Swifttrade Interview

Discussion in 'Prop Firms' started by Wazlov, Apr 10, 2008.

  1. Wazlov

    Wazlov

    I don't think I understand their business model even after I've just had an interview at a branch office.

    Upon arrival, I was interviewed by the office manager who did not even get my name correct (after the fact that I sent him my resume and spoke to him on the phone) and then told me that I would have to pay $499.99 in order to get a try at trading a $50,000 simulation account for 30 full days, during which time I
    would recieve no compensation. I was told that at the end of the "trial" period maybe 1 of 5 candidates would be selected to try trading a $50,000 account with a payout of 35% up to the first $100,000 revenue brought in, which could increase to 65% as you progress.

    I will be completely honest with you when I say that I am unable to go through a 9:30-4:00 training period with no compensation for a full month. I need to eat somehow.

    Also, I got some kind of interview questions like "where do you see yourself in 5 years?" and other cliche's I didn't know how to respond to. The only trading related question I got was weather or not I could explain what short selling is.

    Throughout the past two summers and part time throughout each year, I have been employed by a local wealth management firm as an equity research assistant.

    In addition to the experience gained at the firm, I have also enjoyed trading equities, ETF's and options in my personal account during the last year. I had my greatest success with an ETF arbitrage model I ran off of Reuters Plus linked to Microsoft Excel which outlined the disparity between the NAV of the fund and the underlying assets, from which I could detect ineffeciencies and capitalize on them. My trading account however, had to be depleted in order to pay for school.

    I got from the interview that they were going to try to "teach" me trading methods which would probably not work for me anyway. I would love to learn more risk management (which is the name of the game) but I feel highly confident in my methods and just need the capital and opportunity to implement them in a disciplined environment.

    Should I expect the same type of experience from every manager?

    Thanks, for your attention and input, the rant made me feel better.


    :)
     
  2. Man thats a rip from what I know they dont charge upfront what branch is it and if you are doing that arb model you are way ahead of their scalping rubbish stay away if I was you.
     
  3. If the manager is charging like that, you can pretty much bet the branch blows and you dont want to work there. Total scam. Depending on your city, there should be other options. Even consider saving up 25k and calling a leveraged pro firm.
     
  4. anarcho

    anarcho

    You can get a Sim Account for free, no need to be paying someone for that. I haven't heard of people having to pay Swift up front for a long time, thought they got rid of that. Anyways, seems like a scam.


    If you can't go a month without getting paid then you will need a nights and weekend job, when you start trading. The pay is not going to be good right off the bat, if there is any at all.


    If you let people know where you are located they can give you some tips on where to start trading.
     
  5. Wazlov

    Wazlov

    I'm in Toronto Ontario Canada.

    I've searched this forum and found: Swifttrade, Title Trading and also a place called Infinium Capital which seem to be hiring.

    Its not like I'm making all that much money at work, I'm still quite young and completing my degree (1/2 a year left) part-time. However, with the little capital I had, I was often making more trading than my earned daily wage, hence why I feel prop trading is a logical next step.

    The Big Banks are infinitely harder to approach, however I don't believe in impossible, and I have made some useful connections in the industry.

    I wonder if firms would rather have a slacker-type right-out-of school MBA on a desk than a poor smart and hungry guy like me with a few years of experience....?
     
  6. Are you saying the head office is charging you 500 bucks to join?
     
  7. Wazlov

    Wazlov

    ^^^

    It was not the main office.

    It was a branch just outside the GTA.

    The manager there was the first to reply from my inquiry on their main website.
     
  8. You should let head office know as they are taking the name to an even lower level than it was.
     
  9. Save up and do it yourself.
     
  10. bespoke

    bespoke

    Worried about not making money for the 1st month? Expect 1 year before you can even pay the rent. Unless they hand you something that works which by the sound of things they won't be able to do.

    Did your model require overnights? Can't do that at swift.
     
    #10     Apr 11, 2008