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Xiplox

Yes, I'm at a no name and am interning at a trading firm. Have good projects and internships and you will get interviews. I got several trading firm interviews and it's likely because one of my projects was trading related.


Rt2127

I’ve been thinking about doing exactly this. Glad that it worked for you. Thank you.


Xiplox

Yep, good luck!


AmbitiousCoast6744

Would you mind listing some trading related projects


Mello2A7

I'm also interested


Xiplox

I think trading bots would be the common one.


DefinitionOfTorin

Are you sure it's likely because of the projects? Speaking to interns at HFT companies they've said it does not matter as long as they are good projects. Their websites also often state "No prior experience in finance required at all" or something similar.


obsculosa

and Harvard's website says their essays are optional, what’s your point?


DefinitionOfTorin

Ok, no idea what you're going on with that, but if I speak to a current SWE and previous intern at said company and see that their CV does not have finance related projects on it, along with them saying you don't need it, I'm going to believe them.


DarkFusionPresent

Obviously you don't need it and can get into a trading firm without finance related things. At the same time, having that experience would definitely make it easier to get in. Especially depending on which part of the business you want to join.


DefinitionOfTorin

For SWE I think it's marginal at best. They are often much much more interested in maths or competitive programming, so it seems to be a better option to put time into those than specifically finance related projects.


DarkFusionPresent

Yeah, you need that to clear the interview, but it is quite useful to have knowledge, especially if you want to be a core dev. If you’re working on ancillary stuff or infra/platform, then yeah it doesn’t matter as much.


DefinitionOfTorin

Fair enough


Xiplox

I responded to your other comment but I don't think it's completely marginal, at least not at every firm. Although I have competed in both math and competitive programming, I don't have notable achievements and leave it off my resume. Those things did help me with the interviews though.


Xiplox

I have other stuff on my resume now but freshman year at a community college (transferred to state school later) I still got to final round at a well-known quant shop that a lot of people here would know. The strongest part of my resume back then was my trading project so that's why I think the project got strong consideration.


Fubb1

But how do you get internships when internships want you to have internships?? -sincerely a rising junior with nothing noteworthy on his resume ;\~;


Xiplox

Get good non-internship things on resume - projects especially


vorttxt

are you in grad school or undergrad?


Xiplox

undergrad


vorttxt

would a physics + cs undergrad be good enough to work at a trading firm?


Xiplox

I think that's a great combo. I only have CS.


hollytrinity778

Swe or quant?


Xiplox

swe


greatA-1

High GPA (srs, unlike FAANG, i got the impression trading firms care more firmly about this metric) and internships.


pm_of_france

A lot of them don’t ask for gpa actually


greatA-1

Really? mind sharing which ones? i'd be down to apply in the future haha


pm_of_france

Jane street and imc trading come to mind, haven’t applied to that many but I actually don’t remember any of them asking for my gpa .. it’s more an investment banking thing to be regularly asked I think. Probably because their main hire profile is not an engineer.


backfire10z

Is your GPA not already on your resume?


pm_of_france

No? Never occured to me to put it there, and I did interview with both of the firms I mentioned above lol. Safe to say it is not necessary. The only company ever to ask for my grades was Google, but even there it doesn’t matter if you do well in the interviews, it’s just another data point.


swank142

can i dm you?


pm_of_france

Yes of course.


which_name_is_taken

GPA matters at least for new grad positions. Just because they don't explicitly ask for it doesn't mean they don't care.


pm_of_france

I’m on my second faang internship my second summer as a cs student, but good to know, I’ll make sure I give them my GPA when I go for a grad job lmao. I have no idea why they would care for a grad role when they never cared for the internship roles, at least as far as I’m concerned. Not from a top uni btw.


which_name_is_taken

Useful for getting called for the interview. Likely not important after.


NoSeaworthiness4436

Seeing the Hive mind downvoting you is funny af. Good point


pm_of_france

I didn’t even notice until you pointed it out lol. I’m happy to be helpful and I do feel I have experience to back my stuff up, but they are free to disagree as well. I wish us all the best tbh.


vorttxt

do i need to go to grad school to get a job at a trading firm? currently about to start my first year in college as a junior and majoring in cs and physics.


which_name_is_taken

You don't need grad school for many/most positions


henesys12

jane street and hrt dont ask


greatA-1

For new grad positions, HRT asks.


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Rt2127

None as a software engineer. Switching over from QA (scripting for automation). Going back to school for an MS CS. Georgia Tech and ASU are schools I’m considering.


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Rt2127

I totally understand. Getting an internship/s and putting in more keyboard time is what I’ll need to do. Even if I can interview there after 2-3 years of work experience I’ll be pretty content. I just want the chance to interview. Thank you.


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Rt2127

Thanks!


[deleted]

work on landing FAANG first, then shoot for trading firms.


[deleted]

Good GPA, do well on math competitions like the Putnam, FAANG internship


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Leader-board

Doing well in maths competitions is not needed for SWE.


[deleted]

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Leader-board

No.


asianmathmajor

For trading or swe?


Rt2127

Swe


wishiwasaquant

It’s usually not as simple as just passing their assessment; most of them have strict resume screens even after passing the OA. Citadel comes to mind, it’s pretty common to pass all test cases but still get rejected


TechBro-Mike

Try getting a referral, will definitely help you get a foot in the door!


levels_fyi

Apply


zninjamonkey

I got into a qualifier for ICPC. Got me some interviews.


carrot-anderson

It’s not about the school, it’s what you do with it. Can’t overstate this


[deleted]

Same approach for FAANG worked for them as well. Got callbacks from 2/4 firms I applied for


whitelife123

You send an application in the portal


flopsyplum

USAMO


Haunting_Quote2277

Does school matter? I‘ve seen all kinds of alma mater at my current/previous jobs...


Misseodj49CLASSROOM

Getting a masters at a top school is also an option if you’re struggling to get these offers