5 ms·
If you're considering algo trading as a career then be sure to talk to a lot of people doing it. I spent several years trying to break in to the industry at a
by remyp 11y ago
If you're considering algo trading as a career then be sure to talk to a lot of people doing it. I spent several years trying to break in to the industry at a few prop firms with only middling success. Here are my observations:
1. The vast majority of firms only hire people with CS or math degrees from top 10 schools, with an MS being the minimum. There are few exceptions.
2. Nobody is making as much money as they used to.
3. Depending on what firm you end up at you will probably spend a lot less time building cool strategies and a lot more time trying to shave off a few microseconds here and there.
4. Be prepared for a pretty rough work environment. Swearing, violent outbursts, people being secretive and not sharing ideas.
5. If you're lucky, management will be STEM people. If you're not, they will be former floor traders who have managed to stay alive this long.
- Rainymood 11y agoI'm like you trying to break into prop trading (Ms applied mathematics) would you think it is still possible to 'make a career' in this kind of stuff? Or would you advise getting a PhD first? How was your experience at the prop firms?
- remyp 11y agoI gave up ~3 years ago. I had to choose between aggressively pursuing low-paying trading jobs or being pursued for high-paying tech jobs. The decision was pretty easy for my family and me. As we'd say in the industry, I went were the edge was. I'd recommend doing the same -- the security, stress level, work/life balance, work environment, and transferability of skills is much better in tech than trading. Put concisely: if you can't handle seeing a smaller paycheck next month because a guy on your team pressed the wrong button and lost $50k in 10 seconds then trading is not for you. If you want to get in I would recommend as much math and programming as possible. A PhD probably isn't necessary, an MS from a top school will do. You'd better be prepared to do programming, math, AND arithmetic in interviews, though. I once had a options trading interview that included ten "please multiply 148 by 72 in your head, we'll wait" questions.
- koder2016 11y ago> I'd recommend doing the same... Sadly this advice only applies to USA... E.g. UK has such an over-abundance of IT workforce that tech salaries are significantly below US despite comparable cost of living.
- eecks 11y agoWhat makes you think there is an over-abundance of (skilled) IT workers in the UK?
- spoonie 11y agoI would argue the lower salaries are for societal reasons (health care, cheaper university tuition, etc) more so than Europeans coming to work in the UK. Consider AmaGoogBookSoft salaries in London: lower but not scandalously so.