Preparing for FT at an MM

Hello,

I have been offered a place as a quant/trader in a pod at a leading MM (Citadel/MLP/BAM...). 

Coming from a pure mathematics background I know very very little about finance. What do you suggest I do to prepare for the job? 

The codebase is in a language that I'm not at all familiar with. They said they are providing an internal course so I don't think I should bother with that atm. For what its worth the pod trades a wide range of instruments across commodities, fixed income and equities. 

Any books? any course? should I just go on holidays and hope that talent suffices?

Thank you monkeys

BTW if anybody reading this wants help finding a job in that field I'm happy to help (i've done internships and I've got a ft job lined up at a top firm so limited experience but happy to review CVs and give general tips :)

7 Comments
 
Most Helpful

You can probably ask your team if there's anything to prepare as background reading- they might give you a little something but in all likelihood it probably won't be much help, vs. what you learn on the job. If its your first job, just make sure to check your work very thoroughly and have a good attitude. That will get you very far.

 

Ea est inventore laborum iure voluptas et quia debitis. Laboriosam voluptatibus sunt nisi debitis eveniet nihil. Esse fugiat consequatur sit. Odit dolores iste magnam a recusandae est. Quisquam explicabo enim veritatis hic. Laudantium tempora facere et. Eius iste quasi consequuntur officiis et.

Career Advancement Opportunities

June 2026 Hedge Fund

  • Point72 99.0%
  • D.E. Shaw 98.1%
  • AQR Capital Management 97.1%
  • Citadel Investment Group 96.1%
  • Magnetar Capital 95.1%

Overall Employee Satisfaction

June 2026 Hedge Fund

  • Magnetar Capital 99.0%
  • D.E. Shaw 98.0%
  • Blackstone Group 97.0%
  • Citadel Investment Group 96.0%
  • Millennium Partners 95.0%

Professional Growth Opportunities

June 2026 Hedge Fund

  • AQR Capital Management 99.0%
  • Point72 98.1%
  • D.E. Shaw 97.1%
  • Citadel Investment Group 96.2%
  • Magnetar Capital 95.2%

Total Avg Compensation

June 2026 Hedge Fund

  • Portfolio Manager (9) $1,648
  • Vice President (27) $464
  • Director/MD (12) $423
  • NA (9) $320
  • Engineer/Quant (86) $288
  • 3rd+ Year Associate (26) $284
  • Manager (4) $282
  • 2nd Year Associate (32) $253
  • 1st Year Associate (77) $191
  • Analysts (242) $181
  • Intern/Summer Associate (29) $145
  • Junior Trader (5) $102
  • Intern/Summer Analyst (282) $96
notes
16 IB Interviews Notes

“... there’s no excuse to not take advantage of the resources out there available to you. Best value for your $ are the...”

Leaderboard

1
redever's picture
redever
99.2
2
BankonBanking's picture
BankonBanking
99.0
3
kanon's picture
kanon
99.0
4
Secyh62's picture
Secyh62
99.0
5
CompBanker's picture
CompBanker
98.9
6
GameTheory's picture
GameTheory
98.9
7
Betsy Massar's picture
Betsy Massar
98.9
8
dosk17's picture
dosk17
98.9
9
DrApeman's picture
DrApeman
98.9
10
bolo up's picture
bolo up
98.8
success
From 10 rejections to 1 dream investment banking internship

“... I believe it was the single biggest reason why I ended up with an offer...”