Hedge Fund Junior Trader Looking to Change Job
My background: Top undergraduate, Top MFE. 1.5 years' experience as a junior trader in a multi-billion dollar hedge fund.
I made the mistake of joining a hedge fund instead of an IB analyst program upon my graduation from MFE. The compensation is OK, better than most IB trading analysts. Hours are great. But the learning opportunities are VERY limited. Senior traders seem not interested in coaching junior traders at all because they don't need to and there is not much to do anyway. I did get to execute some stock trades, but that's about it. I don't see a future in this company and I want to find another job - even with less pay, but better coaching and learning opportunities.
But most trading jobs I can find on career websites require at least 3 years' experience. What should I do now? I am pretty sure that if I stay in my current job, I wouldn't become much more experienced after 2 more years. (to be precise, I may become very familiar with our strategy, but with limited execution experience and NO pnl track record - all experienced jobs seem to require pnl track record) I want to find a junior trader job in an IB or a hedge fund with more established training programs. But do IB/hedge funds recruit less experienced people (1-2 years) for front-office roles at all? How can I find such opportunities? What other options do I have?
BTW - it may be obvious to many of you, but if you have a choice, DO NOT join a buy-side company expecting to be coached like in an IB analyst program. There are exceptions of course (more prestigious ones maybe), but from what I see, buy-side culture just does not encourage teaching, and junior positions are basically assistants without a clearly defined career path.
Thanks!
grass is always greener on the other side, watch out what you wish for. tough to say without knowing what firm, but i'd say stick it out for now and opportunities will present themselves.
I would be cautious about taking your limited experience at one firm and extrapolating it to an entire industry.
When you say "multi-billion dollar hedge fund" are you talking $2B or $12B? It makes a difference. If you are at a big established firm, it's going to have more established corporate practices and well-defined roles. You are hired to perform a job function to keep the factory working.
Having worked at both big shops and small shops, I can say that working at small firms is so much more enriching. Learning comes from experience and you experience SO much more at small shops because everyone has to wear many different hats when running the business. Small shops don't have the luxury of hiring many different people for all the narrowly defined roles. Plus, you have much more direct contact with the smart people in the room.
I wouldn't worry about the "3 years experience" pre-req and start apply for jobs you see that appear interesting. We often put similar work requirements in our postings but it's really just to help weed out the complete amateurs and not to draw a line in the sand.
I have to say you are lucky to be working for a hedge fund opposed to an ibank. I hated investment banking and felt more like an glorified administrator. Working in a smaller firm allows you be close to the business. You will mature very fast working in a smaller and most likely be working with very smart people that have the ability to make it in business. It can be more entrepreneurial which is not the case with ibanking. Many of the people you will be working with in ibanking would never survive working in a smaller firm. Going to a large firm is almost always a step back but for some people it doesn’t do you any harm to get some experience under your belt before making the move. However that said if you are already a driven individual and know what you want in life, don’t waste your valuable time on bureaucracyand the crap that goes with working for a large organization. Leave that to the mugs with MBA’s and huge amounts of student debt to deal with. Remember strong business people or those at the top of their game. (many of them do not hold MBA’s by the way) will almost always go off and start a businesses or work for smaller firm where they can show off their talent and get rewarded well for it. These are the very people you want to learn from and not those working in large organizations. Going back to my ibanking days I recall working with some well educated but incredibly ignorant people who had no clue about what was going on in the business. Their knowledge was limited to the narrow role they performed and I thought that was really sad. My advice is stay small and grow.
Most people would kill to be where you are.
That said no trading job is ever going to hand holding, and no one a desk is ever going to tell/help with their strategy unless you have something to offer in return. I would be crazy to think so, working hard and coming up with your own strategies always helps to let people then share their ideas/views.
PM someone like Bondarb who is a more Sr trader and probably deals with Jrs like yourself.
You should be lucky, believe me. Paid extraordinary for doing nothing is rare in finance
When I get the chance to choose again I would prefer to join a HF. I work at CSFB London, very hard work...
You get paid a +$80k base salary and your bonus is not fair compared to the profit you´d been generating.
Wait 2 years and then you can rotate... Maybe a few banks would hire you immediately
Work on you track record
Good luck, you´re young, dont turn depressive
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