FullyArticulate and houndogone nailed it. I'd like to add that you need to find someone that has programmed realtime fault tolerant systems. Programming (just like trading) is a very broad field and the title "programmer" does not tell me what you can do. Also, why would anyone good want to code up a small retail trader's ATS?
Yes. Good point. You need someone with significant experience... Designing and coding real-time, event-driven, asynchronous, fault tolerant systems. This can be in various fields... such as communications, etc In general... I would not recommend hiring a wannabe trader... Beause that person is more interested in "trading"... than being a top software engineer. You cannot be great at both... One has to devote oneself to one or the other. Like personally... I am a 9 as a trader... But maybe an average 7 as a software engineer. If, in theory, someone made the ** mistake ** of hiring me to develop ATS... I would hate it... because I would rather be trading... and do a mediocre job... Unless I'm coding it for myself... then that's a different story.
I disagree with HoundDogOne on this one, andread was not saying that talented people work cheap he was saying that some untalented people are expensive and that just because someone looks good and charges high prices it doesn't mean they are good. I have 25 years of programming experience, have built enterprise systems, commercial software, development tools, a great variety of software. I have seen plenty of people at all levels of the pay scale who suck or are not worth what they charge. My advise to jonnyy40 is to find someone you know personally who is a good programmer to do the hiring for you. If you don't know how to do it you won't be able to sift through the bullshit that someone who knows more than you may throw at you even if they don't know how to program well. If you don't know any good programmers then I suggest finding three or four people to do small jobs for you. Then expand the scope of the job for anyone who does the small job well. Don't think you can figure out who is good and who isn't without seeing them work and seeing their results. Since you don't know the difference having three or four people will give you some basis for comparison. You might even try giving them the same exact job. I've seen some people do in a few hours what others took weeks to do. You are likely to see the same difference if you look at three or four. It is not just speed that matters however, organization, design and a well-thought-out testing plan is critical for this type of project. - Curtis
Good posts guys. It seems that a good/experienced programmer is essential to a successful ATS project. We are in the early stages of an ATS. As a trader, there is no way that I could be a good/experienced programmer. Sure, I could maybe learn the fundamentals, but that's a long way from being an expert. That being said, I need to find a good programmer (or programmers since I'd like to breakdown our ATS into modules). But since I don't know any programmers, it really is hard to know who to go with. I've been working my way down the IB Programming Consultant list with bid requests and mixed results. Maybe there is a better programmer list out there that I don't know about. Any other suggestions to finding good ATS programmers?
So let's say you do want to at least try creating a simple automated system for yourself (I am most interested in using it for backtesting). What language/package would you use? TradeStation's EasyLanguage seems to be the most popular choice and it has a lot of pre-programmed pieces. Has anyone yet tried NinjaTrader's new version?
a few points: 1) if you want to split your application in modules without being a programmer, think about it carefully 2) have an idea about the requirements. At least have an idea about the language/platform/technology 3) you are the man who knows how the application should work. You tell the programmer what the application should do, the programmer decides how. Because of that the programmer will ask you questions and give suggestions, but he usually shouldn't decide what features to implement. The logical conclusion is: you don't need an ATS programmer, you just need a good programmer, which is difficult enough. Previous knowledge can be a plus, but not necessary. 4) if you want to take some risk and hire someone you don't know there are a couple of options, depending on your location. As a start you might start looking on some sites like monster.com. I think recruiters have to pay a fee there, though Good luck
Right, we're looking for a good programmer who understands trading, not an ATS programmer specifically. We're not looking to hire one full-time, but rather just outsourced for this project, if it's possible!
Yes, I got that I have never been a recruiter, so I don't have much information, and I haven't been looking for a job for a couple of years, but some job engines should give the possibility to search for freelancers. Monster, stepstone, theitjobboard, other sites. I think one or more can help. How good the site is depends sometimes also on your location. If anywhere in the world is fine for you, well, better Another option is to talk to an agency. I don't know how much it costs, but they should know what to do when they need a freelancer.