I agree with you. Working for one also gives you street cred and employabillity. THe training at a BB firm will give you a super valuable marketable asset on your resume. And the possibility of mobility iks there too.
I actually just interviewed with FNYS. It seems like an okay shop and was aesthetically pleasing unlike other shops I have visited. The head of recrutiing is not a trader which I find a little weird. It is funny though, I think the more ugly the office, the more money that is made there. These guys are not there to impress clients, they are there to get paid. Any comments on that?
Tends to be true among prop shops as described above. One of the best group of independent traders I know (and they are still making mid 6 figures each) trade on actual folding cafeteria tables. As regards FNYS, according to their website, they also manage money. If they are truly an 'institutional' trade desk or have clients even occasionally drop in, they should have a fairly nice office.
I've interviewed there. The guy seemed a bit unprofessional, not straightforward until the end. Basically he said to get some experience at a prop shop and come back. He said it would be in the best of both our interests. Here is the thing. If I am successful, why the fuck would I come to train for a measly 45K per year? I make more than that on the side at my second job. So it seems like they hire losers. Just does not make sense. On the top of Institutional and Bank traders. Back in 1998-2000, they made the least money comparing to prop traders and Investment bankers. Wake up, any big firm does not give any profits at all. It's all about the bonus. The jobs are good, if you ever get to even a semi-respectable level. No matter how good you are, if there are no seats, you do not get squat except to run coffee. Bottom line, these great ideal trading jobs require a lot of connections, sucking up, taking crap and just plain time. Anybody who is truly smart (street smarts, not smth some BS Ivy league can teach you) will not even waste their time with the ridiculous discrimination and bueracracy of big firm trading. You were either a sucker back in 98 trying to work up for years and years even though your 6 bosses were morons anyway or you went to prop and made a few million.
now that the "prop" firms are requiring capital, they are really just a specialized breed of retail brokerage. Also nobody is "making a few million" prop trading, unless perhaps they own the prop trading firm. If you can make 6 figures you are the creme de la creme.