Finally a Gas Trader

You can see my Q&A post (currently ongoing) here.

aI graduated in May of 2012, from a non-target school with a below average GPA in a major that's quantitative but enough for a direct opportunity.

I graduated with little to no networking, no jobs lined up, etc., but quickly got on to a PE firm being a summer analyst. This came about at small shop that the principals knew of my parents. It materialized literally overnight, and I actually realized I had just secured something huge. I took full advantage of it, however, it was just that---an internship. The internship came with no full time job opportunity, as that was established in the beginning of it.

It gave me a start, as as the principal/boss said, that's all people need. From there, I joined two majors in the O&G departments(one in the BO and one in the MO) for a combined 9 months before a utility leveraged a scheduler role to me.

Right then and there, I recognized I had an actual direction job wise. I knew my exit opp-trading in some years. While the utility was/is awesome to work at, I knew the pace is extremely slow. I started right before the polar vortex(people in NG know what that is), succeeded, and was quickly placed on the most difficult pipeline the utility faces. I did that this past fall,winter, spring, and into this summer with confidence, poise, etc. They had outlined a strategy for me to move up in the coming years, however, trading wasn't something to materialize for years if not a decade.

Let's be honest here-- the pool is DEEP in Houston. Too deep. Just in my office, I had 3 senior schedulers with 5 years exp +, more so 8 years average, that were in line for the next trading jobs that were currently occupied by 38-42 year olds who had been trading for 8-10 years with no sense of urgency to leave. Trading at this utility was really...buying and selling, no risk, no spec. Traders do not leave this shop, so I started to look elsewhere. I wasn't too interested in taking a lateral, and of those, I had about 2 firm offers, and then another location a senior role which would've been my backup.

A small shop on the East Coast wanted an experienced scheduler, and to pry them from the most liquid market they had to understand the difference in resources. And they sure did, the brass had a background in Houston & Calgary, so they knew the market, they knew people I worked with, etc., and ultimately within about 7 business days including a visit to their office I had a healthy offer with a nice relo, signing bonus, and benefits to join them as NG Trader/Scheduler. I'll buy swing gas on a daily basis, and at times balance of month basis, and schedule my own gas.

My logic, as one of my previous traders put it, is you really can't take a title from someone. Now that I'm a Trader, you can't take that from me. If I go back out in the market, sure there's more money elsewhere, the home(Houston) for me, but I'm now viewed as a trader. Not a scheduler wanting to trade. The credibility is higher, and while a few headhunters doubted me, I'd like to say I did it. And I did it under 3 months, though, there was no rush.

The journey is up next, as I start the last week of this month. And hope for nothing but the best.

I have Q&A in the Trader's Train forum, if you'd like to participate.