Owning your own business teaches you transferable skills-- if you are smart you will INC your biz and work for it in a variety of roles-- sales, management, etc. your resume will list your business and your role as "sales manager" as an example rather than owner. be smart about it! Unlike trading that has zero transferable skills, small business does. surf PS-- i would suggest doing the same thing as a trader, create a small LLC and work for it as whatever, to have on your resume' rather than self employed trader-- most employers wouldnt let that get past the first round.
+1... I will add to this idea more in relation with the PS statement... always have an exit plan... I did exactly what surf said, but what I lacked was an exit strategy... what valuation do you call stupid that some is willing to pay for in a short span of 5 years? 7x acquisition cost? 10 times? do you go by historical values? business is no different than trading, an opportunity comes, you take advantage of it... and you have a plan to manage the risk and determine an exit... it is a long term trade, that is what I learned the hard way as I saw equity dissappear at the tune of a million plus during 2008-2011 while borrowing was difficult for investors...
True, but watch out being branded a "rich" guy--- no way will you get hired---- but maybe it could work depending on the hiring person/firm
if your resume sucks and you failed at trading then an ok option is sales, what kind of sales? any kind really. sales jobs are always abundant because people hate working on commission.
Quite a few guys at where I used to work at went into financial marketing and sales stuff, pumping out "analysis", newsletters, selling funds to clients and other associated crap. But I do agree that it's harder to get a proper job once you go down the daytrading path. That's the price you pay.
I think this kind of story is exactly why every single independant trader should turn their trading into a customer based business in some way, even if you are making lots of money. Get licenced and start an RIA business on the side, Write a newsletter, register as a CTA, Start a real estate business, do some web entrepreneurship/trader related web site, etc. In 2006 I had to get a normal job after being independant for a long time. Fortunately i still had lots of resources compared to the average person, so was not desperate, but it was still tough. It is tough to get a job, even if you have been successful, because employers truly want the wage slave mentality. If they know you have resources or have never had to answer to anyone but yourself, it bothers them. So, you do have to kind of tamp that down. You will not be able to get a job that matches your intelligence, so you need to put your ego aside and just do what is required, even if it is shit work. And trust me, most everything feels like shit work after making lots of money trading. I went to a few temp agencies and got placed in a mind-numbing accounting job where the other employees were 100% oblivous that they were in the process of being outsourced to india (I noticed it in first 15 minutes on the job). I will say as odd as it sounds, I now value this experience (with hindsight). I now know how bad average people have it in life - it sucks. I am convinced America will get worse and worse for average people over the coming 20 years. Corporations treat average people like shit, simple as it is. I have a lot more sympathy for normal people, whereas before I really didn't, i just thought most of them were idiots. You will also be shocked at how ineffecient everything is, how in most corporate departments 20% of the people do 80% of the work, while most are freeloaders filing their nails or surfing facebook all day. I realized after a few weeks that the department could be replaced by a handful of smart people who were paid more, but it can't be done. Workplace rules and PC don't allow for effecieny. Most employees have no notion of profit or the big picture, it took me a long time to understand that even managers had no notion of these things. I used this time to do the CFA program, learn programming skills, enhanced my research skills, etc, and kept trading on the side. I completely changed my trading style - Focusing on ideas that could some day manage several hundred million, not just a relatively small prop account. It made me realize I did not want to be a trader, I just wanted to be rich - and the best way to do that is with a business, be it trading related or not. I eventually was hired full time (not temp) transfered up a few times, and managed to get some decent work experience. I also improved my social skills, "small talk" ability, etc. I used to be one of those egotystical people who looked down on chit-chat (egomania?) but now I get it and have no problem with it. Bottom line, Im a better person and more well rounded. After a huge 2008 I was financially and mentally ready to leave the corporate job. Felt quite good to quit. As of right now, still focusing on trading, investing and business building, and having a good time - things are good to great, so can't complain. If you get in a tough spot, you have to find some way to turn the lemons into lemonade, tought as it might be to see it that way at the time.
If you fail as a trader then you need to hide your trading past. Trader, Self-Employed, anything that shows Ambition is BAD! Employers see people like traders in two ways. The first is a irresponsible gambler and the second is a âGo Getter with Ambitionâ . I would never hire anyone with either trait because they both are always going to want more and use me as a stepping stone for something better. I am pretty sure that the first chance you get to make more money you would be on it like white on rice, on a white paper plate in a snowstorm at the North Pole! Chances are you will do a great job but will always be looking for more money or power. Those traits have trouble maker written all over it and recruiters have been burnt by people like you enough times to know to stay away. Employers need submissive people who are fearful, grateful for their job, have bills and a family that has tem tied down and need to be easily controlled. Those are all very far from a traders personality! If I were you then I would make up a B.S. resume, dumb down any skills to just enough to get the job that you want and most importantly show a submissive nature. People in charge donât want anyone who can threaten their job or is going to tell them what they are doing wrong. Just FYI recruiters donât really check references or past jobs. They typically check a E-File system to see if a few things in your past line up. E-File records are full mistakes!
Tell me about it. I was reading this earlier today: http://www.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/comments/134u5m/hey_whats_your_job_how_much_do_you_make_and_scale/ Half the response are from people who say they do nothing but surf the internet all day and get pay pretty decent for it too. They probably probably even wrote in from work. In my department I suspect I'm doing the majority of the work in my team. I can't prove it but I feel like it.