Over the last decade and a half as a proprietary trader I have been involved in various roles interviewing and hiring applicants. During my last four years at T3 Trading Group, I have received over 16,000 resumes and have met with hundreds people. As you can imagine, I have seen it all. The following is some advice based on my experience:

Let's begin with the application process. You see my job ad online and decide to press the button to apply, sending your resume to my inbox. I will probably spend twenty seconds or less looking at it. Realize this resume is an advertisement. It reflects all of your achievements to date. Make sure that in that twenty seconds I see the highlights. Yes, I care that you had a job in High School as a waiter at Pizza Shack... it shows me that you have a strong work ethic. However, including bullet points highlighting how you “provided excellent service to customers” and “ delivered food to customer's tables in a timely and courteous manner” is not necessary. I know what a waiter does. I was one. I get it; and having to spend my time reading a waiter's job description takes away from my time reading the important stuff.

Make sure you highlight the things that make you stand out from everyone else. The 800 you earned on your math SATs certainly is an achievement, albeit a common one in my industry. It doesn't make you unique. Sorry. Nor does your roll as a member of your school's investment club--we all were members of the investment club.

Have you traveled the world? Do you play poker on a competitive level? Did you play a Division 1 sport? Do you have a paper or a book that got published? Get me to want to read your cover letter.

Speaking of cover letters. Write one, and include it in your application... even if it's not “required.” If you have a decent resume, I am going to look for more. If you don't include a cover letter, I may just move on to the next applicant who did. ...and make sure it is tailored to the job you are applying for! A generic cover letter says one thing: “I'm too lazy or too disinterested in the job I'm applying for to put in any extra work.” If you were thinking about including a boilerplate letter, don't even bother. More often than not, you will just be ignored.

Structure the cover letter like you would a five paragraph essay. Have an introduction, a thesis, paragraphs supporting the thesis, and a conclusion. If you don't know how to construct a five paragraph essay, call your ninth grade teacher. Hopefully s/he will be able to help you.

Now it's my turn. I have to make a decision if I want to write follow up questions so I can get more of a sense of who you are before I call you into my office. If I do ask you questions, PUT SOME RESEARCH AND THOUGHT INTO YOUR ANSWERS. Answer the questions honestly and thoroughly....and don't plagiarize. If you write at a twelfth grade level, but answer my inquiries like a professional author, I will google your answer and quickly find out that your are not only lazy, but also unethical. You will not be moving forward in the selection process.

At this point you may get an invitation to come in for an interview, or you may not. If I decide that you are not a fit (and spend the extra time explaining to you why), please do not try to “teach me a lesson” and tell me your “thoughts”... it shows me that in addition to being unqualified, that you are also a jerk. Say “thank you for your time” and move on.

So now it's time for the interview. Book extra time for travel. Get here an hour early and hang out at a coffee shop until 15 minutes before your scheduled time, and then come to my office. I don't care that the subway was down/there was bad traffic/you had to floss your cat.... none of that matters. If you can't show up on time for our first meeting, there wont be a second.

Dress appropriately. Learn to how to tie a tie. Wear deodorant. Brush your teeth. Bring paper copies of your resume. And for G-d's sake, leave your backpack at home. This is a job interview, not a seventh grade sleepover party.

When you meet me, firmly shake my hand and look me in the eyes. If you're nervous, make sure you have a paper towel. A wet, limp handshake makes one hell of a horrible first impression.

Make sure you're prepared for the interview. Research the role, my company, and my background. If I tell you that there is going to be a written test....be prepared for that too. If you say you want to be a trader, but don't know where the S&P500 closed last night, I am going to doubt your passion for this career.

If I ask you a question and you don't know the answer, don't try to bs me. I can smell it from a mile away. I once had a student who came in and said he was interested in Philosophy, so I asked him who was his favorite philosopher. He answered, “Socrates.” I followed up by asking him which of Socrates' books was his favorite. He responded “all of them, I can't pick just one.” In his entire life, Socrates never wrote anything down. Interview over.

If you make it through all of my questions, now it's your turn. Ask THOUGHTFUL questions. If you can find the answer on Google, don't ask it. Make me believe that you are really interested in both me and this role. If you don't, the next applicant will.

Yes, send an email thanking me for my time. I appreciate that, and it will make me remember you and keep you fresh in my mind when I decide who makes it to the next round. If you really want to stand out, follow up with a hand written card.

