Trader + Career Advice = Next Job
Hello WSO,
I'm hoping for career advice/input on how to get to the next position. Any advice on my work experience, or advice on where to reach out to/who, would be greatly appreciated.
My background: - institutional sales trading (equities) 3 years - buy-side trading (derivatives) 3 years - programming experience (think python) - currently in midwest
My target: - hedge fund in NYC/CT/Boston area - size: preferably AUM >$1b - strategy: can be anything equity or global macro/systematic related
My goals: - continue to use my programming skills - continue to learn from smart people - leverage my trading background
It's not a great market really ever for execution guys, you really need to leverage your prime brokerage/cap intro contacts from the bulges to get looks at new seats unless you know a PM personally. Even then, it's really just GS/MS/JPM that are giving solid intros.
Macro will be tough unless you have a PM willing to go to bat for you as a pre-interview reference. Equity salestrading isn't looked upon the same way OTC derivs market making is. If you want to trade, the platforms (namely Millennium and Citadel) are usually recruiting for central execution desk guys but these are pure execution seats. The opportunities at discretionary macro platforms that may have given guys a shot in the past are few and far between now that Brevan is a shadow of its former self, and Graham is really emphasizing systematic. For both of these they prefer a background in OTC rates/fx and to a much lesser extent commodities market making. Baly might be an option in Chicago, but I don't have a real feel for what they're doing lately.
My advice would be to leverage your network, speak to your PB/Cap intro contacts, and just don't get discouraged as it's not an easy market - particularly if you have to relocate.
Depending on your background I would be careful with positioning yourself as a quant, only because typically those backgrounds require highly rigorous coding/academic credentials. DE Shaw comes to mind as a place where there is more crossover between trading and analytical responsibilities for some books.