Tell us about what you do
I work at Vivienne Court Trading- a market making and electronic trading firm based in Sydney. My responsibilities as a graduate trader are to familiarise myself with the financial markets and the quantitative methods we make use of while researching and monitoring strategies in a range of global markets and products. As a graduate working at Vivcourt, my first ten weeks consisted of a training program in which I was taught finance theory, learnt the mathematics behind the products we trade and played a bunch of trading games.
A typical day working as a graduate trader starts with the news. As traders, we have to make sure we are well-informed about anything that could move markets or affect our trading books overnight. After the news, we usually jump straight into the class and then have some free time to work on our data science or programming projects. Following a catered lunch (yes, every day!), we usually play some competitive trading games, shadow the more experienced traders and then get back into the classroom for our afternoon study session.
How did you get into a career in trading?
I grew up and studied in Perth, Western Australia. Following my high-school graduation, I jumped straight into a physics and maths degree at the University of Western Australia (although I wasn’t entirely sure what exactly I wanted to study). I knew that I always enjoyed mathematics and that I found studying the universe to be a fascinating problem but didn’t have much of an idea about how I could turn that into a career. About a year into my degree, one of my friends introduced me to stocks and the financial markets over a coffee date and encouraged me to open a personal trading account. I started trading my own money and was pretty much immediately drawn into the rabbit hole. I switched majors to mathematics and finance and haven’t looked back since!
Quantitative trading seemed like the natural choice for the industry I wanted to work in given that it combined all my interests. While on a study abroad trip in New Zealand, I applied for a job at Vivcourt and was fortunate enough to make it through the interviewing process. I was in a unique situation that allowed me to partake in the graduate training program prior to my actual graduation, and lock in a graduate job early. Following the completion of my degree I will return to Sydney to start trading full-time.
Can you get into Trading without financial experience?
Absolutely! Most of the traders in my graduate class come from quantitative backgrounds, studying things like electrical engineering, actuarial studies, computer science, physics and economics. Generally, some proficiency in mathematics and programming will be useful, but no prior experience in financial markets is required.
What is your favourite part of trading?
My favourite part of trading is the number of different areas of academia it brings together. To be a good trader, you should have a good understanding of financial markets, statistics, machine learning and some basic scripting skills. At Vivcourt, there is a lot of interdisciplinary collaboration and plenty of opportunity for you to fit right into the niche you find most interesting! Don’t worry if you’re particularly strong in one area and less informed in another too- all the necessary skills are taught in the training program.
What would you say is the biggest limitation of working in Trading?
The biggest limitation of working in trading is the stress that can come from working in a live market setting. Some days will be naturally busier than others when some big news comes out and you have to react swiftly to a large market move. If you’re looking for a very low-paced job that allows you to coast day-to-day trading is probably not the industry for you.
What advice would you give to people who are still in university and wanting to get into a career in Trading?
I think one of the best things anyone can do at uni is joining a club relevant to the industry they want to work in. I founded an algorithmic trading club at UWA called Quantitative Finance UWA, which allowed me to get some experience doing relevant projects before graduation. I’d also say that building a portfolio containing some of the cooler projects you’ve worked on is a beneficial thing to do. I still maintain my website, which has project summaries and blog posts about things I find interesting. This, in addition to being an interesting hobby, can be a great way to showcase your projects to a potential employer.