Important things to have on a S&T resume
Obviously school, GPA and relevant experience are the most imporant factors to any resume, but what are some of the less obvious things that look impressive on a resume for S&T?
(warning: i'm not a trader, but I have many friends trading at BBs...the following reflect my views, if you want you accept them; if you don't, i don't give a shit)
just to get an interview: 1. target (90% necessary condition) 2. math classes, math classes, math classes "smartly" selected... also, although some people would say poker and similar stuff looks good others say that this stuff may make you look reckless. The floors have much changed from the era Liar's poker was written (ok, govie desks may remain the same...); In these years the trader was an econ guy, now he's an engineer, mathematician or economist/MBA who understands math. At last it's your choice: ace all your probability and stochastic processes classes or spend 8hrs per day playing poker? which one do you think increases your chances?personally, I wouldn't even think about hiring a reckless poker player (note that I play poker myself so I have nothing against poker as a game);a chess player yes!
This also applies to the BS of the form "I had 50% return this year from personal investing; thus I feel I have the background to trade successfully": please don't watch Jim Cramer so faithfully.
summary: TRADING IS NOT ABOUT PLAYING POKER TRADING IS NOT ABOUT STOCKPICKING (if you think you'll go to FI sell-side and do something like stockpicking you'd better reconsider)
I would not take what greek god has to say as vernacular. I actually work in s&t and will be honest, the majority of the kids in my analyst class are not very mathy people. Sure there were a handful of very bright math students, by 80% of the kids were non math related, even non econ related majors. oh yeah this is top 3 BB. Im not saying that math skills are not important, im just saying you dont need to be a math major or even close to land a s&t job.
Remember,s&t at top banks are more about client relationships and flow. they are looking for someone who has the intelligence to trade or sell, but also impeccable interpersonal skills. whether it be fixed income or equity, you need to be able to bullshit on the phone with clients, etc. and through most of my experience, the extremely mathy engineers lack these skills.
where i work, and from my dealings with other top banks, the very mathy kids typically work in structuring, or very exotic trading desks, or prop desks. The majority of the desks employ smart, energetic, fun people. Its just the way it is.
but i do agree with the poker comment, dont think because you are sick at poker you will be able to trade. but if you trade for your PA, absolutley put it down on your resume. It will prove you are active in the markets, give a shit, and have an appetite for risk
and from what i have seen i second many of tekno's comments. most of the kids are not hardcore math/engineering majors although i'm not saying they aren't there. most of the kids are finance or econ majors from targets.
personality is def. huge to get in. there are many smart kids but a genius who can't socialize will not succeed in s&t. you are sitting in such closer quarters with your coworkers for 12 hours a day, they have to like you and want to hang out with you.
work hard, take a few probability classes if you can, read read read, know whats going on in the market/have a view on the economy, and be a social likeable person
i definitely agree that you shouldn't be a dork but a fun person to work with...not anybody good at math can trade. If you're good at math but you're not presentable you become a quant, and that's all. But, at least in structured products/derivatives desks a sound math background is a must. As far as the personal investing experience is concerned, my sense is that you can mention it in the interview (and probably you would be asked) but do not put it in you resume...at last, everybody interested in the mkts has invested at some point in his life; so it won't give you the interview. (If I were an interviewer and saw something like "Achieved 50% returns in a bear market bla bla bla", I would ask you how and what is your Sharpe ratio and you would have to prove me you weren't just another lucky bastard...My second question would be, "since you're so successful why you want to trade for somebody else?")
"since you're so successful why you want to trade for somebody else?"
I have $14,000 in loans, $3000 in credit card debt, I have a negative cash flow, and my mom's basement just isn't cutting it with the ladies these days!
Jim Cramer invested his student loans to pay out Law School...Do the same and forget BBs and such shitty stuff!!!!:P:P:P:P
Perhaps a harder question in current enviornment would be "tell me few stocks that is going to drop by 10%, 50%, and 100% by end of 2007." lol.
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