Hi, I graduated in May of this year with a degree in business/finance and have recently started to explore trading roles and my chances with them. I come from a NYC school that is not a huge target, but it is starting to earn more respectability on the street. GPA is between 3.10-3.30. I have no formal education in trading, BTW. But I do have a strong desire to learn about the field. I picked up a few books which I have started reading, just to get some background on trading. Overall, I know I don't have a chance at the banks. Could I get into a prop firm and if so, which firm would you recommend? If not, what would you suggest? I'd rather not go to a firm where you have to pay your way in. Student loan bills will be coming soon and that will complicate things somewhat.:eek: Thanks for the help!
GPA is probably a sniff low to even get looked at by any banks. If you go pure prop, you will just burn through $10,000-25,000 in six months to a year. Your best bet is to try to get in some sort of split where you don't have to put up any of your own money...but you pay for it with a bad split and higher commissions. IMHO, go get your MBA and try to get a real job.
Study for your series 7. Get sponsored. Maybe consider Susquehanna or Assent as a starting point. JMHO.
Susquehanna and Assent are two completely different type of models. One is a proper firm that pays a salary + bonus and teaches you properly, and the other you just plunk down your $25K and churn away.
Susquehanna as a starting point? maybe if you are a serious quant. (unless they've added a prop arm i am unaware about). You could always just go the retail "prop" route with a firm that will train you, and only demand 5k of your own money up front to trade. Real trading firms, where the traders are employees, don't usually care too much about education cause it has little correlation to how you will do, unless you are designing black box trading systems. Then all they want is quants or IT studs. From good schools. Just out of curiosity, how do you get a GPA between 3.1 and 3.3? You don't know exactly what it is?
Thanks for the advice. GPA is 3.15. Just put the range there to give you all an idea. Either way I know that is too low for any banks, in most cases. Business school would be nice, but I wouldn't get into a good one until I had a few years of solid work experience, great GMATs, etc. I really can't afford to pay myself into a prop gig, so perhaps I should look at something else for the time being. I've read some threads on FNYS, which doesn't require contribution, but that seems like an extreme long shot. I will take a look at the other forums here though to see if I can buy software and learn some things on my own.
If you have any interest in prop firms in Chicago that are involved in commodities or futures get your series 3 first since it isn't too hard and you don't need to be sponsored, then study for the 7 and be ready to take it. My 2 cents.
good luck in whatever you choose. i would not suggest prop trading. Most people are not successful at trading and many that are successful, don't do that great. and since your not gaining any work experience your basically not hireable after a few years of prob trading. I would not know how to explain to a future employer that at the moment i am watching cnbc hoping cramer pitches a thin float stock on this tv show