Quote from ProfitTakgFool:
The unfortunate truth about landing a job in the trading industry is you either have to have an Ivy League education or you need to know someone. I had neither and tried and tried and tried and trie.....ahhh....you get the idea. I never got a job with any trading firm, mutual fund, hedge fund, or any other financial institution that lead in the direction of these industries so I figured I'd try to enter the business on my own and yes, I do now run a hedge fund but it was a long long road. You really have two choices. You can either get the education or you can teach yourself and create a way of standing out. I know a guy who recently landed a job with a trading firm after graduating with an MS in Aeronautical Engineering from a state school (a good one) so you don't actually have to go to Kellogg but you do have to be pretty smart and catch someone's eye one way or another. If you are not the Ivy League type then consider IIT in Chicago. They have a decent financial markets program that offers a trading track but you have to be pretty smart to get into that school too. If you want it badly enough you can do it but.....having a lot of experience in this business I can tell you, there are definitely easier ways to make money. Trading is a bitch of a business.