Career change to options trading

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Metalloyd

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I am currently doing my internship as a Financial Controller in an IT firm but I am thinking of considering a career in Options Trading. After my graduation, I thought of applying for some of the trading firms but the current financial crisis freaked me out and I had to delay my application. Further, I have been reading about some very good applicants getting rejected by trading firms. So instead of wasting my time, I applied for the controller position and got the job. But this internship is just a temporary position with no development whatsoever. I will be made redundant in June 2010. :(

I am thinking of starting the process in march-april so that I can give the tests and attend interviews. I would like to know if it would be a problem when applying for the trader positions.
 
Hmm .. my interests clearly lie with Options trading. Why should I opt for Forex trading? Care to elaborate a bit.
 
becouse forex trading is small money can earn big money, forex market is 24 hours
a day turn over is almost 3 Trillion, huge market
 
Stick with options; Danny why would you recommend Forex ?
1. You say volume; That liquidity isn't avaliable to you unless your trading ECN or Interbank and even then, it doesn't matter; markets with high volume have more efficiency and a smaller chance of gaining an edge for the individual trader; a market with less volume may be better for a particular persons style and thats one of the nice things about options - The spread... if you are patient you will gain it for a nice amount, however with FX the spread is not due to liquidity. Liquid markets aren't always the 'best thing'
2. 24 hours ? Whats good about that? It means that its hard to identify whats important to that market and that you always enter 'in the middle' of the action; personally i prefer to be there at the open, like a 'fresh start' - What advantages are their in a 24 hour market? Apart from being over to trade TOO many hours
3. Leverage; Options markets also have leverage, maybe the reason you can earn BIG with SMALL amounts is because you trade in a bucket shop; Whereby the required margin is small, but its not even an exchange or fair OTC market; Rather its a one liquidity provider OTC who knows all the movements of market participants = Unfair. In ECN FX or interbank, yes leverage is avaliable, but similarily options involve leverage and the ability to turn small amounts into large (For skilled participants) however when you work for a firm, why does that matter? You have a large amount to trade with.

The liquidity in FX isn't neccesarily a good thing; trading in less liquid markets with wider spreads can be a much better option.


Which trading firms where you thinking or applying to ? And what type of options trading are you considering?
 
hmm.. I have a list of trading firms in Amsterdam (I live there). I have looked at the websites of Optiver, All Options,Scrocca etc and am thinking of applying for some of the firms.

I am a noob at this so I am thinking of doing my research first before going into trading. I hope that the time I have till Aprill will be sufficient for me to do the research and practise for the tests and interviews but the biggest question for me remains whether they will accept me as my internship is not related to trading at all. My qualifications do though as I have an Industrial Engineering degree and a Master's in Finance (graduated recently).
 
Metalloyd said:
hmm.. I have a list of trading firms in Amsterdam (I live there). I have looked at the websites of Optiver, All Options,Scrocca etc and am thinking of applying for some of the firms.

I am a noob at this so I am thinking of doing my research first before going into trading. I hope that the time I have till Aprill will be sufficient for me to do the research and practise for the tests and interviews but the biggest question for me remains whether they will accept me as my internship is not related to trading at all. My qualifications do though as I have an Industrial Engineering degree and a Master's in Finance (graduated recently).
Click to expand...

Hi Metalloyd

It is more likely that these firms will work more on your mental agility (especially in maths and logic/probability). Most options firms work by market making and they require you to have a high level of intellect/IQ. I wouldn't be too worried about your experience as they will train you for an entry level position.

Good luck

JD
 
Jaydee said:
Hi Metalloyd

It is more likely that these firms will work more on your mental agility (especially in maths and logic/probability). Most options firms work by market making and they require you to have a high level of intellect/IQ. I wouldn't be too worried about your experience as they will train you for an entry level position.

Good luck

JD
Click to expand...

Hi Jaydee

Thank you for the post.

So my internship experience wouldn't be a hindrance in the selection criterion then? :|
I have read on other forums that one of the trading firms asked for Market making/trading experience. :confused: I was a bit shocked as I had earlier heard that they were quite open to recent graduates with minimal experience in trading. Moreover, when I visited their websites, there is not much listed in the events section. No trading internships either.

As for the tests, I have been working on Math/ Logic and Probability and will have to see the level I can get to.

NOTE: If any of you have market making experience, I would like to know the day to day activities of a trader and the set up of the trading floor. I will be grateful for any information provided.
 
Metalloyd said:
So my internship experience wouldn't be a hindrance in the selection criterion then? :|
Click to expand...

Shouldn't be a problem - like I said, you need to be very clever - probably the top 0.5% in the World standard (no joke). Even though, technically, you don't really need to be this clever to do the job, the market has become so competitive that they are asking for increasingly bright people.

Metalloyd said:
I have read on other forums that one of the trading firms asked for Market making/trading experience. :confused: I was a bit shocked as I had earlier heard that they were quite open to recent graduates with minimal experience in trading. Moreover, when I visited their websites, there is not much listed in the events section. No trading internships either.
Click to expand...
If it's an entry level, grad position, I can't see why they would want you to have trading experience. If it's an experienced hire role, then it makes more sense.


Typically, market makers aren't all that dissimilar to spread betting firms. They are generally market neutral and, therefore, only looking to pocket the spread. Thereby, hedging risk using the underlying market or other derivatives. Some of them, however, may be less adverse to risk and not mind carrying a little on their books to pocket a little extra.
 
Keep everyone happy and trade fx options - there's a rich lineup of fx derivatives
 
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