To begin with, it is necessary to know what a trader does. If you follow the routine a trader goes through in his daily life, you may have some idea of how the trader functions.

For the most part, when you observe a trader at work, it may appear that the job perhaps does not warrant the diplomas and credentials asked for when a trader is hired. The daily activity of a common trader- usually called a plain Vanilla Trader is guided by three parameters viz. information, intuition and technical knowledge. The information parameter demands his main attention on his screens. World news is telecast on them continuously by Reuters or Bloomberg. The trader is the person next to the telecaster to know about the on the spot news. The news appears raw on the screen. The trader is actually interested in a very small fraction of the news. The trader steadfastly follows the flow of scheduled company releases and economic statistics and the like. There are also announcement from the traders’ dealer board connecting him to the brokers of trading company.

Another important task is to watch the market and act intuitively. Here, the trader has to form his opinion of markets’ direction by following price trends and liquidity of the order book. Rest of the time he responds to the queries from the clients and issue quotes to them. Here he acts as stock broker’s agent.

The hiring process for traders is quite competitive. Investment firms in countries like France lay a great emphasis on university and business school diplomas. World’s largest banks from UK Or US however do not rate University credentials very highly. There are of course exceptions to this.It is difficult to state precisely what the hiring criteria could be but it would be a deterrent if you have not gone through a major preparatory course or business school.

There are many stock brokers and modest sized banks which offer people without sterling diplomas, plenty of opportunities. It is significant to know that university credentials may weigh less than a trader’s ability to understand the market and predict its behavior.

If somebody performs with commitment in a small company, he is very likely to be spotted and will ultimately handle high sums in forex or other activities and entitle him to higher brokerages. It is important to note that US Investment Firms have plenty of self-made ‘prop traders’.

One thing however is important. If you choose the non-diploma path, you must enter this area at a young age. The earlier a trader starts to earn from brokerage, the better would be his chance to deal with large sums.

There are two ways to become a trader in case you do not possess these extraordinary skills. You may start as an assistant trader to verify deals make profit and loss statement, update prices, monitor risk and a few other jobs. In due course he can step into a trader’s shoe. The second alternative is to become a trader via the back offices or risk management with a commitment to work for a minimum period.





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