AMA: I'm an equities sales trader who's worked for top US banks

AMA bubble
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L​:joy::joy::joy:L OK. I’m embarrassed for you, as you’ve added zero value. Being rude doesn’t magically turn you into an authority. And yes, glad YOU can use ChatGPT. You clearly need the help.

For everyone else who actually wants a reality check on equity sales/trading, instead of someone’s emotional meltdown, to direct back to what’s important in my original message, here’s how the industry works:

  1. Relationships matter. In fact they are the only thing that matters.

  2. Your real business card is not your bank. It is whether clients actually want to trade with you.

  3. If they don’t like you or trust you, you are finished. No trades means no revenue which means you are redundant. End of story.

  4. You also need to understand politics. Being technically good at your job is not enough anymore. You need influence, internal support, allies and awareness of how decisions really get made. If you pretend this stuff doesn’t matter you get eaten alive. If you want a blunt education in how power actually works inside big organisations, read this: 7 Rules of Power by Jeffrey Pfeffer

For people who genuinely want insight about the job, that is the truth. For the guy above shouting into the void, good luck with all that!

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Maybe the topic of this chat needs to be, ‘Can ChatGPT give good careers advice?’

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If that’s the takeaway, then you’ve missed the point entirely. I’m giving perspective based on 20+ years actually doing a job in equities sales/trading - for the benefit of others. Plenty of people here are asking serious questions about breaking into markets, career pivots and how a trading desk actually functions, and experienced based answers are being delivered. If you’ve got something useful to add, go ahead. If not, taking pot-shots at ChatGPT that has nothing to do with this dialogue isn’t exactly a contribution.

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Well, then the advice of the machine to young hopefuls in this thread would seem to be to “switch to the dark side”. Blithely ignoring centuries - since when, Plato? - 24 centuries of debate on the so-called Problem of Evil.

Hard to believe that none of the vast literature on the topic was included in the AI’s training dataset, so the ghastly piece of advice must indeed come from the wistful ruminations of our morally-challenged enthusiast of the ground-breaking treatise “7 Rules of Power” by Jeffrey Pfeffer[1].

  1. readily available in your airport bookshop ↩︎

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I haven’t read Jeffrey’s work. Maybe there’s no need to if ChatGPT can summarise it using emojis

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Hi there. I saw you mention moving to Dubai further up this thread and was wondering whether you think its somewhere to move to with a plan on staying for life, or whether it’s just good to go there for a few years. I’d heard that the culture at some companies there can be brutal and a lot of people burn out.

I wonder, is there a middle ground somewhere, that has more structure than Dubai but more freedom than London?

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Are we all familiar with the celebrated work ‘The Mountain is You’. I understand that a brief reading will lead to success in any endeavour

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Hello @HTST123. I would like to thank you very much for doing us all the kind service of answering our questions here. I am also a student who has applied for jobs in trading but without any result. I am wondering whether I should pay for a Masters qualification. Do you think I will be wasting my money?

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Are you advocating that student walk into bank offices and refuse to be ignored? Just wondering here

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You keep repeating this “machine” angle, which tells me you aren’t actually reading the thread. These are my views from 20+ years in the industry. The fact you can’t acknowledge that just highlights your own ignorance of how Sales & Trading actually works. And the rest of your assumptions aren’t any better.

You’re speaking like someone who has seen only one side of the street. Your profile says, you’re on the buyside - if a trader, you’re just an order taker, then you already know you aren’t the one calling the shots. Those desks don’t drive anything, they just pass instructions through. That’s not power, that’s admin order-taker.

My advice to up-and-coming people is not “turn to the dark side.” It’s the raw truth that nobody tells juniors: your technical skill is one part of the job, and the rest is relationships, influence, and political awareness. Ignore that and you stall. Understand it and you survive.

If you disagree, add something useful from your own experience. If not, attacking the messenger isn’t exactly a strong position.

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Of course you haven’t read it. That’s obvious from every comment you’ve made so far. And no, you don’t need emojis or summaries, you need actual experience. That’s the part you keep avoiding. You keep trying to criticise something you clearly haven’t engaged with, haven’t read, and haven’t lived. If you ever decide to step outside your bubble, you might learn why people who’ve actually operated in real market roles talk about politics, power, influence, and relationships the way we do. Until then, keep firing shots from the sidelines. It’s the clearest signal you don’t have anything real to add.

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I really appreciate your kind words and your politeness. Genuinely. It’s refreshing, and it goes a long way. Thank you.

I’ll be completely upfront with you here, and this is for your benefit, not to be rude. A Masters is not a magic ticket into trading. It’s basically useless unless you can take the knowledge you gain and apply it in a way that actually drives real impact in the real world. In this industry that usually means making money, seeing patterns, understanding risk, or building tools that improve decisions. If you’re doing a Masters purely for the credential, it won’t move the needle. If you’re doing it to nourish your mind, go for it — but you must add a layer of how you’re going to apply that knowledge.

And one more thing: Whatever path you choose, you need AI skills. Not optional. Finance is undergoing the biggest transformation since electronic trading. People who learn to use AI will replace people who don’t. It’s that simple. If you’re going to do more study, make sure it includes how AI interacts with markets, modelling, risk, data and automation.

