Good call cubsguy81... I was thinking the same exact thing. My only guess here is that some people don't just want the money or the success of being a consistent and very profitable trader...they also want the prestige, pride, and/or hype (or whatever you want to call it) that comes from being able to say that "GOLD" (no pun intended) sentence... "I'm a Trader with GS" or maybe... "I'm an Equities trader at GS" Or all it's other various incarnations. You have to admit that it does sound pretty impressive and does roll off the lips pretty smoothly NICE! however... I speak for myself when I say I don't think its worth all the extra effort and time especially if GS is looking for an advanced degree as opposed to just a BS. I say finish the BS because you are almost done and you never know when you may need that degree to get into another field. You only have a year left (for crying out loud) i.e. so dont turn back now! You can frame and hang it on your wall for all to see but I would not do it just because it gets me into GS but hey...thats me. The only "real" difference between a GS and lets say Bright Trading, Hold brothers, Assent...etc. is huge capital backing and the opportunity to maybe run a major hedge Fund...If you plan on running a hedge fund worth in the hundreds of millions of dollars then GS is the best option but if you can be satisfied with lets say a million or two of income a year then why bother? Besides that... if you can make 74% or more every year; you can always start your own hedge fund and keep more of the profits than you could otherwise at GS. My guess is that there people who have built funds into the hundreds of millions of dollars from scratch. Why share all that with a firm? Though the network of contacts and clients you form at GS may be of great use one day if you are trying to raise capital to open your own Hedge Fund. Your audited track record is of the most importance here. Again... you only have a year left! you might as well finish the degree because it would be a shame not do that with only a year left... though guys like Michael Dell and Bill Gates may have thought differently about that. The way I figure it and I speak strictly for myself here, as long as I'm making really good money with a decent reputable firm, (it does not have to be the GS's of the world) then this is the bottom line. If finishing a degree was required to be a trader... THEN YOU CAN BET YOUR ASS! that I would have finished my degree but I had 3 years left to go ( not 1 like you ). There are firms out there that want the fancy pedigree, the high GPA, the advanced degree from a fancy Ivy league college majoring in math, physics or economics, you know... the whole nine yards. Im glad that there are good decent firms out there whose greed has allowed them to lower their entry standards. Hey... it works for me and many others. It was my dream to be a trader. I was estatic the day I find out that there were firms that require nothing more than a Series 7, a burning desire to succeed and a moderate and reasonable capital contribution. Heck, if it were not for the leverage I can get, I would not have bothered to get the Series 7 either... Though Im glad I have it now as I think things are going to change in that regard. The firms that dont require the Series 7 AND are registered require way too much capital for the average person to cough up. If any one knows of a reputable firm thats registered with the CBOE, requires no more than 10K to 15K and gives at least 10-1 leverage, please send me a PM. I know some people that are intrested in this kind of setup.
I really appreciate all the feedback. I wasn't considering trying to get into GS...I was just curious on how stringent they are on educational background checks. Im most definitely going back to finish, with only a year left. Im still young, only 23yrs old. Im trading full-time now with my own capital and will just take night classes to finish up. In the end, all I want to do is trade my own capital and run a small hedge fund. I have no desire to run 100's of millions of dollars.... I had a great year last year but this year isnt as great thus far. Im up 12% as of today... Thanks again for the advice and I wish good trading to all...
this is insane. People want Goldman Sach because the opportunity to put "Goldman Sach" on your resume is worth its weight in gold (no pun intended). It is a safety blanket that will ensure that he will have a secured future for the rest of his career. Even if he could return 75%/yr and make his own small hedge fund, it would be so much easier to achieve with a foot in the door at Goldman. Honestly, a real trader would pick goldman ANY DAY over trading at a prop firm; the decision is a trade in itself.
GS is a "secure blanket that will ensure that he will have a secured future for the rest of his career"??? Hahaha! You have to understand that many people don't care about their resume because they don't want to be a corporate employee anymore. There are thousands of independent traders who make millions of dollars on their own, living the life that they want, and don't give a shit about having GS on their resume....
People who want to work for Goldman do it because it is known to be stringent in its hiring process. The same thing applies to any industry leader; Google; Arnold & Porter. Having Goldman on your resume is a litmus test of quality, whether the quality is there or not is besides the point. Only in an idiot would pass up a job trading at Goldman to trade individually to start. Worst case scenario is you burn out at GS and trade for yourself, as you would have had you not decided to trade with GS. Best case scenario, you have access to millions of capital to trade with at GS, and if shown to be any good, you go solo while taking millions of start up capital with you. Hell, in any other scenario the associate at GS makes more than the majority of independent traders. Sure, plenty don't give a shit about having GS on their resume. And I'm sure if the original poster was making millions he wouldn't care either.
I guess you missed my point. Some people don't want to work at a company. GS, McKinsey's, Google, whatever. They want to run their own show. Be their own boss. Some people value this freedom more than what looks good on their resume. One doesn't need to graduate from Harvard and go work at GS in order to become a multi-millionaire trader. There are many roads to financial success, and some people take the entrepreneurial route instead of typical corporate route.
No, you apparently didn't get my point. You seem to think that, given a choice, going to GS as a trader over a prop firm or an independent trading route is a natural and only logical thing to do. And I'm telling you it's not the case. Most people would take the route you're describing but not all do. Just like some "crazy" folks who drop out of college to create their own companies.... Some people are just not meant to be a corporate drone.... I hope this helps.
A few years ago I got a job at a major insurance company. I thought I was going to die if I had to fill out one more piece of paper. They checked everything and this was just to sell insurance and Series 6. Even had to get fingerprinted. Unfortunately it didn't work out and I only stayed there about 5 months. It is nice to tell everybody who you work for, but that is about it. When I decide if I want to sell a product, I first decide if I would want to buy it. Most of these big companies fon't really have a better product/service, they just know how to sell it. Now I have to tell them I deliver pizza, but at least I make more money.
Apparently never have heard of the goldman gauntlet. You wont get hired to clean the crapper at 85 Broad. Go get a job at a prop firm that will take your cash and will hire non college grads. The days of the super trader with no degree have gone the way of open out cry champ