Job outlook for trading
Recent reports by the NY state comptroller say that Wall Street will lose 10,000 jobs by the end of 2012 (http://money.cnn.com/2011/10/11/news/economy/fina…).
Is this a death sentence for getting hired for a trading job in the near future? I am a junior undergrad and as much as I would love to work as a trader for a BB, it seems like reality might dictate otherwise...
Does anyone on the inside know how this will impact hiring, and to what degree? Will it be virtually impossible to secure a job in say 2013?
If you're not a quant/programmer and want a trading role, you have to go through undergrad or MBA recruiting. Otherwise your chances are quite slim.
10,000 jobs are gona be canned but how many jobs are there on wallstreet in total?
Asian Americans will be better off.
Yup, we're all screwed.
Do yourself a favor and try to land a job at an oil company or a utility.
http://epicureandealmaker.blogspot.com/2011/09/hard-rain-gonna-fall.html
Sums it up pretty nicely, I'd say.
It's impossible to say how things will look in 2013, but right now, it's brutal out there.
Thank you all for the replies. I'm still holding out hope that the revenues and jobs will start flowing again by 2013...it's a faint hope though. What sort of jobs are traders on the chopping block looking at right now for "Plan B"? I've heard that many BB traders left in favor of starting their own funds after all the regulatory measures hit, but considering the economic climate even that doesn't seem too viable anymore.
I'm not the type to just give up on my dream job, but this is increasingly seeming like a situation where I should make the calculated decision to get out while I'm ahead.
what about fixed income trading?
if you have the programing ability do you think algo trading will be just as dead
what about the outlook for energy trading??? I am asking because I have been looking into Tulane's new MNRG and love the specialization it provides.
OP here, I recently spoke with a trader who used to work at ML and left to start his own fund; he said that trading is far from dead and people are not in danger of being put out of work by computers/algos/automation...in his opinion computers can only do so much.
He told me that the industry is changing and traders are going to independent firms and leaving the large banks, and that all the jobs will still be there - they've just shifted employers. Just another perspective to consider (I often weight the opinion of a real person much more than folks semi-anonymously posting on forums, but I do appreciate all the thoughts in this thread).
^above poster is spot on...
Trading jobs aren't dead and algos won't put them out of business. Also, you guys need to understand that algo trading is not a quant position per se...technically speaking a quant creates an algo that a trader uses. This is basically done so that a trader can execute multiple orders throughout the day.
I think getting a job in S&T is probably the hardest its ever been. However, that doesn't mean its the end of trading. I'm confident that recruiting will start to pick up sometime within the next five years.
Current State of Trading at Bulge Brackets (Originally Posted: 03/08/2015)
I feel like I am constantly reading that trading is a dying business and am wondering if there is still money to be made in going into sales and trading at a bulge bracket. It seems like interesting and fun work but does it make sense to go into it as a career at this point in time? Also if it is still lucrative, is it now more geared to computer whizs and engineering backgrounds? Sorry for the essay, thanks!
yes and yes. More CS-related as computers are replacing people. Still a very good experience.. fun, dynamic, definitely get a rush feeling when on a trading floor. From my first hand experience, I would recommend it. Be warned you probably be doing grunt work for at least a couple yrs.
Outlook: fairly negative with trading revenues down significantly for almost all of the banks. Tough to find spots I would think.
Almost everything in the previous posters comment sounds wrong.
Computers are replacing anything that can be commoditized (as with any industry). For anything more complex computers make life easier (i have written on this several times before on this forum).
If you are doing grunt work after a couple of years its probably not the right field for you. Yes, as long as you are the most junior on the desk you will be treated like a junior (and this can last years if the desk doesnt hire anyonme below you), but you should be managing risk within a year (altho some exotic products obviously take longer).
Also, the rush people talk about dissappears relatively quickly. Humans in general desensitize fairly quickly in general.
So would you still recommend it as a career path/believe there is still good money to be made if you are a finance/econ major and not coming from a computer science/engineering background?
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