Questions to impress a trader
Let's say you are speaking one on one with a successful trader either at a career fair or arranged meeting. What questions would you ask to demonstrate your knowledge of the capital markets without sounding like a know it all douche?
Trade ideas, asking them their opinions and show them that you can hold a conversation with them. Asking them what trades they have on and then being able to asking intelligent questions or talk more about the trade idea with them. When they tell you their trade don't say "I disagree_________" Ask them "but aren't you worried about ____. Will you keep it on if _____ happens, ect.
The idea is to show that you follow the markets and can think for yourself .
You're doing it wrong. There is no way you're going to impress this guy with your vast trading knowledge - you're (presumably) in college, and he's a successful trader. The angle you want to play here is personal connection. Make him like you. Make sure he knows you're hungry. Be humble. Be driven. You want him to walk out thinking you're an impressive go getter who he LIKES AS A PERSON. That's how you make an impression, that's how you get hired. I cannot repeat this enough, though I feel like I end up posting some variant of it in nearly every single thread like this.
I think your combining different parts of the interview. Obviously gettting him to like you is the most important part but their are two parts to every interview 1. getting them to like you and 2. showing them that you are interesting and competent about the markets. The "getting them to like you" should flow naturally through the dialogue of the interview and does not have a set time. Asking questions like the ones I stated should probably be done in the last 10 - 15 minutes of the interview after you have gotten to know the person better.
Ask him if he looks for directional trades or volatility trades. You can also ask him questions about his firm like does each trader have their own book? Or are traders grouped into teams?
I just did a 1st round interview with a firm and actually at the end of the interview, the guy interviewing me (who was a former trader now working in debt origination) told me outright at the end he was seriously impressed with me. Now I think the way to win over these people is to know about the firms direction...namely what are the markets they are entering that will literally blow the top off of one of their desks. If you can talk insightfully about these things, generally you will start talking about the market they are about to enter in, then the products and if you are smart enough you can even lead the conversation of how they trade these products etc etc. But again, you have to remember you have to start from the macro level...what are the movers and shakers in the firm and then after that home in on the details about trades and other things.
P.S. From my experience maybe reading a book like, "When Genius Failed", "Entries and Exits" and maybe " Liars poker" helps when starting a convo. it all depends on your level of knowledge a facility with technical lingo.
By the way I forgot to mention this...make sure if you mention a contact at the firm you are interviewing with, one your contact knows that guy interviewing you and more importantly don't make it into the center of converation...it will make you look like a f****ing douche bag. Use a contact at the firm, if they know him as a segway into a more insightful conversation as stated in my previous post.
Nonetheless I wish you the best on your trek to get in the business!
I would avoid segwaying into a conversation.
http://www.usefulwork.com/shark/segway.jpg
What are good technical questions to ask traders? (Originally Posted: 08/02/2016)
Aside from the personal questions and being a normal person I wanted to ask a few technical questions that gauge their interest. Thoughts?
As an interviewee, never ask a technical question. Why does the interviewer have to prove anything to you?
sorry, worded that pretty poorly. I mean more thought-provoking
you can ask if they trade based off technicals or fundamentals. You can then ask them to go more into detail regarding why they chose the path they did...where they think the most success can be found as a trader (momentum, mean reversion, etc..). You can ask if they think if fibonacco or chaos theory are useful for traders, and if so, how?
Even better would be coming into the interview with charts and a story about how YOU think one of these things might be useful, and how you'd be curious of their thoughts.
What is the guy trading?
Ask him if he thinks he'll have a job in five years.
What would you ask a MD trader? (Originally Posted: 02/11/2009)
I always hear how analysts would freeze when talking to MDs. If you could sit down with an MD within the s&t, what would you be interested in knowing or asking? With the exception of what stocks could you recommend.
So how where the after hour drinks??
hahaha. You seem to interact with MDs a LOT!
the after hours drinks question actually wouldn't be that bad...
you need to gauge the MD - will he/she enjoy talking technicals, or do they just want to shoot the shit? ultimately, all people jask themselves whether or not they like you enough to tolerate working with you 8+ hours a day. you spend more time with your work colleagues than you do with anybody else, family included. the MD should want to have a beer with you after your meeting.
i just try to network as much as possible. Then again, how can you not at this environment...
I think it tends to be a given that these guys will want to be the ones doing the majority of the talking. They want to show you just how smart they are. Remember MD's will behave a certain way and Traders themselves behave a certain way combine them and you have one hell of an ego and typically rightfully so. Just let them talk about themselves.
