I'm not a 'professional' in the sense of working for a Wall St type firm, but when you mention slavery, is that not what you are hoping of achieving? Is it too hard to trade your own account, create your own algos, work for yourself?
you should be focused on finding mentorship and pay at the subsistence level. i think you take whatever job you can get at the best place that can mentor you, stay 1 year move on to the next. circle in firms that know each other, they maybe more eager to have competitors insights. place yourself where you want to be and make it happen, talk and mingle and shut up and listen as well. be extremely passionate - without it you're doomed.
I was eating lunch with NNT and Omar Foda in Chicago (Berghoff). Omar handed NNT a copy of "Dynamic Hedging" with corrections in the margins. He told NNT he could do an edition with the corrections. NNT stormed out of the restaurant. What's the price? $80 for dynamic hedging? You get what you pay for.
Brilliant. Just deserts for the time I saw him at LSE ripping into an undergrad in a full lecture theatre. Poor kid just mentioned NNT made his money by buying deep OTM options and he went mental at him for making it sound simple