Just wondering what's kind of training program do they offer for a grad-to-be? I am going to have the interview soon. do you have any suggestion for the interview? I appreciate your help OV.
As with any interview, just answer the questions honestly and truthfully. You never know what criteria they are looking for. There is no worse job in the world than prop trading if you aren't good at it. You'll be frustrated and won't make any money. You'd be better off working at Mcdonald's! However, for the very few that make it, there is no better lifestyle (except maybe for the owner of the prop firm!)
Absolutely......actually making money doing anything- a service industry job -even being a street sweeper is better than losing money consistantly- if your actually picking up a pay check and paying your bills .People are attracted to trading partly because they think its a very cool prestigious job ,but its only cool if your making not loosing money also they assume its big money but of the day raders that are managing to keep above water the income isnt that great .The other thing is the ones that make money arent taking calls in Frank and Teds Day trade room they trade for firms or they have a plan they stick to .This is why ive kept my regular job and trade when i can .
Exactly, just answer the questions like you truely feel about them, don't try to find the answer you think they want to see. If you get hired but are not suited for the job, this job will be your worst nightmare. There are only very few prop traders that make good money. I think, most importantly, you just have to love trading. If you're smart and really have a passion for trading, I think you'll be allright. It's my experience that most traders are lazy. They think trading is a job from 09:30 to 16:00. They read some books written by authors who never made a penny, about how to listen to your 'gut feeling' in combination with good money/risk management and everything will be allright. That's not the case, trading is a job which requires a lot of effort, both during and before/after the market. With so much competition, you won't be able to take people's money with regular effort... Not saying 'gut feeling' is a bad thing by the way, quite the contrary, but you'll need lots of experience before your 'gut feeling' will become reliable. So in short, if you're smart, have a passion for trading and want to put lots of effort into it (more than all the others trading at your branch), I think you'll make a good chance. Good luck with the interview !
thank you for all your replies. I got this position already.(4months ago..) The manager from my office is really really nice and kind. in the the last 4 months, i made several mistakes and loss around 1500ish.. now it;s the 5th month, and it;s the last few days of training. honestly speaking, all trainees graduated in last week except me. (i took 2 weeks away from training due to family occasion.) I love trading.. really really love. here's why. if the market is slow, i still keep trading and keep the share lot around 100-200 shares.. i usually do 100-150 trades/day. if the market is good, i may overtrade to 300 times. passion? I get up and arrive to the office quite early and check the pre-market info both at work and home. () brought esignal and keep tracking the future overnight.) the annoying thing is why i still cannot consistently make $$?? when the market went to wrong and crazy, i may loss 100-200. whereas my normal day is just 100ish.. i hate those bad days. also, thosedays my fee seems increased dramatically. ... any suggestion overall? thank you in advance.
Well, your question is very open ended, do you have proper setups, do you know what time of day to trade, do you know what your exit # will be when you get into a trade, I ask this because if you define your setups and entry & exits and manage your emotion ( that means have discipline) LOL. sometime we all need more of, it may help ! Having a set of rules will help you however without knowing your skill level and what system you are using it is hard to give you some advise If you want you can P.M. me and I will help you if you like I have done some videos on you tube, they may help as well http://www.youtube.com/user/TradePilotPro Take Care, Joe B.
I think you have to be honest to yourself. This doesn't look very good to me. Others graduated, but you didn't. Not trying to put you down here, but I think you've got to ask yourself: why did they graduate and why didn't I ? 5 months is quite some time and should give you a good indication if you're up to this or not. If you really are as passionate about this job as you say you are, then I'd give it another 2 months (if your Title manager is ok with that of course). Try to 'think outside the box' you're currently thinking in. Also, go sit down some time each day after hours and go over your tradelists, write down what you thought would happend, what went wrong and why. Especially try to identify those moments where your ego was taking control. If in the next 2 months there's still no improvement and you've really given all you had, then it's not a bad thing to admit failure. I think the only bad thing would be if you had not done everything you could have done. All I'm saying, don't keep on doing this job if after 7 months you still can't make money, you will then just be waiting your time. There are a lot of other interesting, good paying, jobs out there ...
I have to say that's horrible advice. A lot of great traders take more than seven months; some people are quicker at learning the psychology and discipline required for trading, while on others it's a longer path. I've seen traders who took longer than others to get out of the first stage of learning go on to become very great traders, without making money for 10 months or a year. You can't generalize. I do think the OP should make sure he is making money within seven months, and I think if he wants the help of experienced people here, he should ask for more specific help instead of "why am I not making money, (I.E. why are my emotions getting in the way of my rational decision making, or why am i less fearful in a loser than a winner, or more importantly, what was I missing when assessing my setup).
That's like saying, I've been in trades that went $5 against me and I still got out with a profit, so it isn't a good thing to cut losers quickly, they can become winners after all. IMHO you should have a very good indication if you're up to this or not within 7 months. If this job is really your dream, then yes, maybe you should pursue it a bit longer, but you'll eventually have to draw the line somewhere ... The good traders I know, all got profitable within a few months. I don't know any good trader personally that had to struggle longer than 7 months (let alone a year). But of course, it's possible ... But does that mean you should spend 1 year to find out ? That everybody has to decide for themselves I guess ...
I personally know of one trader off the top of my head that you guys probably read posts from everyday that took at least a year of daily scalping at swifttrade to get good. I know of another trader that started trading, left, and started trading a few months later again only then to find his true knack. However, being that I run a title branch and work with trainees (I have a slight idea who this branch manager in question might be... lol) it comes down to numbers at a certain point. I dont have the space and money to burn on people that dont get it forever. Thats why i outline the timeline before anyone starts, and give everyone what i feel is a fair shot on my dime and time.