Seek for advice from insiders urgently. I was lucky to get two offers recently: 1) Equities Research Sales with Goldman 2) Equities Proprietary Trader with a major Japanese securities firm My passion and ambition is prop trading so the japanese one is excatcly what I want to do. The Goldman one is Sales which is symbiotic to trading (but sales trading/mkt making rather than prop trading). But Goldman name and platform is certainly No. 1 in First Tier and the Japanese one is at best 3rd tier. In the long run, I certainly want to do prop trading with a top tier bank. Now the question is if a top tier bank is trying to fill a prop trader position, would the Goldman Salesperson have a better chance than the Japanese Prop Trader? Also, is Prop Trader having a much better life and money potential than sales trader/mkt maker trader? (as prop trader doesn't hv to please client or salespeople...) I don't happen to know any prop trader friend so hope anyone familiar with the business can give me some advice or share the experience. Really appreciate it. Have to make a decision in couple of days and get back to the banks. Many thanks for your inputs! Also keen on knowing friends in trading biz as I'm kind of new in this area. PM me please
Now I've consulted with some friends, here is the situation: 1) 80% of non-Sales&Trading friends recommend Goldman sales but one FX trader friend with a 2nd tier bank recommends Japanese prop trading 2) Ppl stress the brandname of "Goldman" but I've already got Goldman-like brandname on CV but it's in investment banking (M&A) - i'm a banker with little trading experience 3) I've found it very difficult to move from ibanking to a trading position, even i'm with a goldman like name and am looking at even 2nd/3rd tier bank. And if I still do ibanking I can easily move to Goldman or any similar banks. Switch industry is hard Again, look for inputs from ppl who are doing trading/sales with an institution. Tks a lot
Another consideration I've to count: Salespeople may find it easier to switch to sales trader/mkt making trader position as they spend much time discussing with mkt making taders and clients abt bid/ask price, volume, etc. Mkt making traders provide liquidity instead of making investment decision. In comparison, prop traders' main job is not making mkt/providing liquidity but making investment decision and excuting the trades. Therefore i see a big gap b/w sales and prop trading Insiders pls let me know if i'm right. Tks
If I really believed this poster had an offer I would say Goldman should firm up on their recruitment policy, not only are they making offers to people who can't make up their minds, they also feel obligated to recant everything on a web board. I mean really, can't the site owners think of a better way to generate a discussion the clicks they need to show to potential advertisers. We have had the "Goldman offer but can't make up my mind ' thread way too many times now. It's getting really old. When I come here the whole of the front page is full of these kind of posts. Maybe we have all been squeezed out of the market by the algorithms. There aren't many traders posting these days that's for sure.
Algorithms can post actually, maybe we can include headers in the NinjaTrader C# script wizard and the Multicharts scripts so bots can post... I can see it now: Bot A:You hit my offer! sucker!! Bot B: Bullshit, you've got a memory leak.... Bot C: Both of you need a money management rewrite...
Yes you are right! They algorithms are posting! I can see it now, that is why every thread in ET just gets stuck in a loop or goes off topic after a few posts, or somebody comes in and says something outrageous (cf a flippers fake size).
If you want to trade prop at a bank you should choose the path which will make this outcome more likely. If you perform well at this Japanese bank, then you'll be able to "move up" in due time. Although I think that the money the Japanese bank pays is as green the cash Goldman will shell out. Why would you want to sacrifice your goals for the prestige at highly regarded company, but in a job that probably won't lead you to be a prop trader?
I picked a school based on prestige, lemme say it wasn't worth it ALso, it sounds from your posts that you've made up your mind already.
a few things to consider: - how certain are you that you want to trade and that you will excel if given the opportunity? it is a hard gig. At GS you would be exposed to top notch people and ideas in many areas that you might find as or more interesting. - how easy or difficult is lateral movement within GS, e.g., to the trading desk? GS is about talent and money and I would think that if you could find a way to test and prove your ability to trade, with say a very small prop. account, they would want to take advantage of your talent.
I found this job ad http://www.workopolis.com/work.aspx.../JobPostingView&jobid=9458506&lang=EN&OldUrl= "Our client, the Trading Floor of a full service chartered bank, is seeking an experienced Equity Trader to lead the agency trading desk" " sucessful individual must have the following professional qualificiations and experience: four years + experience as a Retail Equity Trader with an IDA member firm (please note the client will not consider "day trading" as a component) " Zing!!!!!