Grad student - help choosing a trading desk
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The f with banks man. If money is your primary concern join one of the top prop shops straight when you grad and start raining money like no tmrw.
(if you fuck up though then you gonna have some problems)
what do you consider raining money?
retiring before 30
I have JS, Optiver, SIG etc at the top of my list, would love to work there! Are you in the UK or US?
Thanks for all your comments, anything more on choosing between the products?
The wealthiest trader I've come across was an Oil guy out of London.
Was this at a BB, Supermajor, or commodities trading firm?
I'd look for a small prop firm as others have suggested. As far as earnings potential, that is where you'll find the highest. Keep in mind, though, that this is also the riskiest route. As an aspiring trader, you shouldn't need me to explain the correlation.
You make it sound like the banks are going to kiss your feet and offer you any position you want on any desk. This is definitely not how it works. I think you should get summer internship offers at the banks first and then choose the best one given your circumstances (not just based on prestige, comp, etc.). Then focus on killing it over the summer, meeting people, learning the business, finding out which desks will hire interns at the end of the summer, etc. Finally, you will hopefully get a full-time offer. It could be generalist, group-specific, or desk-specific, based on each bank. I don't think it is possible to plan out which exact desk you will work on full-time because there are so many changing variables and a lot of time between now and your full-time start date. Just keep an open mind and be willing to try other desks than your "dream" desk. Oh, and by the way, if you are doing this purely for the money, you will have a hard time. From what I've seen and experienced, many of those people have been laid off since 08-09 and the people who are left are extremely smart, know their products very well, and love what they do. To me they did not seem to be in it purely for the money, but rather they had a real passion for the markets/product. Good luck with the search.
@nontarget kid In no way do I think I'll be bombarded with offers, I just want opinions/advice if, hypothetically, I was given complete choice. Thanks for your advice though, my plan was/is to apply mainly for summer internships like you said and hopefully I'll get a feel of what product is right for me. I don't have a dream desk per se, I think options (unsure of the underlying) would be a good fit considering I'm good at math, love probability and enjoy taking risks.
Then apply to med school and become a surgeon/anesthesiologist. The big-swinging dick days are over.
I think it is good to think about what product you might enjoy most, just be aware you might not be placed there for a multitude of reasons such as not fitting in with the people or the desk having no need for an analyst when you start. Just be open-minded about opportunities. Regarding your second statement about trading at home, the reason you join a bank is for access to better technology and IT support, the bank's franchise, the ability to see flow, the chance to learn how to trade OTC products, and most importantly, the chance to learn from more senior traders. No matter how you look at it, being a retail trader at home puts you at a huge disadvantage to a trader at a bank.
Also, I should add, if you truly love the job and become very good at it, the money will follow. Just focus on getting a good seat, however, those are becoming increasingly difficult to find.
Enough with the hypothetical wankery. Get back to us when you have multiple offers or need to pick between specific desks for your summer analyst rotation. For now, apply to every BB and prop shop you can think of.
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