So I wanted to post an update as to my status. After 6 grueling months I finally managed to land an internship for the summer. As you can probably guess I was unable to get a trading related internship. What i did manage to land was a PWM internship with a very sucessful broker at one of the bulge retail brokerages. Since I really do not want to stay in Private wealth management I was curious as to what type projects i could potentially do to enhance my resume and give me some type of relevent exposure to what i could expect on a trading desk. The group i work for is the largest at my branch, they focus on using an asset allocation approach and use mutual funds opposed to a traditional stock picking approach. Perhaps i can turn this into something that would be useful on a trading desk at a later date? What skills should i look to build?
Jesus H christ man Kid you've been lied to to learn to trade you need to sit and watch charts and trade small size I make 1-3 k a day and I never looked for the kind of job you just got so do some thinking on what I just wrote
It doesn't sound like their focus would be applicable to your interests, but that is beyond your control. Having the internship lends credibility to your stated passion for finance. Recruiters and companies want capable and interested entry level employees. If I were you, I'd get familiar with Bloomberg, maybe work on your Excel/VBA skills, and listen for any assignments that might involve instruments that appeal to you.
Pay attention and learn all you can. Go out of your way to meet people. If you can come out of the summer with a potential mentor or two or at least people you can ask for inrroductions and maybe future jobs, you have done well. Don't look down your nose at these people just because they are not traders. They are problably making more than 99% of the members here. Sitting on a desk sounds exciting to you now but a lot of guys on trading desks would love to be in that situation.
I am proficient in excel but i do not know VBA, its on my list of things to learn. I am about 50% done bloomberg certification, my current employer doesnt use bloomberg. Hell i dont even get market data. As far as mentors, I have a trading mentor that I believe in firmly and the style they advocate and i have had a lot of sucess in paper trading, of course i realize i must deeply discount this once i go live. Thanks for the advice guys, i appreciate it!
If you come across any hot tips while your taking out the bosses garbage send me a pm, if it's good I'll give you a taste of the action. Rennick out ps. remember,,Greed is good.
what AAA said. almost no one 'starts' on a trading desk. if they do, that's because they've got a record to show for it. they generally start in middle office (usually not back office) doing lots o' grunt and gofer work, tons of spreadsheets, and other assorted things like that which can be very tedious and boring. but be good at it. be DAMN good at it. establish yourself. build up social skills and networks. if you've got good ppl skills, you'll get invited out with higher middle office ppl at night, or given invites to parties, or other things like that. don't intro yourself as "joe, college kid" but "joe, (company you'll be at)". listen and learn. see how things 'really' work behind the scenes. ask questions AFTER the trading day is over...you'll get your head bit off if you ask a question during the day when they're busy at the desk, and more importantly, not be able to get the answers you'll later need. don't make enemies. suck up the abuse hurled at you. that's a good start.
later in life when you accumulate enough asset you might want to apply what you learn in asset allocation, beside it give you something to talk about when you happen to run into some wealthy individuals. Mutual fund is big on picking the right sector which is a good thing to learn about, do you know the stock appreciate 10% base on its own merit but 20% due to it belong to the right sector.