Is it OK to reach out to traders instead of investment professionals at a hedge fund if i'm looking for an investments role?

Just was curious, if I should reach out to traders as well as people in investment roles at HF's. Goal is something in investments and not trading but I have a better connection/more in common with people in trading (background wise).

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They will probably look at your resume out of curiosity but unless you can "wow" them, they probably won't give a shit honestly. People send me their resume all the time for a junior trader role and I do look at them when times are slow and nothing about their resume stands out to me. Too many bullshit their resume, putting stuff like code academy - python, etc or having their own fund trading 5 grand, like it's so cheesy. If you put coding in your resume, I fucking promise you, I will get my developer and he will test you if you're bullshitting or not. I would be more impressed with an ops guy from a bank who performed well and just looking for a challenge and willing to learn on his own and from work.

 

I don't have anything exaggerated on my resume but also don't really have a wow factor, this is more for an internship from some of the smaller funds near me and not a FT role. The traders at this fund come from non-targets (at a non-target myself) while the investment professionals are from semi-targets/targets so I was curious if I could reach out to the traders and shoot for a investments role.

 

I work on the investment team at a small fund (large enough that we have a separate trading desk). If someone from our trading desk passed along a recommendation (not saying they would do so after someone reached out to them, but if they did), we'd look at the person the same way we would if they were recommended by someone on the investment team. Obviously senior personnel will have more sway than a junior trader, but the seniority is more relevant than the position.

Ultimately though, if you don't have the background we're looking for then it doesn't matter who you reach out to (maybe an exception for a mindblowing pitch in our field, but I haven't heard of it happening).

 

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