How to Learn Technicals for S&T — How Hard Is It for a Summer Internship?
Hi all,
I’m a STEM (math + applied science) major at a semi target school interested in Sales & Trading, and I’m trying to get a better sense of how to prepare technically for summer internship interviews and potentially the job itself. I’ve done a few finance-related things on the side but nothing too serious, mostly some trading simulations, reading around and a couple finance societies. Main point is, I’m coming in without a traditional econ/finance background.
A few questions I’d really appreciate thoughts on:
- How technical do S&T interviews get?
Is it just the basics like how interest rates affect bonds, what moves equities, macro stuff, etc. or do they dive deep into quant stuff and ask you to pitch trades with detailed reasoning? - What are the best resources to learn the technicals?
Would love any book, YouTube, or even podcast recs that helped you or others. I’ve heard of things like Heard on the Street or reading the FT, but not sure if that’s too much or too little. - Coming from non econ/finance, am I at a disadvantage?
I don’t have the econ/finance knowledge, so I’m wondering if interviewers hold that against you or if they appreciate technical backgrounds (e.g. STEM) as long as you can show genuine market interest. Also, will interviewers usually take into account that I’m coming from a STEM background and maybe go easier or ask less technical questions, or is it generally the same bar for everyone?
Any insights from people who’ve been through the S&T summer recruiting process — or are currently in a seat — would be super helpful.
Thanks!
Hull
What about natenbergs?
Salesandtrading.com
Hull
Outside of that, i would look up anything desk-specific depending on your preferences on chat and ask them (e.g commodity/rates specific)
Overall, maybe in the US it is different but in London it is the case that with a STEM background, especially Maths and Physics and maybe Engineering, you are at an advantage, not disadvantage, for Trading. I myself studied Business / Finance and ended up in Trading but always felt I would have been better off having studied Maths.
Would be careful here to say that a biology / chemistry uni student will struggle with Hull due to the mathematical depth but otherwise would have reasonable maths level mentally to pass interviews
Yes, fully agree. Thanks for pointing that out. I should have said there again that someone with a Math/Physics and probably engineering background would likely be comfortable with the level of Math(s) in Hull.
It is the same in the US. Particularly if you are a social/"normal" STEM candidate who can demonstrate some sort of passion for markets, you are certainly at an advantage compared to regular econ/finance majors. It's a lot easier to pick up finance fundamentals on the job than it is to pick up maths/coding skills
Ah, that's interesting. I fully agree with you that "it's a lot easier to pick up finance fundamentals on the job than it is to pick up maths/coding skills", but in London a lot of people seem to be of the opinion that the degree does not really matter, even for trading, and it is all about what university you studied at, regardless of what you actually studied. Though as I said that was a bit of a surprise to me.
never understood why we don't follow a traditional recruitment line. If you studied finance, this means you're interested in finance, so you recruit for finance. If you studied engineering, then you were interested in engineering, and should recruit for engineering. If you study math, then you are interested in math, and should do academia or whatever you thought as professional outcomes after your degree. Since when should "finance gets paid more, thus the change" would be encouraged (not directly, but implied by the change)
UK HR always destroying everything
this is a disadvantage for people who enter into finance because they want to do finance vs. some STEM guy who wakes up later and says he also wanna do finance
but yeah, anyone can learn the job, I am just thinking about the poor finance guys who see their jobs taken by STEMs because HR apparently is "too bored to see the same finance background" so they decide to vary it lol
This is quite possibly the dumbest comment I've seen on here. A traditional finance degree simply doesn't develop a lot of the necessary skills to succeed on a lot of modern trading desks
You're an idiot. Throughout history, a lot of great traders came from untraditional backgrounds, whether it was the pits or on BB desks today. Go to IB if you're a finance major, there your skills will help.
Which desks do you think would be a good fit for someone with an engineering background (aerospace engineering)?
bump
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