Applying for an entry-level job at a hedge fund

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I'll try my best. Thoughts on what to say about poker?

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just add it as an experience.

Year X-Year Y:

Professional Poker player
- studied probabilitistic basis for the game
- acquired skills in decision making under uncertainty

etc.

Barron

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... risk management...

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-learning to improve through other people + integrating their strenghts while eliminating weaknesses
-performing under pressure
-long sessions / stamina / mental durability
-thinking about a subject 24/7
-self control / handling tilt
-handling / maximizing equity vs. opponents on tilt / psychological assessments
-constantly assessing and reevaluating your game, making adjustments
-uncanny dexterity / flexibility in risk taking / decisionmaking
-100% brutal honesty when analyzing personal performance

And probably many more. Emphasize that many of these cannot be learned at a top school, with a top gpa, or really in any other activity/job by early 20's (maybe entrepreneurship).

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Most of those aren't particularly useful and could even be counterproductive for a research job.

[emon87]

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Is it going to be hard to find an assistant trading job in the DC area?

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Yes. Trading firms are almost exclusively in areas with markets for them to trade on. AFAIK, there's no market in DC, although I could be wrong.

I am interning at a trading firm on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange this fall, so if you have any questions just ask.

[jws43yale]

I know that kids from Yale have to be incredible to get Hedge Fund jobs right out of school. I am talking like 3.8+ GPA and some great extacurricular like All-Ivy athlete, head of some big campus organization, etc. [censored], I am a 3.35 econ major and I am trying to build alumni contacts right now so I am sure to get interviews next fall. The big firms (Goldman, JP Morgan, Morgan Stanley, Lehman Bros., etc.) have way to many 3.5 Ivy League white males applying to their jobs, so you have to stand out.

[DcifrThs]

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I know that kids from Yale have to be incredible to get Hedge Fund jobs right out of school. I am talking like 3.8+ GPA and some great extacurricular like All-Ivy athlete, head of some big campus organization, etc. [censored], I am a 3.35 econ major and I am trying to build alumni contacts right now so I am sure to get interviews next fall. The big firms (Goldman, JP Morgan, Morgan Stanley, Lehman Bros., etc.) have way to many 3.5 Ivy League white males applying to their jobs, so you have to stand out.

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OR you have to know people and interview exceptionally well.

getting that first interview is tough. i'd suggest not going through GLOCAP and instead reach out to every contact you could possibly know and do it that way.

i'm right now in the midst of my own job search and glocap has provided me with no interviews yet (there are 2 on the table though that look promising). my 2 other headhunters have also not provided an interview.

my personal contacts, however, have put me in touch with 2 wall street legends and the president & ceo of a equity trading & macro research firm 2.5 miles from where i live as well as the managing director of a branch of Cerberus (my top two choices though would be the firm 2.5 miles from me or the one via glocap. the wall street guys could simply provide more and more contacts though so you never know)

you have to go through personal contacts (which is how i got the job at the top hedge fund i worked at previously)

Barron

[mdouglass]

Getting that interview at all seems tough (maybe impossible) considering I am in DC. If I don't want to move (right now) what kind of investing jobs should I be looking into? I'd like to get something going so that in the future I can look better on paper and possibly get one of these assistant trader jobs.

[mdouglass]

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Glocap? I don't know if it's good or bad or what.

Nope, not solid grades. 3.0 in Math from Virginia Tech.

Basically I'm screwed?

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Yes.

To break it down:

3.0: bad
Math: good
Virginia Tech: marginal
Not knowing what business Glocap is in: bad
Not having had a job since college: bad

PM me if you want more specific advice.

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"real" job.

I'm sure my poker experience is infinitely better than most other candidates who worked some worthless out-of-college job, the trouble is conveying that to them. Maybe it is futile since HR will automatically shoot it down when they see it.

Now I know what Glocap is. Good.

My 3.0 is embarrassing, however. The worst part is that in college I never even tried at all. When I didn't like a class I put the least amount of effort into it possible just to get a B or a C. Most of my senior-level math classes were like that. When I really liked a class I worked hard at it and tried to get an A. Obviously I wish I could do it all over again. I would have switched to Finance, most likely. Nothing I can do now about it :/

[hapaboii]

Re: Trading

I suspect you'll find the most trading job opportunities(within the U.S.) in Chicago and New York. But as I said in my previous post, the world of trading is huge.

Traders can find employment on both the buy and sellside in many different types of financial institutions doing many different things. You are in a situation where you can't really be picky, but I suggest you read up on the different roles of traders to decide what you might like best.

Getting a job in trading can be difficult though... to make this brief, I think you should take advantage of your contacts at SIG(as I called Susq). Check out their website, learn a bit about the company and what their primary business is. I am under the impression they are always looking for new talent in Chicago, NY, Philly area, maybe SF?. At the time I was entry-level job hunting a few years back, I think they paid 40k/yr to ass't traders. If this fails, keep building and trying to use your contacts. For the most part, applying online through sites like monster or company sites is going to be useless. HR is going to screen out your resume(there's an off-chance the trader himself is the hiring manager and might give you an interview). Lastly, be careful about arcades and bucket shops - these firms will offer you a chance to trade if you make a capital contribution and pay a desk fee. They aren't bad for everyone(profitable daytraders can negotiate 100% payouts, low commish rates, and benefit from the leverage provided by company funds), but not a place to learn.

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Glocap? I don't know if it's good or bad or what.

Nope, not solid grades. 3.0 in Math from Virginia Tech.

Basically I'm screwed?

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Yes.

To break it down:

3.0: bad
Math: good
Virginia Tech: marginal
Not knowing what business Glocap is in: bad
Not having had a job since college: bad

PM me if you want more specific advice.

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"real" job.

I'm sure my poker experience is infinitely better than most other candidates who worked some worthless out-of-college job, the trouble is conveying that to them. Maybe it is futile since HR will automatically shoot it down when they see it.


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Well I'm sure, your poker experience was infinitely better and enriching and all that for you but the trouble is convincing companies how that would help them. They want someone reliable who would do crap work for them and you track record suggests that either you lack the aptitude or motivation (relative to your competition, of course).