Moving from second tier bank prop trader position to top tier bank prop trader position?
Hi all,
Let's say I am a high frequency quant prop trader in a second tier bank, what are the possible routes for me to move to top tier prop trader position?
Before crisis, my classmates all went to top tier banks and/or top tier hedgefunds, doing either quant analyst, or quant trader, or trader.
Now it's so hard to get a good job during the crisis, I only got a second tier bank (top 10) prop trader position. But I still have a dream to get into the top tier banks as soon as possible and as early as possible in my career. For a young guy, it's good to have a brand name on resume for at least a period of time.
Shall I stay at school longer and wait for better offers to come, or shall I jump into the industry and market right now and switch to better shops later? How?
Please give me some suggestions!
p.s. In this environment, my other option would be a quant analyst position at top 3 IB. The skill-sets are roughly the same, doing programming, math, statistics, and back-testing alpha trading ideas and strategies. Or go to a hedgefund directly, do the same thing.
My ultimate goal is to open my own hedgefund. Do you think I should go to the top 10 high frequency prop trading position or go to an alpha back-test quant analyst at a top 3 IB?
Thanks!
You´ve got to know something about trading.
It´s not about your education, your title, your career or your workplace. It´s about your talent and your track record.
When you generate high earnings over longer periods, no one cares about if you´re a former quant, analyst or broker.
Work on your track record and dont waste your time thinking about starting your own hedge fund.
This is the most real advice, period.
Moving between prop shops (Originally Posted: 06/11/2012)
Hi Guys,
I'm a recent college grad and I'll be starting work at a prop shop in Chicago soon. I'm wondering how easy it is to move between shops in the Chicago area. I've done a search for this topic and haven't really found specifically what I was looking for. I'll be starting at a mid level firm think like Group1 and I'm wondering how likely it is to transfer to one of the larger places like drw/sig/ctc. This is assuming of course that I can do well.
Obviously if you become a great trader you can go anywhere you want, but I'm trying to gauge how likely switching would be after maybe a year or two of starting. Do you have to come in again as a junior trader? I noticed when I was apply to prop jobs that there were very few vacancies for experienced traders, do you go about moving in some other way than applying on the company website?
thanks for the info
The thing is... I don't think you would want to lateral to a bigger firm later. Prestige, or whether people have actually heard of your company, doesnt matter that much in trading. You want to be somewhere where you learn a good, profitable trade.
If you do, you don't want to then take that trade to a bigger, more corporate like firm with less payout. If you lateral anywhere, it will probably be somewhere smaller or a place that gives you a % cut. Also, trading firms frequently have noncompetes where they will keep you out for a while if you leave.
I dont think it is a good idea to switch after a year or two. At a lot of these firms, you start off a junior and are doing things like PnL and reconciling accounts. You put in the bitch work, and over time they trust you. Some firms dont even really hire laterally, they just train up new college kids.
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