I know many of you will think this is common sense, but unfortunately common sense isn't that common, so for the rest of you, I hope this helped


https://www./article/20140909132647-14620025-advice-for-new-job-seekers-from-a-seasoned-interviewer?trk=object-title

Nosyke:
Over the last decade and a half as a proprietary trader I have been involved in various roles interviewing and hiring applicants. During my last four years at T3 Trading Group, I have received over 16,000 resumes and have met with hundreds people. As you can imagine, I have seen it all. The following is some advice based on my experience:

Let's begin with the application process. You see my job ad online and decide to press the button to apply, sending your resume to my inbox. I will probably spend twenty seconds or less looking at it. Realize this resume is an advertisement. It reflects all of your achievements to date. Make sure that in that twenty seconds I see the highlights. Yes, I care that you had a job in High School as a waiter at Pizza Shack... it shows me that you have a strong work ethic. However, including bullet points highlighting how you “provided excellent service to customers” and “ delivered food to customer's tables in a timely and courteous manner” is not necessary. I know what a waiter does. I was one. I get it; and having to spend my time reading a waiter's job description takes away from my time reading the important stuff.

Make sure you highlight the things that make you stand out from everyone else. The 800 you earned on your math SATs certainly is an achievement, albeit a common one in my industry. It doesn't make you unique. Sorry. Nor does your roll as a member of your school's investment club--we all were members of the investment club.

Have you traveled the world? Do you play poker on a competitive level? Did you play a Division 1 sport? Do you have a paper or a book that got published? Get me to want to read your cover letter.

Speaking of cover letters. Write one, and include it in your application... even if it's not “required.” If you have a decent resume, I am going to look for more. If you don't include a cover letter, I may just move on to the next applicant who did. ...and make sure it is tailored to the job you are applying for! A generic cover letter says one thing: “I'm too lazy or too disinterested in the job I'm applying for to put in any extra work.” If you were thinking about including a boilerplate letter, don't even bother. More often than not, you will just be ignored.

Structure the cover letter like you would a five paragraph essay. Have an introduction, a thesis, paragraphs supporting the thesis, and a conclusion. If you don't know how to construct a five paragraph essay, call your ninth grade teacher. Hopefully s/he will be able to help you.

Now it's my turn. I have to make a decision if I want to write follow up questions so I can get more of a sense of who you are before I call you into my office. If I do ask you questions, PUT SOME RESEARCH AND THOUGHT INTO YOUR ANSWERS. Answer the questions honestly and thoroughly....and don't plagiarize. If you write at a twelfth grade level, but answer my inquiries like a professional author, I will google your answer and quickly find out that your are not only lazy, but also unethical. You will not be moving forward in the selection process.

At this point you may get an invitation to come in for an interview, or you may not. If I decide that you are not a fit (and spend the extra time explaining to you why), please do not try to “teach me a lesson” and tell me your “thoughts”... it shows me that in addition to being unqualified, that you are also a jerk. Say “thank you for your time” and move on.

So now it's time for the interview. Book extra time for travel. Get here an hour early and hang out at a coffee shop until 15 minutes before your scheduled time, and then come to my office. I don't care that the subway was down/there was bad traffic/you had to floss your cat.... none of that matters. If you can't show up on time for our first meeting, there wont be a second.

Dress appropriately. Learn to how to tie a tie. Wear deodorant. Brush your teeth. Bring paper copies of your resume. And for G-d's sake, leave your backpack at home. This is a job interview, not a seventh grade sleepover party.

When you meet me, firmly shake my hand and look me in the eyes. If you're nervous, make sure you have a paper towel. A wet, limp handshake makes one hell of a horrible first impression.

Make sure you're prepared for the interview. Research the role, my company, and my background. If I tell you that there is going to be a written test....be prepared for that too. If you say you want to be a trader, but don't know where the S&P500 closed last night, I am going to doubt your passion for this career.

If I ask you a question and you don't know the answer, don't try to bs me. I can smell it from a mile away. I once had a student who came in and said he was interested in Philosophy, so I asked him who was his favorite philosopher. He answered, “Socrates.” I followed up by asking him which of Socrates' books was his favorite. He responded “all of them, I can't pick just one.” In his entire life, Socrates never wrote anything down. Interview over.

If you make it through all of my questions, now it's your turn. Ask THOUGHTFUL questions. If you can find the answer on Google, don't ask it. Make me believe that you are really interested in both me and this role. If you don't, the next applicant will.

Yes, send an email thanking me for my time. I appreciate that, and it will make me remember you and keep you fresh in my mind when I decide who makes it to the next round. If you really want to stand out, follow up with a hand written card.

I know many of you will think this is common sense, but unfortunately common sense isn't that common, so for the rest of you, I hope this helped


https://www./article/20140909132647-14620025-advice-for-new-job-seekers-from-a-seasoned-interviewer?trk=object-title

Brother please could you help me with a
copy of a cover letter sir...I'm about to
apply for a training programme with
exxnnomobil but the cover letter is needed
and I have no idea on these...I ll appreciate
your kind gesture sire.....