If you are serious about trading, read this.
If you are like me when I first started , you are probably at a crossroads in your career. You have heard that traders can make a lot of money, but you don't know how to become a trader. I imagine you have applied to a few places, but have not heard back. You've submitted your resume, responded to ads, but no one will hire you without a track record or trade book.
What you do not know, is that there are NO FIRMS HIRING TRADERS WITHOUT ADVANCED MATH & Programming DEGREES! I put that in cap locks to emphasize the point.
There is no resume or email or phone call that will get you a job. Even traders with excellent track records are not being hired.
If you have kept reading, then you mean you are either extremely overconfident, extremely stubborn, or you simply do not believe me. That also means that you do not have the credentials to get a second look from ANY FIRM.
Some of you did not really want to be traders to begin with, you were attracted to the money, the lifestyle, the idea of making a fortune by clicking buttons. If thats you, likely you have done little to no trading, and are pretty much hoping for someone to hire you and pay you while they teach you to trade on their money. If that's you, does it make sense for a successful trading company to take more or less random people off of the street and trade them at their expense? And if this magical company exists, why would they choose you? Were you the top of your class? Are you famous for some achievement you have already accomplished? If not, then you are one of countless number of applications they get. If this is you, I recommend that you look for another profession. If you are not able to logically assess why you are not an appealing investment to a firm, then you are not made for this anyway. You are wasting time.
Or, you are someone who really wants to be a trader. The idea of trading financial markets excites, you think about it all the time, and probably have traded a bit by yourself. You read books, watch videos, listen to financial podcasts. You have perhaps signed up for a trading course. You might have even been a trader in a different market. You have spent a lot of time thinking about trading, and if hired, you would put everything into it. Someone like you would have been hired when I started working. You might have been given a job as a runner, or clerk or an analyst. Eventually, you would have been given a small book to trade. The reality is that doesn't happen at all anymore. If you are in this group, you are applying everywhere and anywhere, trying to just get your one break to prove you can do it. But FIRMS ARE ONLY HIRING PEOPLE WITH PROGRAMMING AND QUANTITATIVE SKILLS. There is no exception to this. The quicker you realize that, the quicker you can either adapt or move on with your life.
So is it hopeless?
The truth is, it is really hard. I need you to understand that upfront. Anyone who is not totally committed to trading will be washed out. That is whether you are just starting, or are already trading now. This does not mean long hours, but it does mean you need to constantly stay ahead of the crowd.
I did not write all of this for no reason. While most of you are not getting attention from firms because you are not offering them anything, these firms are hiring. So who are they hiring? They are hiring "quants" or programmers also called High Frequency Traders (HFT). Typically, these traders have advanced degrees from elite schools. BUT, they don't need to be. The only reason they hire these people from this background is that they are the only people who have the ability to create the trading systems these firms want. So here is your opportunity
The future of trading is not HFT from human programmers, but it will be Artificial Intelligence. Everyone will be replaced by machine learning.
If you can master AI Trading, you will get a phone call back. You will get interviews. And you will get opportunities. You will have the ability to trade and generate a track record.
If you have read all of this and are still interested in being a trader, message me back and I can tell you more about how we can get you started with AI trading and perhaps an actual trading career.
