Well, imagine you take this job at whatever salary they are offering you. Let's also imagine that you are moderately good at making money, and in couple years you are making a couple hundreed per annum (which sounds like what good prop-shoppers make). What's your next step?
I still would go for job in IT which would make you at least 55K a year. Given there is no family, you can still save some and put that money into short term investment before venturing into trading. I am 29 and have been in IT for 7 years. I too am getting sick of corporate world which pays you as low as they can afford + can lay you off anytime. Now having 10K aside I am thinking of opening Scottrade account and do short term investing and at the same time learn about the market. Personally being developer is hard as well (you have to upgrade your skills all the time).
A 10 yr engineering professional or any advanced-degree professional does not fit the recruitment or business plan. There are many reasons for this and is outside of the scope of this thread. The main reasons are agility, speed of perception, ability to pull the trigger and take a risk without all the information needed (there is never enough information so I would rather take an information risk over a price risk) and other reasons. I'm not saying that someone of advanced age or of a "logical" profession is not a good trader (I am just that person). Rather I'm saying that it is easier to train someone who has a clean slate and is able to flow with whatever comes their way. I'm looking more for someone who would be able to continuously get knocked down for the first 6 months and get back up and try again. As we all advance in age, our nerves don't allow for that price while we bleed money and have a family to feed. The criteria for recruiting and the venues for doing so are long and specific for what I do. The main problem that appears as we advance in age is we are not readily accepting of a wrong decision. Our experience and ego become a hindrance and a mountain of an obstacle. I am contacted by floor traders a lot and I have traded around some and this is often the main reason they can't make an adjustment to the screen. A fresh mind is much less costly and much less time consuming to train. Hence, some say that doctors, lawyers, engineers, pilots and the like have the longest learning curves. They seek logic where there is none. Obviously, these are just my views based on experience and what others have gone through. I'm sure everyone here has a different opinion.
So you are basically saying this guy has a better shot to succeed at trading straight out of school, versus coming with some business experience in the corporate world ?
engineers make the worse traders. because they have need to be right all the time. every thing has to be precise & accurate. you won't find many former engineers & MD's that are consistently profitable in trading. FT is one of the exceptions here. i think high school grads might have a higher chance of succeeding in the trading world than college grads
If engineers make the worst traders why are those firms knocking on the doors of the engineering college at my school? They seem to particularly like EE, CE, and CS grads.
but most of those guys (Engineers) are religious system traders or automated traders. Granted, if they were to trade with discretion, they probably underperform versus a go with the flow kinda guy. I find less and less discretionary traders these days, low volatility, rigid market makes it less appealing. Mr. Zen
No. That would be the opposite of what I said earlier. I'm saying he is better off getting some experience in his chosen field of study (assuming he had the grades and has a great offer) before he pursues trading. The skills gained through a corporate environment are easily transferable to operating as a trader. The doors to trading are always open. This may not be the case when it comes to the doors to engineering. Doing the engineering first, in this case, will act as a stop-loss for trading later (something to fall back on). Just a couple of years in the engineering field will help him figure out what skills are marketable later and where to go to find a job again in engineering if he needs to (contacts). The traders I take on do not get the same chance that is offered at large prop firms or any place else that recruits 5 to 20 guys at a time, puts them through a course and promises "full training". I know little about this person's deal or where his offer came from. Many do very well going to a full blown prop firm such as those mentioned. When I started at a prop firm, I was one of 22. By the time I left there, there were only 4 other guys who came in with me. This is a more typical situation in prop. Without going into much detail into my business, my ability to recruit depends heavily on the success of the last new trader. I have to see that through first or cut them loose before I can recruit again. For this reason and the fact that I spend an intense amount of time with them when they start and when they increase their size, I have an extremely high success rate (the only person I terminated was the ONE person I hired outside of my plan - a lesson learned much like a trade that was taken outside of the envelope - very little chance of success). Most prop firms operate on the idea that many will fail, but a few will succeed above and beyond the failures. Anyway, I hope that answers your question.
I wanted to pumpmy two cents here,and all responses here are great ,as they are related to each own's experiences and observations. I say that you reread Steve V.'s responses over again. My response would just mirror his posts very closely. For me , i hated the corporate word. Sucked!!! I started prop, no salary, but no upfront capital,free lunches and a reputable firm. So i considered my self lucky for that deal, and I made my mistakes losing someone else's money. If you lose your owm $its 10x more mentally challenging (grueling0 brotha'. I say its hard to make it without persistent passion,and takes longer to make it on your own , with no mentors whatsover correcting idiotic mistakes. It will take longer if you treat it as part-time, hoby, or not sure if the career is for you. So, I quit corporate world after winlose part-time, learned how to trade profitably prop, went out on my own, got a damn stupid side JOB to make ends meet and take the pressure off my trading, and now making a living at it currently while adapting to the lower volatilty and newer, or different markets to trade ( i.e., Eurex). You can trade many different markets/hours electronically now. IF YOU want it bad enough you will do whatever it takes, not listen to your negative family , friends about pitfalls of trading , and MAKE it work for you. But you better know and BE TRUE to yourself right away, as they say, the market doesnt give a fat rat's ass about your degree, joboffers,living needs, goals , etc. Mental toughness, discipline , persistent learning,and a trade plan with positve expectancy and true edge, executed properly, consistently is where you need to focus. And live and learn to make decisive decisions with great frequency. Bottom line, if you need to ask a bunch of strangers, who gave great answers by the way, who will be on the other side of your trades the first couple of years,what to do? I say Engineering is your sure thing for you. the best thingfor you Just being honest. Good Luckto you !