that is one of the reason why i am trading. there's no pressure on my immediate success. i've seen new traders being pressured(have expectations) to make alot of money when they first started. that turns out to be the opposite
Take the engineering position and save your money. If you have a choice, get a job where you can trade with a *very small* account a few hours in the morning and then go to work in the afternoon. Unless you're a genius and were born to trade, it'll take you at least a few years to find your rythm and then another couple of years to find the right market that suits you and be consistently profitable. Once you find you're profitable, then you can always quit your job and fund a larger account. Don't get into the "get rich quick" mentality, always leads to failure in the long run. Take it slow and steady, let compunding work for you and you'll retire a very wealthy person. Hanging around a prop shop a few hours during the day just to observe and learn will speed up your learning. Tell them you plan to join when you're ready. Good luck.
I appreciate the replies guys, keep the info coming! However, to those saying 'save my money' -- I would earn a salary (the offer is higher than my other engineering offers) regardless of my performance, and then train on a simulator for x months until I'm consistantly profitable or I quit or get fired. When I trade real money, I make 50% of commissions on profits I make that exceed my salary. Does this change anybody's opinions? Thanks.
Like I said, I don't know of a prop shop in Chicago that offers a salary. This might have changed in the last year. They all offer draws. There is a big difference. A salary is compensation for services rendered. A draw is a loan against future earnings. You need to make sure you read the fine print.
I agree with all posters on this thread that suggested sticking with your primary career path and pursuing investing/trading as a sideline in the meantime. I differ from you in that I'm a business undergrad student, graduating a bit later than you (roughly a year from now). It's likely that I will use that degree to continue to work salaried jobs for the forseeable future, while diverting funds when possible into investment accounts. In order to comfortably pursue full-time trading, I feel that I would need a pretty sizable monetary cushion to fall back on, at least a year or two worth of living expenses.
If you went to college, its almost certain that you did not major in "stock trading" so of course you won't need your college degree when learning to trade. You CAN go and take your engineering job and keep prolonging getting into the business of trading but you are only extending your learning curve. If you start after you graduate, roughly 22 yrs old, by the time you are 24 (assuming you have made it that long) you can honestly expect to be able to pull in six figures. Not a bad amount of money for anyone, let alone someone under 25. Those first two years will not be easy and you will have to be patient and willing to learn whatever you can about the markets (and yourself) but if it was easy, then everyone would be doing it and making a great living. But the reality is that it is a very hard and demanding job. But if the passion is there, and you can tread water for a bit while you learn the ropes, the rewards can be well worth your while. Life is short, take a shot.
If the salary is for more than 6 months and trading is really what you would rather do I would take the trading job. It will take you more than 6 months before you are making any money most likely. This seems to be a much better offer than most people would get so they are really invested in you and I'm sure you will get decent training. After 1 year you can evaluate things and you will probably know if you are going to make it or not based on your progress. Worst Case you can explain it to interviewers that it was an offer you could not refuse and now at least you have the trading for a career out of your system. Good Luck and let us know what you decide. I wonder if years from now you want to become a trader you would have this type of offer?
Just a little side note, I graduated from college in 2001, went to work for Fannie Mae in DC for my first year. Started trading professionally after I left there because I discovered thats what I truly wanted to do. Started at a firm in 2003 with no experience at all and now, after spending countless days and nights going over the tape and charts and all that, I am consistently pulling in $300-$500 a day. Not a huge sum of money by any means but i know there is a lot of room for growth. I will be 26 next week. I really wish I had not wasted that first year at Fannie Mae, it was good "experience" but knowing that there is so much potential in the markets everyday, I wouldnt go back for the world.