Thats true. Also, talk about their college experiences, esp. if your schools are similar. Talk about international politics (relatively safer) and traders love talking about these things as they feel their world view is the only way to go. Best way to go is trying your best not to allow the MD to ask you any technical questions. That doesn't mean you should, esp. if you can follow up with a couple questions after he/she gives you an answer. If you can remind the MD's of how they were in college, they'll like you, and will introduce you to their friends and maybe invite you to drink after work.
DO NOT discuss politics ever in a work environment. trade4size nailed it on the head. I interned at a relative arbitrage fund and had the chance to get drinks afterwork with an MD. Spent at least half hour talking about his summer houses in italy / key west. I hardly said anything and just said "Oh wow" every other sentence.
who told you analysts freeze when talking to MDs? what the fuck, they are just normal people, have a normal conversation, ask intelligent questions, and try to find some common ground to relate to.
i was elaborating on the portion of MD's that like to boast about themselves. Pretty hard to cut in the conversation when hes having a blast talking about his beach house down in the keywest and his +5 handicap.
wow i just noticed who the OP is, the OP seems to have quite the attention of MDs!
Posh how did the date go, you should see the thread.... more theories on what happened than on the Lost.com message board.
dip wasnt ripping on you there, comment was directed toward posh spice
...I am an "md level" trader at a large hedge fund and i can give some tips having talked to many interns and analysts who almost always say something stupid. First of all, in the office you should talk only about business unless the senior person moves the conversation into the personal realm. The question about drinks would be absurd unless prompted, this job is my life so I really dont care to waste time talking to 20 year olds about bars when im at work...go look on nymag.com and they have plenty of info on where to go get drunk. And when I say business I mean what you can do to help out operationally right now, not your career or advice about recruiting. Also, do not ask any questions about strategy or the thought process behind trades unless you are sure that there is a lull in the day and the trader is in a good mood. Nothing is worse then when something is going against you, your stomach is grinding, and some kid starts asking about why you did that trade or what you think of markets....that is a sure-fire way to be told to fuck off. Have a sense of trading floor etiquette and if you don't understand that just be quite until you do. The bottom line is that people who have been succesful in this business (on the buy-side where it isnt about sales or politics) are deadly serious about their jobs and you should treat your work and office conversations the same way because it shows respect. If your out for drinks obviously it can be more personal but again let the senior person lead in that direction..you should not be drunker then your boss and you should not be less apropriate conversationally.
...just re-read and realized i didnt answer the OP and the question of what would you ask..here it is:
in the office: "Is there anything I can do to help out right now?" at the bar: "How did you get to where you are, what was your career path, etc.?"
what about in terms of in an interview situation, when at the end they always ask if you have any questions?
...in that case the two above questions dont work obviously...my career path wasnt one where i was analyst on the sell-side or ever really had an interview where everyone who could use the internet knew exactly what the job entailed before interviewing, so i would always ask questions about the specifics of the job day-to-day and then i could answer with concrete reasons why i could do those things. That may not work in the type of interviews u guys have because you are supposed to know exactly what you are going to be doing before the interview. So...i guess i dont have a good answer for that...my strategy has always been to figure out exactly what i would be doing early in the interview and then hammer away over and over again on why i can do exactly that job. Best tip i can give both from interviewing and from interviewing others is know the job and interview for that job and none other...dont talk about future aspirations, how u want to manage a billion doolars some day, etc...just focus on how you can specifically do the job you are interviewing for as if its the last thing you want to do even if everyone knows you dont.
"Do ya like Phil Collins?"
Bondarb, the drinks question refers to an earlier post by the OP: http://www.wallstreetoasis.com/forums/afterhour-drink-with-a-male-md
Which she still hasn't discussed...
Below is an example that applies to senior level traders (5+ years)
a corollary to bondarb is if your office is very informal then by all means learn to fit in with the desk. If they are all joking and kidding around and your acting all serious then you will not be liked. I say this from experience because this summer from second one I was concerned with "MUST GET FULL TIME OFFER" instead of "MUST FIT IN WITH DESK". For all the things I did to help out it was the things I did above and beyond that had absolutely nothing to do with the work itself that made me liked. Everything and anything I could do to brighten up the day.
With that being said it is clearly intimidating because you do not want to be too loose with them because then you will seem cavalier and your good intentions will end up pissing someone off.
Use your best judgement and learn to figure out what type person you are dealing with first.
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