Is getting hired at a company to trade forex possible?

Beginner Questions
1

Hello everyone!

I’m new here and have been conservatively trading for about a year now while working a full time job not trading related.

I’ve thought hard about trading full time but with a wife and kids it’s hard to justify not having the security blanket of a full time job.

Is it possible to get hired as a forex trader for a company? If so what kind of experience or qualifications do they usually require?

I unfortunately don’t have a college degree or professional experience trading (I trade with my own capital) and know I still have tons to learn but I’m willing to learn.

Any guidance or advice would be greatly appreciated!

2

Yes (though far more often it will be forex futures rather than spot forex, though that isn’t impossible either).

With a few additional exceptions, there are two main ways, in either of which you can do it:-

  1. Be educable: companies that train people to trade for them recruit exclusively graduates in math/science subjects (almost never “business”/“finance” subjects), almost always with at least a Master’s degree if not a PhD, and usually from absolutely the top universities only, or

  2. Be educated already: if you already have professional trading skills and can prove, by independently audited trading account records over a long time that your orientation is one of risk-management and capital preservation, it’s sometimes possible to be taken on that way, but the standard of proof required is very, very high, and having contacts in the industry is a big plus for this route.

1 Like
3

Thanks for the reply!

It sounds like having a degree is the easiest way which I just don’t have the ability to attend college with a family to support and being my age I’d be an old man before I got a masters degree.

So the only other way is to be able to prove you know what your doing and probably be much more than an entry level part time day trader like myself.

I’m assuming the majority of people trade independently with their own capital like I’m currently doing probably due to it being so hard to get into one of these jobs.

4

I agree with Lukas. One of the key things that I look for in a trader is his trainability. There are many ways to trade. Some good some not, but every organization has its own set risk reward profiles. For that reason an employer wants thier money traded thier way.

5

Lukas is exactly right, of course.

It’s not “getting hired at a company” (because it’s always on a self-employed basis) but there also businesses generally known as “prop shops” (proprietary trading firms) where you might get a look-in.

Some are real/physical, others online/virtual.

At most of them, you have to put up some capital of your own (as well as having a good, proven record etc.) to get some degree of backing from them. But many are very scammy businesses, extending you some nominal backing for leverage purposes only, and any losses will be taken from your own funds, not from theirs.

After those, there are also a couple where you don’t need your own capital at all, if you can prove your trading skills to them on one of their demo accounts (which you have to pay a very nominal fee for), but their qualification criteria are pretty tough.

The main thing, as Lukas mentioned, is that you have to convince anyone backing you that your trading is ultra-safe and coming from a place of capital-preservation and risk management, not from aiming for big profits.

In short, the more professional trading is, the more it has to do with risk management and capital preservation.

“How much you can make” doesn’t matter.

What matters is how big your biggest drawdown might be.

Anything over 5% and nobody will ever be letting you trade with their money, on any arrangement at all.

It’s ALL about risk management, when you want to trade OPM.

1 Like
6

Thank you for the reply. It seems like the option to trade for someone else may not be an option for me as I don’t have the experience and or degree that’s needed. I am very trainable and being that I’m just getting into forex I don’t have a determined or only way I trade so I’m open to learning different ways.

I am extremely conservative as I can’t afford to loose too much so I’m trading at a very conservative level.