Clark
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What answers are HR folks/Hiring managers looking for when asking the questions ...
1. So, Why do you want to be a trader?
2. What attributes make for a good trader?
Current HR folks/Traders/Recruiters/Hiring managers, I'm seeking your advice. |
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JamesH83
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| if your interviewing for a trading position, shouldnt you know the answer to that already? |
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IAmEric
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| Phorgy PhynanceBanned |
| Total Posts: 2961 |
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| I say the best way for you to get help is to put your answers out there and let these guys tear them to pieces. It is better for these guys to do it then the hiring manager. |
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Clark
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Sure.
But it is always nice to get input from someone thats been there and done that.
By the way, Thanks for all of the input! |
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JamesH83
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do you want to be a trader? if so you must have you reasons?
what are they? |
¦(X)=(Nh)-1K{h-1(X-x1) + ... + h-1(X-xT)}, |
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FDAXHunter
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| Founding Member |
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JamesH83's answer is completely wrong and not helpful at all.
As a beginning trader, as a matter of fact, as a beginner in anything, how are you supposed to know what makes people good at what they do? Just repeat what someone else told you? You only truly know what is required to be good at something... when you are good.
Anyway, so I think the second question is best handled with something like:
"I don't know what makes a good trader. I think you know, because you are obviously trying to find one. So I can simply tell you what other people have told me and the dots I've been trying to connect so far. It seems to me, from my limited exposure to the field, that the successful traders tend to be: analytical but with a preference to simplicity and pragmatism, patient yet aggressive at times, very intuitive but capable of structured thoughts. Successful traders seem to be disciplined.
As you can tell, the attributes I just listed are somewhat diametrically opposed to each other. So good traders seem to be able to reconcile quite opposite traits in a single entity. Blablabla."
I would emphasize the fact that you don't know what precisely makes a good trader, but you have some ideas and have absorbed what you read/heard/saw. Also, while you heard that there are some common traits, there seem to be enough exceptions to the rule to say that there is no standard set of attributes except discipline that are characteristic of good traders.
Why do you want to be a trader? Probably best to go with something like you have friends/family in the trading industry and from the exposure you have had so far, it seems like a fascinating, new world to you that you really want to be a part off... blablabla. Are you very athletic? Say that you were considering a career in athletics, but it seems much to uncertain of a move and quite unsatisfactory from a mental point of view. You think that trading is a field very you can bring both the discipline aspect as well as your analytical skill to bear.
The truth is: You probably can't quite define why you want to be a trader... yet. It's just something you want to do. The sad part is, you can't say it like that.
Not sure that's of any help, but better than nothing for a start. Maybe someone else will |
On tue un homme, on est un assassin. On en tue des millions, on est un conquérant. On les tue tous, on est Dieu. |
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JamesH83
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FDAX i dont think my answer is wrong. I think you should be able to verbalise why you want to do something if you are a rational individual. |
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IAmEric
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| Phorgy PhynanceBanned |
| Total Posts: 2961 |
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I'm not a trader, so take my ideas for the sheah they are, but to answer 1.), I'd consider something along the lines, "I have an insatiable lust for money  " 
Come on dude, tell us your answers (to the best of your ability) and we'll (well hopefully somebody smarter than me will) tell you how to improve them. |
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JamesH83
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sorry Clark i didnt mean to be rude. But i dont understand why people ask questions like this, they obviously want to be traders for some reason or another so why cant they just be honest. If that means saying "show me the money bitch" then so be it. At least they will think you have balls. |
¦(X)=(Nh)-1K{h-1(X-x1) + ... + h-1(X-xT)}, |
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FDAXHunter
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JamesH83: I think you should be able to verbalise why you want to do something if you are a rational individual.
Interesting, so you can rationalize and put life's passions into words? Then you are a better man than me. As a matter of fact, you are a better man than any of history's greatest musicians, artists, athletes. I tip my hat off to you. 
