Hi Guys, Just wonder if personal trading experience will count towards in getting a job for trading, portfolio management or investment analyst position in the investment field? I have a undergraduate Economic & Business degree from a respectable university in Canada and currently waiting for my lvl 2 result. I worked for 1 1/2 year at State Street dealing with pricing, accounting for derivatives portfolio. Currently working in a middle office as an analyst with one of the big 5 banks in Toronto, doing P&L for all of the UK loan portfolio. Since last September, my personal portfolio increased 242% due to day trading for my personal portfolio. Can I put this on my resume? will this increase my chances to land a investment research or trading job in the IB or asset management company? Any advice will be great! Thanks
i would put that on your resume sure. many trading job interviews ask about your personal trading experiences.
To my surprise (in retrospect; it’s more apparent now), it is helpful to talk about trading one’s personal account. Usually you don’t have the liquidity problems that large funds have to deal with, but you still have to think through security selection, strategy, buy/sell discipline, risk control, and other useful stuff.
I think it would open the conversation to the issues bchadwick mentioned (selection, etc) and show that you have tasted success, but at the same time those numbers are not readily verifiable to the interviewer. I guess I wouldnt expect it to wow them as much as to open the door for conversation. I also think it would be more beneficial for a trader position than anything.
I think it’s very valuable for a junior-level position. I landed my hedge fund job and my sell-side trading job while spending a lot of time talking about my personal portfolio during interviews. You do not need to have a track record of success for it to be of value; if I were interviewing you I would ask you what your biggest loss was, what mistake you made, what you learned from it, and how you adjusted your process to not make that mistake again. That in itself is better insight to me than just listening to you talk about how you bought oil futures and made a ton of money. For senior positions you need to have a track record managing an institutional-grade portfolio so personal accounts are not relevant.
Thanks Everyone. The information is really helpful. I will put it on my resume and try my opportunity~
No one thinks its going to be a concern that he was day trading at work i.e. not working?
Yeah, I agree. I was a day trader for awhile and one of my interview questions for my research analyst job was “What was your biggest loss and how did you deal with it?”. Money managers don’t care about those who have had success but more concentrated on hiring those who know how easy it is to lose money and how sometimes losses are out of your control.
I think it’s fine to put it on the resumé, just don’t take your *experience* too seriously. On a different note, I used to find it quite annoying when the posh-sounding grad wannabes would tell me about their private portfolios, on account of having a rather large chip on my shoulder…