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Our Dublin September Trainee Class will soon take their first steps on their trading journey to super-stardom. Two of our 6-months-in Dublin trainees, Rob and Dave talk about what the new class should expect. We are hiring shortly for this year’s September Trainee Class, follow us on Twitter for up to date info!
Want to know how a professional trader starts out?
Rob (trainee trader).
I joined Positive Equity in February and I can safely say the time has flown by. We started off with various reports and studies on different economic releases which effect the products that we would soon begin trading. This was useful to understand what causes price movements and then match up the theory with the actual charts. Furthermore we got an appreciation of what was being called out over the ‘squawk’ [office-wide live audio market news channel] . After a month or so, we finally got to begin trading on the simulator [trading the market but with monopoly money].
Once the sim started, we really looked forward coming to work. Each morning and each trading window offered more opportunity and lessons. Inevitably the only way to learn and cut out mistakes is to trade as much as possible. This was strongly encouraged by our trainer as we were given a target to hit a minimum number of trades each day. Once our execution skills improved and we had learned the basics, this could be relaxed a little as we became smarter traders and only sought out high probability trades [trades with a good chance of success].
The best part of the job is seeing improvements in your own performance. The better you perform, the greater the reward.
Another highly interesting part of the job is product and strategy innovation. This is figuring out something original that works in the market, using your own initiative to turn ideas into ‘P&L’ [profit and loss]. Undoubtedly this is what sets people apart and can see traders reap the reward of hard work. Nothing is guaranteed but it could only take one innovation to make your career in this industry.
Currently we are being given targets to hit before being trusted with the responsibility of being a trader on the live market. With a bit of luck, dogged hard work and determination I aim to make it on to the ‘live’ market around Christmas time.
David (trainee trader).
It’s been nearly 7 months since we started here as trainees at Positive Equity. After 7 weeks of brushing up on theory of the derivatives market, reading through memoirs of famous traders and beginning research on the products and markets that we were about to explore, we finally earned the right to begin on the trading simulator. The “Sim” market is a carbon copy of the live market, except of course the money we make or lose is not real.
It took us a while to get used to life as trainee here at Positive. As you get out of the classroom and onto the sim, time begins to fly. Monetary goals and targets become part of the daily plan, making sure the competitive edge is always alive. After having quite a promising start on the sim during the busier months of May and June, we soon got hit with the reality of the life of a trader, the ups & downs. July and August became much quieter and so too did our P&L’s. One of the trickiest parts I have found so far here is not letting your emotions play a part in your trading. Getting frustrated by the slow markets or getting over excited by the busier times usually does not bode well for trading results.
Keeping a calm level head at all times is a vital trait, one I’m yet to master.
However bad a day I may have had trading, I always look forward to the challenge of coming in and finding a way to improve. Learning from your mistakes is the quickest way of improving at this job. If you keep learning how to not lose money, you’ll eventually begin to learn how to make it. Innovation is another integral part of working here at Positive. Finding new products or even just finding new ways of trading products can be very rewarding and is a sure-fire way of making it into the live markets. Hopefully with improved discipline, patience and more innovation we will show consistent results which will get us off the sim and into the live market by Christmas.
Here’s what we are looking for at your upcoming graduate careers fair:
Bright, enthusiastic students who want to know more about a career in front office financial trading.
We don’t ever hire on the spot – all our recruits talk to a good mix of Positive people before we offer a trainee trader a role with us. Culture and fit is a big part of what we look for.
There are no set in stone rules about what makes a super star trader. Calculated risk takers stand out to us much more than reckless risk lovers.
We will have a simulated trading environment set up at the fair where you can try your hand at trading. This is the setup we use ourselves to trade professionally every day. The goal is to have as many trades as possible while maximizing profit. It’s a quick and fun way to show you how we work. Each entrant will go into a prize draw! We hope to see you there.
Want to be a trader? Apply HERE.