Ask Me Anything - Current Prop Trader/Advice for people wanting to make it/Breaking in
So I wanted to give some people hope. I will keep my firm names anonymous, but I want to give people help. I am just going to have some random points, and want people to ask anything or even state if you disagree so we can get a nice discussion going.
My Profile: I graduated in 2011 with a technology degree and economics degree from a non-target school (NYC area). I graduated with less than a 3.0.
My Career Progression:
1st Year Operations BB Bank - Automated my job -> Promoted to group of my choice (Couldn't land IB, and glad I never did it (hours insane and pay is better on buy-side - if your good) - but IB is still a good place to start though if you can break in. I chose the internal hedge fund - which was disbanded in 2013 from Dodd-Frank)
2nd Year - Hedge Fund Technology - Hybrid role doing algorithms and some software development. I also failed CFA Level 1. Never studied for it again, due to time.
3rd Year - Consulting for Private Equity Software (Client facing sales/software financial modeling development). Quit due to hours,politics, and outdated technology.
Current- Landed a job at a prop shop (Options/FX swing trading), and will be waiting tables at night (steady income as I build my trading business and transition to a hedge fund portfolio manager)
Long term plan - start my own hedge fund. Been building a custom machine learning system with 2 developers for 3 years. I have people that will invest - but I want to gain experience at the prop firm, and obtain my Series 65.
Is the CFA Worth It?
CFA level 3 passing will potentially help you move from operations to a client facing role within prime brokerage (assuming you are not in operations >2 years). A fellow co-worker did just that, but you really need to have your foot in the door first at a financial services firm or a commodity based firm (oil analyst for a gasoline firm), and need to explain to a business person why you couldn't make it into front office to begin with.
On the other hand, two of my colleagues were CFA's in their 30's and were only making about 30k more than me. Many CFA's I have met don't seem street smart and mostly work at a big company and get stuck as a VP (Not a bad lifestyle). I do wish I had time to take the CFA and I do still think it's a good curriculum. However, if you already have a M.S. in finance, it's kind of an overkill. Lastly, I found CFA holders (the ones I personally met) to be risk adverse and not think outside the box.
Where is the economy moving (take this with a grain of salt, as I am likely being biased):
1) Technology jobs
2) Oil & Gas
3) Healthcare/Biotech
4) Finance jobs are really on the decline and the number of applicants are increasing - you can still make it but you have to have a story, and be in
5) Government/Military Contracting - If I could do this all over I would likely go become a merchant marine and study at a maritime college, and potentially become a Naval Officer/Air Force/Coast Guard Officer/merchant Marine. Your exit ops are government contracting with secret service clearance (Serious pay). Some of you that are juniors should also look into NROTC/ROTC(Army/National Guard), as many students graduate with debt and the military will give you good pay as an officer, and you could get an MBA after and do IB or Consulting (which would be fully paid for). If you saved your money well, you could have over 200k after about 4 years (My friend did that and is day trading off his 200K).
Top Finance Hubs:
SF/Chicago/London/Singapore/Tokoyo/Hong Kong/Frankfurt/NYC/NJ - Jersey City/Connecticut
Location:
I didn't realize this until my junior year of college, but either move to the economy of a state that has your job you want to do (I.E. Oil/Gas - Texas/Alaska) or change your major in your state if you want to stay there.
General Notes (for people wanting to do finance):
-Try to do 2 years at a BB bank, and then work at small firms.
-After your 2 years experience you need to negotiate your salary. Tell employers when you are interviewing that you signed a non-disclosure agreement and cannot disclose your current salary. The employer will typically force you to give them a range, and just give a range after doing your research.
Example: I was offered about 75k moving to my new job. I got it bumped up to 88k (Not counting Bonus). This means if I stayed in the corporate would, my next move would be at least 96-100k (However it does get tougher to find work as you move up on the salary chain).
Good Degrees for Buy-Side/Prop Trading/IB (From what my friends told me that do IB):
Engineering
Financial Engineering
Physics
Mathematics
Computer Science
Information Systems
Machine Learning
Statistics
Things you must do as a student:
Get as many internships as possible and spin it - I.E. I worked at a hotel, and transformed my internship into a technology role. I specified financial figures I saved.
What is your value proposition - Mine was I know the business just as well as a business person, and can build computer systems to automate my job or automate trading. Likewise, I barely talked about my grades and focused on completing 4 internships while obtaining a dual degree.
Where do you want to be? I wanted to move to Hedge Funds, and luckily received an unpaid hedge fund internship. That internship was paramount into my move for the BB Hedge Fund Unit.
I now hope to start my own fund after a few years of successful prop trading, and will implement my system.
Lastly - Please let me know what people think of what I wrote, and also ask me anything related to landing finance jobs! Best of luck!
Good luck.