How do you break through as a trader at top firms?
Hi everyone,
I have a few questions:
What advice would you give a first-year college student on becoming a successful trader and making it to a top-tier firm (a good ibank or hedge fund known for its trading)?
What particular elective courses should I take for my finance major?
What extra-curriculars should I be looking into? This one's obvious, I guess.. investment club/finance student association, right?
What should I be reading?
Should I do anything else... start a fund perhaps, take lessons on modelling, anything else (after all, it does seem very competitive getting into one of these places)?
And finally--this is a really naive question--what's so hard about trading that allows some of the best traders to command extraordinary salaries; don't you just need to know technical indicators and place buy-sell orders? Or is it that you have to know highly complex algorithms and whatnot?
lol don't give me too much shit on that last one
Thanks a lot
Alex
Hello AlexMIH,
--What particular elective courses should I take for my finance major?--
I would suggest you take some courses in economics as it might give some clarity on how the world markets work; which is invaluable knowledge to any trader no matter what product they trade. Also, some general courses in money and banking if your institution offers those. Some general calculus, statistics or mathematics courses will also be valuable.
--What should I be reading?--
WSJ, FT, Bloomberg and the Economist are excellent publications to read and will help you stay up to date on what is going on in the world. When you interview for trading positions it's very important to know what is going on around the world and what the markets are doing (i.e. a hot topic in the news for the last bit has been the EU debt crisis). Also, books on trading (technical or narrative) will help you get a grasp on the industry. Spend some time at Amazon or Barnes & Noble and see what you can find.
--Should I do anything else... start a fund perhaps, take lessons on modelling, anything else (after all, it does seem very competitive getting into one of these places)?--
Starting a fund may be an overly ambitious idea but if the logistics work out it might not hurt (however, most students are not in a position to pull off such a feat). I would suggest you play around with a paper trading software as it will give you an idea of how to trade and what moves markets. thinkorswim is a great software platform for this kind of practice. Also, see if your university has some sort of student run fund that you could be a part of.
I hope this gives you some help. Take care.
Thanks a lot.. but wait now, I might minor or double-majoring in computer science. What's your take on that vis-a-vis engineering, physics or math? And I go to JMSB--not that well known outside of my city--but with a 4.1 GPA (3.9 I believe on a 4.0 scale) and probably transferring to McGill (they're both in Montreal). Is McGill a "semi-target" for trading positions by the way? As for boutique firms, do you have any recommendations or just examples?
Thanks again to both of you.
Major in what you find most interesting. If you prefer CS to math or physics then do CS. All the majors you listed are quantitative intensive majors so stick with what you would enjoy most.
McGill is fine school, you'll be alright there. Don't focus too much on the "rank" of your school. As long as it's not community college and it has some national pedigree you're going to be just fine there. Remember to enjoy your education too... don't be so focused on the end goal too much and soak it in.
These would be considered small or local (regional) trading firms. Do a Google search for what is in your area and start networking. Also, these smaller firms may not have formal internship programs but it doesn't hurt to ask; plus, it only helps to get the additional experience.
(2nd semester)
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