How to Get Into Commodity Trading Jobs
Commodity trading has become a hot but competitive field for talented people looking for stimulating, fast-paced and lucrative work. However, a "commodity trader" could be anyone from a woman selling fruit on the street in India to someone watching futures prices tick across a screen in Chicago. Any job working with the details of a commodity market will give you experience on how commodity companies work, how the markets work and how to trade.
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Instructions
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Decide what kind of trading you want to start your career with and stay realistic. Chances are, you won't be given a billion dollar portfolio to manage on your first day. Think about how this first job will translate into your career goals.
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Develop a contact list for potential employers. Start with all of the companies you can think of who do the kind of trading you'd like to do and visit their websites to see what kind of jobs they have open. Even if they don't have the perfect job available right now, it won't hurt to approach them.
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Expand your contact list by asking any friends or relatives who work with commodities, hedging, futures trading or investments if they know any people or companies you could approach. You could also search news stories about the commodity markets you are trying to trade. Traders are often quoted in such stories, and they may be from a commodity trading firm that was small enough to have stayed off your radar in the past.
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Study and prepare yourself to be competitive in the field. Training new traders takes time and money, so get familiar with the language and the concepts ahead of time so you can make the case that you will be able to hit the ground running faster than other new hires--and therefore be able to make your employer more money, faster. You won't need a Series 3 license, administered by the National Futures Association, but you can study the material and demonstrate you're able to pass the practice tests.
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Interview with prospective employers. Trading, by its nature, involves a lot of dealing with other people, so you will have to be able to communicate well, demonstrate good judgment and convince your potential employer you can aggressively represent their interests.
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Tips & Warnings
If you are approaching an individual trader during your job search, remember they are busy people and value brevity. Get to the point quickly.
Approach your prospective employers with a mistake-free resume. They may be able to overlook some weaknesses in your education or experience, but only if you convince hiring managers of your passion for a specific market or your determination and innate ability to be a highly successful trader.
A career in trading is stressful and not for everyone. If you're attracted by the money but don't think you would have the personality to fit, thrive and enjoy work on a trading floor, avoid this career path.
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