Derivative Specialist Program

There is a new program (first class of about 5 people came in as FTers last year) at the bank I'm interning at called the Derivative Specialist Program (DSP). If you decide to apply to the program and are accepted, after your initial FT training you go through five 6 or 9 week rotations (1 sales, 1 economic research, 1 structuring, 2 trading). At each rotation you will be treated as a new FT hire, so it's not like you'll get intern responsibilities. The program lasts 1 year.

In regards to pay, 1st year comp is performance tied to your time at each desk and will be nearly identical to the 1st years at other desks.

One of the negatives that jump out right away is that if you want to trade your own book, you start out a year behind everyone else in your class.

However, some of the positives I would assume are that you're learning a lot about other (most likely related areas..not just 5 random rotations) from different POVs that will really start to pay dividends a year or two in. Also, by becoming better known and more well rounded, in case of layoffs or one desk cutting back on headcount, you have a better chance of moving onto a desk that you rotated through.

I'd appreciate anyone's thoughts on their perceived pros/cons of the program and if it would be worth considering (especially if one wanted to go into a structuring rather than market making role)..thanks in advance