I would take it just for the experience plus the hours at the NYBOT are great giving you more time for training, mock trading,etc. If done right, the experience you will get from good option traders is priceless. Since 9-11,. they moved to a floor in Long island city in queens and are sharing pits due to lack of space. i was an option trader for 5 years working 4 hour days 10-2 and now due to the pit problem I think they only trade for 2 hours per commodity. Take it NOW ! Worry about the potential profits later. Although 500K is a bit high in that environment - sugar, cotton, oj are not that volatile lately except maybe the past 3 months in Cocoa but bull mkts do'nt last forever. I ought to know coz I was lucky enough to be in the sugar bull- made $150K in 2 months and I ain't the sharpest tool in the shed!
*Walking into each pit to pick up cards from trades that the traders have executed *Check those trades with other firms clerks *Time stamp card and send it to the exchange *Pick up cards from Futures broker used to hedge deltas *Type trade into risk analyzer to generate new derivatives(ie deltas, gamma, theta, vega) * print out new option position to give to traders so they can stay flat *print out new sheets as vols change throughout day Don't they have hand-helds that electronically execute option trades with other pit MM's. I know the CBOE & AMEX option MM'shave them with auto greek updates depending on the firm you use.
Don't forget coffee runs and lunch. Make sure it isn't a cheap group where you don't get both paid for daily.