I have decided to begin another thread on this. I find it very interesting. I want to ask you all one question in regards to all of this: What would you see a young (20-25) Prop. Trader doing the rest of his or her life after done with daytrading? Dont tell me 'open his own account' because I mean post day trading. Do any of you see prop positions as a stepping stone to other trading positions? (at a MM, inst. trading, etc.)
It's usually the other way around... trading for yourself is usually the ultimate career goal (imo), not the first step to becoming something else
But as someone who is in their twenties, there is no way that they are gonna want to do that for the rest of their career. At this younbg stage many want it to lead somewhere.
Someone in their early twenties might want to leverage their trading experience to get a salaried/commission-based job at a hedge fund or blue chip prop trading desk. Most of these jobs are hard to come by right now and a young person would want to learn technical, fundamental and sector trading from their daytrading job before trying to interview at blue chip firms. Since blue chip firms aren't really hiring right now, stay at the prop firm until opportunities open up. You better know trading inside and out (and I don't mean momentum scalping since I-Banks and hedge funds don't care about that) and interview your ass off! Personally, I think a base salary + commissions is the best type of trading job, especially if you're trying to raise a family. The freedom of being your own boss and trading from home in your pajamas is nice, but a losing streak can make you homeless in a hurry! Having to eat Spam every night can get stale after a while...
I did manage to obtain 2 trading jobs in the "middle" of my prop. trading career. However, with current econonomic/market conditions I believe getting a MM or trader job is next to impossible. The few who do get a job on Broad St. or Wall St. are Ivy league MBA students - it is very competitive.
Well, as someone in his mid twenties (smack bang in the middle) I totally disagree with you. I DO want to trade for the rest of my career. I don't want to DAYTRADE, I'd prefer to take a longer term approach and compound my gains, but for time being, daytrading is fine. I do have "career" goals (on top of "just making money") I'd like to accomplish, but trading itself isn't really a stepping stone to them. I'd rather achieve some semblance of financial freedom first, and then go and then attack the other stuff. If you're talking about using prop trading as way to get into a "real job", my first question would be WHY???. Secondly, I think that if your real goal is to get that "real job" (whatever it is) then there are probably better ways to go about getting it.
Why even bother getting a job. You are your own person. No boss to deal with, no office politics, no corporate scandal causing you to get laid off. Take it from someone in their late twenties looking to go from career to trader. You are in the right spot now. If its companionship and socializing that you miss, join or form some clubs, take up some outside activities, become active in your community. That will give you all the human exposure you could want, and in an environment that wasn't competitive and cut throat. Just my opinion anyhow
At such a young age, don't even sweat about. Chances are you'll end up doing something else anyhow. It's always like this. I mean, how many people are doing now, what they thought they'd be doing in their first year of college. Something will come up, don't worry about a thing.
What are you people smokin. Why do you want another job after prop trading? Make a few million, and then enjoy your life. If you havn't made a million yet, train harder, it is possible.