Hi. I've been a prop trader now for a over a decade, been considering turning pro and moving to a fund, I've done HFT, have programming experience, worked on floors, been through all markets, and have been consistently profitable especially in the last 2-3 years with the recovery since the crash. But when I try to quantify this into a presentable resume for recruiters, who ask me for it all the time, I draw a blank. I have no clue how to summarise trading in terms of a "job". I'd much rather just meet a director and chat. Always worked in the past. But to get into a hedge fund blind, without knowing anyone, I can't just call up the fund manager. David Einhorn isn't going to answer my email. Any suggestions? Surely there must be other traders out there thinking the same thing. Michael
why make it difficult for yourself? If that is what you really want, attach you trading statements summaries with all the metrics, and number of years. and start faxing, posting, emailing these. And just say you are available for discussion. Consistently profitable traders who don't blow up once in a while are rare. So remember you are a golden prize.
+1 Just draw a monthly equity curve, write some stats like win ratio etc. compute and put monthly sharpe and.... mention different strategies that you use. That should be it. As Attachements - put in broker statement (just put in 1-2 pages and say rest can be given if desired). Buy a listing of all the hedge funds in your area or around the country, get a listing of head hunters, get on linked in and start spamming. Sometimes, spam is useful. lol.
if you are applying for a portfolio manager role then find a hedgefund pitchbook and model it after that if you are applying as a quant or programmer then writing a CV is easy.
What do you mean by you have done HFT? You were doing hft out of your home? which asset class, for how long. Folklore is that hft guys never lose, so applying that yardstick, you should be rich by now. curious about your hft experience as a prop trader, without being attached to a fund!
you dont know how to create a resume? as long as you're not seat of the pants then you can easily quantify what you do. where did you go to school? degree/major? what can you program (languages)? how do you research?
I am sure you are aware there are professional CV companies that will customize your resume for you...
I got a hedge fund interview with prop trading listed on resume, but I've also got MBA and ivy league stats.
You make it more complicated than it is. If you were making money properly (i.e., high sharpe, big numbers), everyone will be interested. The doors open themselves. If you weren't making money, nobody cares. So the suggestion is to make a lot of money and show someone the real track record, or otherwise just apply for some support role as a programmer or whatever. The education sort of matters, but I've seen high school drop outs in some of the elite organizations too (although they are uncommon and usually have some other amazing accomplishment to their name.)