Am I hireable? (moved from: Trading for a Firm)

[tradetheprofile]

I've moved this from the other thread as I realise it may be more appropriate here.

Hi All, I'm new to this forum so please let me quickly say "Hi", and I hope everyone is making good money from the markets.

My reason for writing is to ask if anyone knows whether I am barking up a tree, or if there is any chance that a Firm will hire me.

Since 1997, I have been actively involved in the financial markets; either trading futures and FX for my own account (with limited success), working for trading/charting software vendors, and also as a developer of algorithmic trading systems.

With the global economic crisis affecting my job, at the end of 2008 I decided it was time to return to the trading arena (needs must and all that), so I signed up and paid my money to one of the many trader training firms believing that I might as well learn from the Pros and, if successful, get to trade the firm's money. This was a very good investment, I believe, and one I would recommend to anyone who wants to pursue a trading career but doesn't know how to open the door to Ali Baba's cave. Lol.

Anyway, the past 9/10 months have been a rather long and protracted affair (star pupil on the sim(ulator), loser going live first time around, back on the sim, then very slow progress after going live again) but in recent months I have broken through the pain threshold and am consistently profitable (trading Bund futures), with my clip size being increased almost every two weeks.

However, I am not happy with the firm I'm with for a number of reasons and I don't want to go into the whys and wherefores here. Suffice to say that I don't find myself waking up each morning (at the crack of dawn) jumping for joy at the thought of working there.

What I want is to find a new firm to work for. But I really don't know where to start having had no experience in this sector. I am not even sure whether I am hireable (track record and limited experience as a futures trader).
Naturally, I have no doubt as to my own ability and I cannot see (based upon my current performance) any reason why I should not continue to perform at the highest level. Nonetheless, I would really appreciate some advice and guidance in this matter. Am I hoping against hope? How do I go about applying for a position? What firm? What kind of position? etc., etc. If anyone can help I will be truly grateful.

Cheers

 

[fantastic]

Why don't you sell trader training courses or trader trading services ?

 

[Mr. Charts]

Why not trade from home?
Why work for someone else?

 

[tradetheprofile]

Thanks for your responses. Much appreciated.

fantastic: No thanks. Been a salesman before and don't want to go back to that. When I make a decision to change direction, I burn my bridges. I am 100% committed to the future, or nothing.

Mr. Charts: Firstly, day trading from home isn't an option for me (a "Local"). The point being, and of the greatest importance (to me), that I need the information flow coming from the trading floor (other traders and mentors) to support my decision processes. It's this flow that helps me to get a really good feel for the market.

Secondly, the cost of day trading from home is too restrictive (even for the best day-trader). That's why Prop Shops exist. Traders pool the cost of resources (clearing in particular) which, in turn, allows them to provide liquidity to the markets. Let me put it this way, I can trade for between €0.80 and €1.20 a round turn on Eurex with a shop. When you are in and out of the market, sometimes within only a few seconds, the cost of retail brokerage just isn't viable.

Thanks for the advice, though.