my qualifications. I need a broker that can sponsor me for my tests.

Any help is appreciated!
 
2 types of trading jobs,

1. risk taking position taking traders.
2.market making traders.


2 completely different things with different results.
 
I have been trading on my own for just about a year. I feel that I have a solid grasp on what I am doing and have a set of trading rules to minimize risk.


Why bother your doing fine on your own


do you really want the added stress?

I love being free and taking days off when I feel like it

:cool:
 
Quote from ksmetana:

I have been trading on my own for just about a year. I feel that I have a solid grasp on what I am doing and have a set of trading rules to minimize risk.

GOOD. TAKE THE AUDITED RESULTS TO THE INTERVIEW'S WITH YOU.

Either way, my question is...
I know with every fiber of my body I want to be a stock broker. I am 25 years old, I have my B.A. Anthropology from University of California, Irvine, minor Bio Sci.
Problem is, since my education is in a COMPLETELY different field, I know I'll have a hard time trying to prove myself to employers.

I'M A SERIES 7 "STOCKBROKER" AND S66 RIA. WHY DO YOU WANT TO BE A "STOCKBROKER?" AS FOR YOUR DEGREE, THAT MAKES NO DIFFERENCE WITH B/D'S. MOST WILL TAKE YOU WITH NO DEGREE IF THEY WANT YOU BAD ENOUGH. THEY ARE GOING TO TRAIN YOU IN THE WAY THEY WANT THINGS DONE, SO THE DEGREE IS NO BIGGIE. MAYBE YOU CAN CHASE PHYSICIANS FOR ASSETS SINCE YOU KNOW SOME OF THEIR "LANGUAGE" WITH THE MAJOR/MINOR.
CHASE...LOL! ANYHOW, JUST SELL YOURSELF TO THE FIRM.

What can / should I do?
I have seen some websites, and found some local brokers, that claim they will front you their own capital to trade with. They do not list the specifics.... What are the requirements for getting trading capital? I did not call them up, as I did not want to sound like a moron.

WHY DO YOU SHOW FEAR? CALL THEM UP, AND ASK "WHAT KIND OF POSITIONS DO YOU NEED SOMEONE LIKE ME TO FILL?" THEY MAY ASK, "WHAT IS SOMEONE LIKE ME MEANING?" JUST DESCRIBE YOUR BACKGROUND, AND HOW YOU PLAN TO BENEFIT THE FIRM AND IT'S CLIENTS THROUGH HARD WORK, AND TRUE GRIT. SELL YOURSELF! YOU GOTTA GET RID OF THIS FEAR THOUGH FIRST.

I realize to get better jobs at hedge funds, etc, you need experience and your success needs to be documented. However, I am just looking to get my start. One of the big barriers is getting the series 7 test done. I have to get sponsored.

YES, YOU HAVE TO HAVE A FINRA SPONSORING FIRM HIRE YOU FIRST. WHY NOT CALL A LIST OF HF'S AND ASK THEM WHAT THEY ARE IN NEED OF? I BET IF YOU CALL ENOUGH, YOU WILL LAND INTERVIEWS AT HF'S. MAYBE SOME TYPE OF ENTRY POSITION, OR MARKETING THE HF, ETC., WHAT'S IT GONNA HURT? CALL 200 HF'S. GUARANTEE YOU LAND SOME INTERVIEWS. 200 CALLS ALOT? NO! IT TAKES PERSISTANCE, HARD WORK, AND TRUE GRIT AS STATED ABOVE TO GET RESULTS.

So perhaps someone can recommend a site to a person with my qualifications. I need a broker that can sponsor me for my tests.

THERE ARE NUMEROUS BROKER HEADHUNTER SITES ON THE NET IF YOU USE THE SEARCH FUNCTION. MANY WANT EXPERIENCE, BUT A GOOD BIT WILL NOT. KINDA LIKE AS ABOVE, PERSISTANCE, TRUE GRIT, AND HARD WORK. YOU GOTTA BE WILLING TO GET IN THE WORK TO GET THE RESULTS OUT. FROM YOUR POST, SOUNDS LIKE YOU HAVE SOME FEAR TO OVERCOME, AND THAT IS THE FIRST THING YOU NEED TO GET UNDER CONTROL TO GET WHERE YOU WANT TO BE.

Any help is appreciated!

WELL, I HOPE THAT HELPED.
More...
 
Haha, well that is why I want to live behind a trading desk. Me vs the market

I'll let my results do the selling.

Thanks for the advice, yes I do have some anxieties when it comes to interviews and selling myself.

I want to trade, not sell
 
Quote from ksmetana:
----I have been trading on my own for just about a year. I feel that I have a solid grasp on what I am doing and have a set of trading rules to minimize risk.
----I know with every fiber of my body I want to be a stock broker.
----What can / should I do?
More...
1) (Must make sure my "caps lock" key is off.....okay.) :eek:
2) To be a stockbroker is incompatible with being a trader. Don't ever talk about trading during an interview for a stockbroker sponsorship. :(
3) Be willing to put a reasonable amount of time, i.e. 6 to12 months, into getting something. If nothing works out, just focus on trading. It's the wrong part of the decade to be a "career switcher". Good luck with it. :cool:
 
Quote from ksmetana:

Haha, well that is why I want to live behind a trading desk. Me vs the market

I'll let my results do the selling.

Thanks for the advice, yes I do have some anxieties when it comes to interviews and selling myself.

I want to trade, not sell
More...

You sure you been trading for a year? Do you know the difference between a Stockbroker and a Trader?
 
It says you live in California... I would read Steven Drobny's books.... Inside the house of money, and his latest, Invisible Hands....

Figure out an edge and try and get into a SO CAL Macro fund....

I would skip the pure day trading route advocated here.... too easy to blow up, and you sound like you aren't well capitalized....

The macro research route in spite of you having no economics / business background might be facilitated by a social / biological science perspective...

Also look into something like risk management, Series 3,55,66,7, ---> CTA paths to get into that world.

The reason I mention the 2 books above, is its a kind of modern Market Wizards... in several interviews, it describes the career paths of people whom often had zero formal training in economics or trading but became rich from their hands on experience....

Also consider applying to places like Cargill, Koch Industries, etc.... US firms with a heavy trading component to them.
 
Your not going to get into a hedge fund with a BA in anthro without any connections. Even then you would probably need to have your childhood friend swinging weight around for you.
Considering you don't know the difference between a stock broker and trader, I would try to land an entry level finance job at a big bank. There are a lot of low level positions that do not require a finance related degree but just need any degree. Then maybe get a finance related masters on the bank's tab.
Keep in mind that above the level of prop chop shop, a real career trading position is probably the most desired job in the world.
A shitload of other guys with the same dreams as you who have prepared themselves much better will never get a trading job.
 
look into "back office" with up-front opportunities to move to middle office to get your foot in the door.

no one will hire you straight to middle.
 
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