I'm about graduate with a PhD, and am wondering whether I should try for trading or quant positions. There are a couple of opportunities in both areas, and it's hard to decide.

Just to add a little bit of detail:The quant jobs on the table are in large investment banks' fixed income groups.The trading jobs are in credit/CDO/correlation, and in CMO/mortgages, for similar large investment banks.

Trading .

Corpor, this is a very good question.For someone with a PhD, like corpor, isn't it better to start off as a quant,and then (eventually, and after deciding its what they really want)make a move to trading?Because, starting off as a trader, I wonder if;i) if you preform bad as a trader, you will be judged harsh, and kicked out in no time.Starting as a quant, and then move to trading, even if you do bad as a trader,you can come back for your quant position.ii) you will not take advantage of your PhD andyou will be competing with 22 year old fresh graduates,be treated like them, (and have their starting salary as well)...- I wonder if there are trading positions specificaly for PhD's?...

QuoteOriginally posted by: CorporI'm about graduate with a PhD, and am wondering whether I should try for trading or quant positions. There are a couple of opportunities in both areas, and it's hard to decide.Do you have experience in trading ? If not I am not sure somebody would let you trade off the mark ?K.

To answer the last two replies:The trading jobs offered are more quantitative, though one might not need a PhD to perform them.There are many quants who move to trading, and it seems that I'm lucky to have the opportunity to start there right away, and in fairly "hot" areas.The question is: Is there a catch? Does one benefit greatly from two or three years of quant work first?

Do trading.

alexandreC: Don't mean to be rude, but you'll never be a good trader if you aren't sure of "making it".Corpor: There's a vast difference between a quant and a trader. Figure out what you wanna do. Do you want to be a 'geek' or potentially a 'BSD'? Fyi, I know of NOCDO or CMO trader with a PhD. The older guys have quantitative undergrad degrees, and most associates have an MFE. The Correlation desk, however, has a couple of PhDs.

(this is a bit off topic, but I will still reply) Don't mean to be rude, but you'll never be a good trader if you aren't sure of "making it". ditto. Furthermore;You will never be a good X if you aren't sure of "making it".Replace X by any profession you may wish;cleaner, prime minister, researcher, chef, footbaler, trader, quant, etc.But corpor's question is still good,with the aim of studying the different possible approachesin order to chose the one that maximises his long term utility function.

QuoteOriginally posted by: alexandreC(this is a bit off topic, but I will still reply) Don't mean to be rude, but you'll never be a good trader if you aren't sure of "making it". ditto. Furthermore;You will never be a good X if you aren't sure of "making it".Replace X by any profession you may wish;cleaner, prime minister, researcher, chef, footbaler, trader, quant, etc.But corpor's question is still good,with the aim of studying the different possible approachesin order to chose the one that maximises his long term utility function.Just ****ing trade!To be a trader, as well as possessing the personality traits that make up a good trader, you also need to know alot about finance and be pretty good at math.

trade. quant is a backup plan. also, trading means different things in different places. some traders are really just clerks while other traders make decisions and put on trades looking for profit.

QuoteOriginally posted by: axstrade. quant is a backup plan. also, trading means different things in different places. some traders are really just clerks while other traders make decisions and put on trades looking for profit.Could you expand on this? How many of these "traders" are daytrading? Is there any daytrading that occurs in a big bank?I always thought that a "trader" in a big bank either meant executing orders or being a "sales trader". If you go to a forum like elitetrader, its pretty clear what's going on; daytrading.But when people mention "trader" here, I'm a bit lost. When people at Wilmott are talking about becoming traders, what are they actually talking about? Is it a position were you can either be right or wrong, like say a daytrader/prop trader, or is it more like being an execution trader/a "trader" that develops models. I've heard of some trader roles at hedge funds, "junior trader", that doesn't call for a lot of discretion...you just execute orders for the strategy, and try not to mess up the execution.

a trader takes on risk... has his/her own book. a true trading position demands that you provide two-way markets to the street. other trading jobs are aberrations. building models, pricing up exotics, are all part of the trading process, but if you're not hitting, lifting or providing bids/asks, you're not really trading... not yet at least. trading is great, but you should meet with a few traders before you jump in. certain personalities do well in the business, most others don't.

QuoteOriginally posted by: bigslicka trader takes on risk... has his/her own book. a true trading position demands that you provide two-way markets to the street. other trading jobs are aberrations. building models, pricing up exotics, are all part of the trading process, but if you're not hitting, lifting or providing bids/asks, you're not really trading... not yet at least. trading is great, but you should meet with a few traders before you jump in. certain personalities do well in the business, most others don't.So would you consider daytrading/working at a prop firm like Refco "real" trading?