has he made that kind of $ when emerging markets werent as hot, lets say 2-3 years back? the right kind of individual will make it even with a high school degree, given that somehow he does get his foot in the door.
Actually, I think the MBA may handicap you. I was told by more than one firm that they don't like to hire MBA's for trading (yep, I have one). Most firms prefer to hire people they can train to trade the firms way. They like young, aggressive, and intelligent people. Sometimes an undergrad job isn't even necessary, but usually is for the big trading firms from what I've seen. They don't care what the degree is in though! That said, one guy I went to grad school with did get a job on Goldy's bond desk right out of school. He is the only guy I knew who went straight into trading with the MBA though. Jay
Snoop- I can't speak for most firms, but here it's all performance and teamwork. A pure meritocracy. The moment you can't produce money for the machine, you're done. (I don't know about IB, those guys are all upstairs in their own little world, but they have a better view... I only have a view of the hot naked chick in the hotel across the street if you work late enough)
"i know a few of those myself also, but dac8555 mentioned he works for an IDB, so i guess he must be on the phone a lot, not to mention constant travelling and schmoozing with clients, thats why i wonder how much time he's putting in weekly." I was offered a job on a boutique sales trading desk, but in my opinion thats not trading. You are just a stock broker for an institution. Instead of pushing old ladys into the stock of the day you are doing the same thing to institutions but on a larger scale. When they wanted to know how good a golfer I was in my interview I thought oh shit here we go again. Im so glad Im where Im at right now.
ChiBondKing, What type of firm are you at now? What are you trading? I remember reading your stuff on that website with BrandonF on it a while back. I remember you really struggling to get a job at CME or CBOT or something like that. Congrats on getting where you want to be.
Wow, who would have thought my original question would have spawned a MBA vs no MBA, Ivy league vs state school debate. I'm just trying to fight through the..."you don't have the X# years experience" crap that I'm hearing. I follow the markets, and have started to trade a simulated account on investopedia. I want to show that I have an idea of what I'm doing.
Speaking of which... I know that analyst positions are typically given out to (early) 20-somethings (<25)... but what about associates (and higher) positions? Is it a disadvantage for someone 30+ (not me) to try and land an associate position at one of these firms? Assuming they did their MBA when they were 30 or something? From what I understand, associate level positions are given to those who come back with an MBA, which is why I ask. In other words, when is someone "too old" to land one of these jobs? I'm a late-20-something with a doctorate and have no idea where I fit in on the "timelines" for hiring people of certain age brackets, though i'm horribly fascinated by the corporate world, finance/markets, and such at this point from all the case-studies and so on that i've poured over, but have no MBA to back it up. I'm on the hunt for a career-track with a serious trading outfit that is willing to put in the time/money to train someone with potential, but no experience. Is that asking too much? How the hell does one "get in"? I mean, I do the whole trading simulator thing in my spare time to get a feel for it -- but obviously I get limited exposure to complex instruments like options, futures and such... mostly its trading simple equities... which i'm making the best of by trying out "pair trade" strategies and such.
Howdy- Yes, it was a difficult time back then, mostly because you had a lot of prop shops beginning to 'scale back' and the floor began to scale back as well... I had to go to work for a IB who then transferred me here to NYC.. Again, it was someone I knew on the inside who got me in. I doubt me knocking on their door would have gotten me inside.. -c