Most of the banking/trading jobs are in the big cities. It's mostly NYC and Chicago, but a little for other cities. (with Chicago being more options and future

Most of the banking/trading jobs are in the big cities. It's mostly NYC and Chicago, but a little for other cities. (with Chicago being more options and futures) Like you mentioned elsewhere, it sucks as you might imagine. Why would a big bank need good software when they can get trillions of dollars in bailout money from the government? (and the losses by Knight are still a rounding error compared to the government subsidies the financial industry receives) For example, 0% interest rates are a massive wealth transfer to the financial industry, because they can borrow at 0%, buy stuff, wait for inflation, and profit (and get bailed out when they're wrong). Financial software is shockingly low quality. Like most things, you need previous financial/trading experience. I haven't done it in a couple of years, so I wouldn't be seriously considered now.