IMHO this is indeed a professional communication venue (with a few uber-negative wannabes with issues tossed in) Your level of research regarding this board, and trading in general is inconsistent with Oxford caliber work. This board is teaming with hugely successful professional traders.. most of them lurk more than post. Trading culture in general is rife with horseplay, much of it personal. Thick skin is crucial. As negative as this board may sound, all you're seeing is brutal honesty, in most cases from people who can take what they can dish and do it all the time. I used to work with a few thousand professional traders, and they would beat each other's egos to a pulp all the time. It was fun. You should read "Liars Poker". I think those guys went to Oxford. Further, it sounds like your best bet is a graduate program at a bulge bracket bank. With your credentials, you're probably a shoe-in if you knock on enough doors. Your attitude blows though. Trading requires honesty with self. By the way, what's with your tag if you've never made a trade?
I think those looking for quants always want guys with higher degree in Math/Phys from a top tier univ. Is anyone doing that?
Just as a reminder but a lot of traders I personally know are high school or university drop outs. The best trader I know and one of the bigger ones in Europe a few years ago (works for his own account, lost contact however so dont know how he is doing recently) went to school untill the age of 16. Like other people told you allready, its much more than just knowing a lot of things. It's about how you integrate them with your personality and emotions. Start to read everything you can here on EliteTrader; you will need it if you want to become good.
Wow. I started reading through this thread initially thinking that this guy was being given a hard time for asking an innocent question, but with each response he's just getting more and more obnoxious and arrogant. This last one -- thowing out HBS as a fallback -- takes the cake. Who wouldn't want to slam this guy after that? Sorry dude, but there are no high paying trading jobs for people straight out of school. Trading, like sales, is a pure meritocracy with little bearing on academic background. If you want to rely on your schooling to get you an "in", then you'll have to get at least a PhD with a thesis on cutting edge market analysis, and maybe then you'll be able to catch the eye of a hedge fund. If you're not up for that, then follow Htrader's advice and get a programming job.
I have been told by a friend of mine who holds a PhD in Electrical Engineering from MIT that Oxford on my resume is as good as gold. I am not expecting my Oxford experience to land me a job but rather to land me many many interviews for trading positions. You are right when you say that Oxford operates on the fallacy of the lottery. I mean, only 12 students were admitted to my specific program out of over 350 applications. I believe I am actually the only US student who was admitted to the program (12 students are chosen from an international applicant pool). The likeliehood of acceptance can be analagous to winning the lottery indeed. Thanks
it's increasingly looking like you came here to brag and convince yourself of something. nothing humble about that. typical.
You still don't get it . Your analytical skills and Oxford degree will be to little benefit when you're a trader, because trading is about different skills and mindset: perseverence, determination, ability to control emotions and humility. You will be surprised what your emotions will do to you when you start trading your OWN money. Your Oxford degree may land you with numerous interviews for a trader's position, but that only shows the lunacy of the selection process for jobs at Wall Street.
Listen up Winthorpe, You should immediately contact Mortimer Duke of Duke and Duke Trading Inc. located at 50 Broad Street. I here they are always looking for intelligent Oxford type individuals like you spanking off on the Internet all day.