Trader position - Poker on resume

[edtost]

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GS

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is that Goldman?
If you don't mind (can PM me also) what was your education background when applying?
I'd sacrifice my first born to get a trading job at goldman...

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Yes, out of undergrad -- finance, I have to say I probably aced all my [4 rounds] of interviews at 85 Broad so that helped a lot. I tend to interview well, I got offers out of college from every firm I interviewed at except Solly where I flat-out totally bombed a Fri 8am 2nd rounder.

The firm was/is terrific, but I'd say even more important than which firm is what desk you are on, for obvious reasons. There are certain things that UBS/Bear/DB/Lehman do as good or better than anyone, just depend on what you are looking for. GS is great at many things, but not, say, mortgage bonds. If you want to be a prop trader, there are many banks/funds/firms you can do that at as well. For some of us, smaller [less bureaucracy] can be better.

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Straight out of undergrad is only 2 rounds these days.

[minwoo]

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Crazy not to do so. I have craps and blackjack on mine - worked at GS, LEH, various hedge fund offers, and elsewhere.

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What specific things did you mention about poker? For example - discipline, calculated risks, variance, etc? Unfortunately, I am far more educated and experienced with poker than trading and am having a bit of a problem relating poker to trading.

[llayner]

Bring it up at the interview. It came up with two different people by itself during my interviews.

[Brainwalter]

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Crazy not to do so. I have craps and blackjack on mine - worked at GS, LEH, various hedge fund offers, and elsewhere.

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What specific things did you mention about poker? For example - discipline, calculated risks, variance, etc? Unfortunately, I am far more educated and experienced with poker than trading and am having a bit of a problem relating poker to trading.

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I think aggression/acting with conviction is a big part of it.

[dibsy]

It can't hurt to mention poker. Just make sure they know it will not interfere with your job as a trader (e.g. you won't be playing online tourneys till 2am every night)..

[OrangeCat]

I cannot believe how often this question comes up and how often bad advice is given.

Absolutely do not talk about poker on your resume. It is highly unlikely you will meet someone in the interview process who knows anything about poker beyond the ranks of hands. To 99.999% of the US population poker player == degenerate gambler.

Very, very few people (even on Wall St.) are aware that excellent poker play involves an understanding of things like variance, risk and so on. You do not want to spend your interview time talking about poker. Instead, talk about how you learned a lot from a book about credit risk.

If your true passion is poker, then talk about it. You might get hired anyway.

In a face-to face interview you might mention something about poker and if they respond positively you can go on to talk about market similarities in a mathematical sense. If you can’t do that, then you have nothing to talk about. Talking about your mad hand reading skills will not help you. Talking about how you won the WSOP ME will not help you.

[mal_noles]

Apparently you havent interviewed for a trading position before OrangeCat. Having poker on your resume is definitely not a good idea for the majority of jobs, but in almost every trading interview I have had it came up and was not a hindrance by any means. I landed a great job and I think discussing poker in length in my final interview was a definite advantage.

As far as reading a book about credit risk I am not sure how that is coming into play at all unless its a fixed income position.

[knicknut]

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Talking about how you won the WSOP ME will not help you.

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If you won the ME, why would you need a job? [img]/images/graemlins/laugh.gif[/img]

[recondite7]

I put it on, got the job, hated the job, quit the job.

FYI research trading positions very carefully

[eastbay]

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I put it on, got the job, hated the job, quit the job.

FYI research trading positions very carefully

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I'll bite. Story, please?

eastbay