Money can be a motivation to get into trading, but it will not serve you once you are in it. As a matter of fact, it will constrain you. |
On tue un homme, on est un assassin. On en tue des millions, on est un conquérant. On les tue tous, on est Dieu. |
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JamesH83
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| No FDAX not lifes passion, I can put my actions and ambitions in to words, cant everyone? |
¦(X)=(Nh)-1K{h-1(X-x1) + ... + h-1(X-xT)}, |
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jungle
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| Chief Rhythm OfficerCSD LLC |
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generalizing fdax' answer, you are basically saying you have a set if skills which you want to apply, and that you feel trading is a good place to apply them. i think that is a good answer. also, we have no problem with people saying they are in it for the money...but that may not be true at other shops or at banks. if you have a DEMONSTRABLE interest in the markets, you may also want to mention that being a reason to trade, but make sure you can back it up...or you will shoot yourself in the foot.
fdax is right on 1) what makes a good trader and 2) that you don't know this. it is reasonable (and good) to say something like, "what i can gather from reading about successful traders is that they have the following traits in common...". then you demonstrate you have an interest, have done your homework etc.
example of a crap answer - i want to be a trader so i can prove to my parents i'm not a total failure. i had someone tell me that in an interview. |
"it goes one for the chronic, two for the amnseia..." |
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Any interviewer wants to see a genuine demonstrable entusiasm for what you are applying to do, and the dedication to have taken steps to find out about it. Assuming you've done that - and to be honest you will be lucky to get far if you don't - then i would suggest you think of your real strengths and genuine examples that demonstrate them. Then apply these to the "what makes a good trader" question. Obviously it needs to be a good link, but more often than not interviewers want to see clarity of thought and logic. You can bank on this question being followed by why do you think you'll be good, and can you illustrate those strengths.
This doesn't answer your question but looking at the questions from this angle will help you deliver a well linked set of answers. As FDAX said they don't expect you to know everything about trading yet, but you do need to show that you know your mind. |
"Unsophisticated" |
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IAmEric
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| Phorgy PhynanceBanned |
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Another silly thing...
I was working at MIT and went through some training on how to give interviews. The current thinking is to give what is called a "behavior based" interview. A quick google search will turn up googles of info about it. The main idea is to think of the skills the employer is looking for. Make a list. For each skill think of a SPECIFIC example that demonstrates your ability in that skill set. The mantra is "past behavior is an indicator of future performance." The one thing I found to be hard to drill into people's heads is the need to give very SPECIFIC examples. Vague descriptions just cause the BS bells to go off.
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JabairuStork
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| Beat Box King |
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What makes a good trader? Buddha consciousness.
You have to be able to see both sides of the trade, and see that one does not exist without the other. You have to see the middle way, how trading is neither buying nor selling, but it is also both buying and selling. You have to see how all trades in the market are connected with each other, and how every trade is the same even though they are all different.
Why do you want to be a trader?
That is a personal question, and no two people will give exactly the same answer. Personally, I think that spending all day buying and selling things is somewhat childish, if not infantile. However, there are many childish things that adults can and should enjoy doing. Perhaps trading is one of those things. In any case, a person has to do something, so why NOT trading? |
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filthy
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i think the only acceptable answer to why someone would want to be a trader is the same as why someone would want to be a surgeon or an architect: because i have no choice!
seriously many days i wish i was a wombat handler or something but trading is more than a job. it is me. this is just what i do. it is what i was mean't to do. the fact that it isn't very useful to society or that it pays well is basically immaterial. this IS me
read hardy's "defence of a mathematician". if you can be great in a field you HAVE to do it. it is not a choice most people get to make.
i hope this was at least vaguely coherent. |
"this one goes to eleven" |
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dc
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I was working at MIT and went through some training on how to give interviews. The current thinking is to give what is called a "behavior based" interview. A quick google search will turn up googles of info about it. The main idea is to think of the skills the employer is looking for. Make a list. For each skill think of a SPECIFIC example that demonstrates your ability in that skill set. The mantra is "past behavior is an indicator of future performance." The one thing I found to be hard to drill into people's heads is the need to give very SPECIFIC examples. Vague descriptions just cause the BS bells to go off.
Good advice...and I might add that you should be able to give your specific examples (or answers to any other question for that matter) in 90 seconds or less...with relevance to the interviewer's needs...
...as a side note...I think more people should be formally trained on how to give interviews before being unleashed on interviewees trying to build their careers...
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Beavis
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| The Excommunicated |
| Total Posts: 910 |
| Joined: Apr 2004 |
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I'm resurrecting this thread to give due credit to FDAX for his earlier response on how to answer the question, "why do I want to trade?" I gave a similar reponse over the course of a day's worth of interviews and it probably helped me land a job in structuring/trading.
Another piece of advice is to make sure you have group work & leadership responses and specific examples ready. People seem to ask those questions at any level. |
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JamesH83
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Congrats Beavis.
Ashame you had to ressurect this thread though, you know I have evolved significantly since my pre blended time. |
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