3 to 4 yrs experience in unrelated finance roles breaking into trading and become a trader

With 3 to 4 yrs of unrelated & related finance experience, a CFA level 2 candidate, with a non-finance degree, and an MS in Quantitative analysis, what is the best way to break into trading, or into any trading support capacity to eventually become a trader

9 Comments
 

Find a junior trader role, apply, and pray to god they give you a chance. No joke, cold apping is your best option. Trade support is a terrible idea, so stay away from those roles as you’ll never progress to trader. Just keep your options open, and consider ANY firm that has desks (not just BB’s, as that’s a serious uphill battle for you).

 

Thanks BumbleB, good advice on the trade support path, I have 2 questions:

(1). There's also alot of firms, like Maverick Trading, where you pay for their online training, and then commit some of your own capital, what's your opinion on building my experience there to then build my resume and continue apping and applying to jr trader roles, do firms like Maverick hold any weight when applying?

(2) What's a realistic timeline for someone in my position, from now to actually getting an interview, I just passed the CFA level 1, and have worked at a hedge fund for less than 2 years, but I think I've applied to at least 50 jr. trader roles so far in the past 6 months, either in the NYC / NJ area. And it all depends, but have you ever heard of someone that's apped for over a year?

 

If you crush the interview, you'll be fine. Thus, I'd recommend reaching out to any contacts you have in trading (at prop shops, bulge bracket banks, etc.). Contacts could be friends, family members, alumni from school, etc. Then, just prepare hard for the interview. I know ... has a bunch of free practice quizzes.

 

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