Depends on what 'type' of trading you do.
Firms hire people who are quick thinking and analytical - one of my IB resume books has a resume from someone with BA Hons(English) who is trying to get into IB. That being said people from a strong mathematical background are still prefered in those roles (as you can see on Optiver ads.) Over the years firms have experimented alot with traders - they have even tried hiring chess masters for their decision making skills!
There is trading with options and such which you'll need high-end mathematics though.
This book on stochastic processes I'm reading is so dry ><"
I'm sure it is dry lol
Yeah thats what I figured.
I admit I'm naive in understanding this complex trading world, it seems very politicised.
On that though, I remember mentioning say Optiver to Velox on here once before and he said it wasn't considered a "full trader" job they are more market makers...
I met with the Optiver guys @ the careers fair and they were pretty interested to have a chat. I asked one of the traders who was currently working there (its purely options) and he said you dont even need calculus (I mentioned I might take up some math units). He said you need quick mental arithmetic and to intuitively understand how derivatives work...
Eg- The factors influencing calls and put prices and strategies (and very quickly). That is, lets do a bullish money spread here or I percieve a lot of volatility on this asset lets go for a straddle etc etc
On the spot he got me to do a bit of maths in my head (lucky I got it right) just basic percentages of how much he would make off a trade of so many contracts @ x prices...
He said law, finance, maths, engineering, economics, philsophy are all acceptable...its about the skills.
Having said that, as I'm interested in a more "people focused" job (communications skills etc) he recommended say the wholesale division where you actually have meetings with clients etc
Here you need more written + communication skills.
