[carabiner]

My brother was a daytrader in the late 90s on Wall Street at a small firm. He said they didn't hire him for his degree (elite university) but for his ability to play a music instrument at a high level. They looked for people with a strong ability in a specific, nontrivial "skill." There were a lot of athletes, it didn't have to be analytical or related to trading. He didn't do well there and left after a short while, but this trading simulator makes me think of zeroing on just that narrow ability to stare at the charts and suss out patterns from the noise.

[deandree]

Successful traders come from very different backgrounds and use very different methods. There are a million ways to make money in this, but they all are very hard to find. Most of successful traders have very unique skillset. This is a performance sport. Lot's or similarities with pro athletes.

[DenverCode]

I had a couple of interviews at trading firms and the largest ones required skill tests such as clicking buttons within a specific time period, riddles, etc.

[deandree]

From what I know, there is basically only one thing they care about. Proven track record of making money and beating the market. Nothing else really counts. Except for young graduate quants - you need a degree from top tier school.

[elevenoh]

How are these firms doing today?

[DenverCode]

One is akuna capital the other is jp Morgan.