On the job side: keep going. Persistence is key. You will get knocked back again and again — that’s normal. In fact, that’s the attitude you need in a trading seat. Rejection, setbacks, pressure and uncertainty are part of the job. If you can’t push through this phase, the desk will eat you alive.

You’re not wasting your time. Just be strategic, be persistent, and equip yourself with skills that actually matter. You’ll get there.

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Not “walk in and refuse to leave.” But yes, I am advocating that students stop relying solely on online portals that filter out 90% of applicants before a human ever sees them. There’s a big difference between being persistent and professional versus being disruptive. What I mean is this:

• Call HR

• Email the desk

• Ask for 5 minutes

• Show up for networking events

• Visit the building lobby if you have a meeting or contact

• Speak to alumni

• Follow up, again and again

• Make it clear you’re hungry and serious

Banks get thousands of applications. If you blend into that pile, you disappear. The people who break in are the ones who push a little harder and make themselves visible.

Not rude

Not entitled

Not aggressive

Just deliberately, confidently persistent. That’s the mindset you need on a trading floor anyway. If you can’t advocate for yourself before you’re hired, you won’t survive after.

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Ah yes, of course. Read one self-help book and suddenly every problem in life evaporates. If only breaking into markets, building client relationships and surviving politics on a trading floor were as simple as flipping a few pages of “The Mountain Is You”. If that approach works for you, great. The rest of us will stick to experience, persistence and actually doing the job.

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Thank you for your time.

I’m a student with a return offer for securitized products trading at one of JPM/BofA/Citi in NYC. Do you have specific advice for me on top of what has been said already?

Can you provide an illustrative example of trading floor politics?

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Thank you for your time

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Good question. Dubai is incredible if you go with the right expectations. I rate it highly for early-career acceleration (or if you’re an entrepreneur) because the velocity is insane… but it’s not always a “forever” city. Here’s the reality, Dubai is perfect for:

• 5–10 years of aggressive career growth

• building wealth fast

• low/no income tax

• meeting ambitious people

• huge opportunity in buyside, HF, VC, PE

• a lifestyle that’s actually difficult to match elsewhere

But yes, the culture at some firms can be brutal. The pace is high, expectations are relentless, and because the city attracts extremely driven talent, the environment is competitive. People burn out because they try to live like they’re on holiday while working like they’re in a hedge fund. That combination destroys people.

Is Dubai a “stay for life” place? For some people yes. If you build a strong network, build capital, settle down, and like the lifestyle, it’s amazing long-term. For others, it’s a turbocharger phase: make money, gain experience, then rotate to a slower place.

Is there a middle ground? More structure than Dubai, more freedom than London? Yes. A few strong ones:

• Zurich: extremely high quality of life, structured, stable, wealth-focused, slower pace than London

• Singapore: disciplined, clean, efficient, very pro-finance, more structured than Dubai but freer and more opportunity than London

• Hong Kong (if you can tolerate the geopolitics) – used to be the perfect middle ground, still amazing for markets roles

• Amsterdam: more relaxed lifestyle, growing financial presence

• Dublin: good quality of life, big US banks, lighter culture than London

My view: Go to Dubai to accelerate. Stay if you thrive there and want that lifestyle. If you want structure without the grind of London, Singapore and Zurich are the strongest middle paths.

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You’re very welcome :folded_hands:

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You’re right asking about politics because it’s absolutely a GROWING part of the job “skill-set”. Let me be blunt without dressing it up:

Yes, politics is real and more important than being good at your job. I’ve seen people useless at their job rise high because they’re BRILLIANT at playing politics.

Yes, you need to be liked.

Yes, you need to build alliances.

Yes, being good at your job alone is not enough.

People who rise are the people who build relationships with the right seniors, understand the unwritten rules, manage perceptions, back the right internal players and make themselves useful to the people who matter.

You have to play the game: showing loyalty isn’t enough, but you must show respect, show eagerness, make seniors look good at your detriment, protect their downside (not just yours), solve problems before they ask, and basically become someone they want around, their gofer.

If they like you and trust you, your career moves. If they don’t, you stall, even if you’re technically very strong. That’s the honest truth.

Now, on your specific firms: I can’t comment on the internal political structures of JPM/BofA/Citi securitized desks, because I know nothing about them, and I won’t name specific examples from any bank of my own experience for obvious reasons. But I can tell you this: every major bank claims to be a pure meritocracy. None of them are. Politics exists everywhere, sometimes subtle, sometimes blatant and learning to navigate it is part of the craft. The people who really thrive long-term are the ones who can:

• deliver under pressure

• build strong internal and external relationships

• read the room

• manage senior expectations

• avoid unnecessary enemies

• align themselves with winners

So congratulations on your offer(s), you’ve already beaten the hardest part. Now your job is to master the unwritten part of the industry, not just the technical side. If you can do both, you’ll go far.

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This is epic stuff.
Cartoonish levels of abjection and submissiveness, elevated as the pillar posts of one’s own system of values.

Shall we call it The Toadie Manifesto.

An uncanny window inside the mind of an equity sales trader who has worked 20 years for US banks, allegedly, but who certainly during that long timespan has had very little contact with the cultural sensibilities surrounding him. At moments like this, I really wish I were an anthropologist.

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