How to break into trading

Currently a soph at a non-target school majoring in business administration. I am set on a career in Sales and Trading with a goal being a trader role. As far as the requirements go, is it necessary to add a math or CS major to my resume with the remaining years I have (on target to finish summer of junior year) or is a BA major enough given I have a strong enough network.

Furthermore, is the preparation for trading similar to banking in which interview questions are similar or are they more trading based

Open to anything else anyone may comment. Trying to understand this field better as it is my top choice.

5 Comments
 

Currently a trader at a buy-side Chi prop shop, did not go the S&T route so can’t speak to that angle. On my desk all the younger guys tend to have some sort of a math/stats/cs background coming out of school, I only know of one who has a more traditional finance/accounting background and by his admission he had a hell of a time getting a role. Obviously not representative of the industry but worth keeping in mind. Regarding interviewing, I would expect a mix of fit questions, questions on the subject matter the firm/desk specializes in (e.g. if you are interviewing at an options MM firm you need to be comfortable with the Greeks), and math/probability-based questions.

 

Guy above touched on it but I will expand... with a business admin degree you are going to find it almost impossible to break into S&T at a bank unless you know someone with clout there. That is the reality of the situation. You have a much better chance breaking into the physical trading world by being willing to go live in Iowa for a couple years at an elevator slinging corn, starting out in operations for an oil pipeline company, etc.

 
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