How to know if trading is for you?
I have been very interested in market, derivatives, and just how the world economy is structured from a very young age, got into the right school, and now it’s almost time to recruit for these roles. Just curious how you can make the bet on yourself and know you will perform well as a trader, especially at these more prop focused jobs. It’s one thing to go FICC or something at a bank where risk is less, but what if you have the opportunity to go to a small prop shop where you have the potential to make 7 figures but also to make close to nothing, lose the job, and not have a BB on the resume. I guess I’m asking how yall where able to “pigeon hole” yourselves by going into FTR/VT or physical energy trading, for example, whether at a prop shop or merchant house and have the confidence that it would work out regardless? I mean you can’t KNOW your gonna be a head honcho until your sat in the seat.
Based on the most helpful WSO content, determining if trading is for you requires a deep personal assessment and a clear understanding of your strengths and risk tolerance. Here are some key points to consider:
Self-Assessment:
Understanding the Nature of Trading:
Preparation and Skill Development:
Risk vs. Reward:
Trial and Error:
Ultimately, the decision to pursue trading, especially at a prop shop, requires a mix of self-awareness, preparation, and a willingness to take calculated risks. If you’re passionate about markets and confident in your ability to learn and adapt, it might be worth taking the leap.
Sources: https://www.wallstreetoasis.com/forum/asset-management/sales-trading-interview-guide-gekkos-guidance-part-2?customgpt=1, I'm Trying to get into Prop-Trading From a Non-Target School, So I heard You Want to Start Trading?, I'm Trying to get into Prop-Trading From a Non-Target School
I don't think you ever really know until you're doing it. Liking markets and liking trading are two different things. The better question is whether you enjoy the process even when you're wrong or not making money.
My advice is S&T or HF, don't prop straight out of school unless you're PTJ already. Try trade a paper account or small $ while still studying - that'll give you a good idea of if you like it.
What is PTJ?
The fucking legend Paul Tudor Jones
Isn't S&T trading very different from what you'd be doing with a paper account or at a HF?
Trading is trading. In S&T, you're more focus on one asset class and don't make bid-offer spread by making the market. That is the extra layer on top of PA / HF work.
if you have to ask then it's probably not for you.
"I look for the type of guy in London who gets up at seven o’clock on Sunday morning when his kids are still in bed, and logs onto a poker site so that he can pick off the U.S. drunks coming home on Saturday night." -michael platt
You certainly think highly of yourself. A 18 year old asking about a career and it’s not for em 😂
Literally has nothing to do with me? People that are good at is are obsessed. They think they can make money even when they lose and people tell them the odds are stacked against them. They never even ask if it was for them because the though never occurred that it might not be. You have obviously never been on a trade floor, which is understandable, but just wait until you meet the guys that are the making all the money. They are not normal.
When you’re surrounded with people that make money vs when you’re surrounded with people that lose money. That’s when you’ll realise whether tradings for you. And also agree with the other people’s comment; good traders can’t switch off. To you it’s just a job, to them it’s their passion. That guy with passion & drive will go the extra mile in everything; research thesis, idea generation, strategy, scale in/out, backtest, whatever the f you can think of
I undertand that, for sure. And by just a job I was speaking more from a wholeness of the individual kind of way, obviously if you love what you do then there’s no need to turn it off, though. Out of curiosity, just because I’m interning in the energy trading sector right now, what do you see as the best move into the sector from right out of college?
You get whatever product you get assigned to; and you tend to stick there, mastering it takes 3 years minimum & eventually trade that product if you stay long enough… unless you find a new internship company to change product early
I never thought about my career path as "pigeon holing" myself. There were no other options in my mind I couldn't see myself doing anything else. I thought about it as this is all I want to do and i'll do whatever it takes to do just that (trading) and if I fail well then i'll figure something else out. If there's one thing you'll learn in trading it's that you'll never know with absolute certainty what's going to happen, you do what you thinks best with the information you have and let the chips fall where they may.
Think hard about your level of risk aversion and how long you think before making decisions.
Maybe controversial but I generally think it’s a bad idea to go somewhere right away where your comp is highly pnl dependent. That would include some prop shops (but not all because there’s plenty of prop shop market makers that are amazing places to start a career) and most hedge funds. Even if you turn out to be an amazing trader, it’s just the math of running a decent amount of risk that there’s a decent chance you can end up down money in a year and you don’t want that to cost you a job when you don’t have the ability to sit out and find something else. If you don’t have an edge to begin with (which I would put 95% of first year traders in that camp) then that’s going to be even more true. Don’t know a lot about the commodities world but I think the merchants are great places to go if you can land them because you’ll be in a large team with established risk takers who train you and have plenty of pnl to cover up your early blunders. Prop market makers or S&T are also nice for similar reasons, you’ll still get risk taking opportunities at a young age but there’s a better defined edge, ppl who will train you, and more tolerance for underperformance when you’re young. There’s plenty of time to own upside on your pnl when you’re more established and can risk losing a job.
Del
Like is this a troll??😂
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