I was under the impression that riddles were out of style for interviews. I was wrong. Don't get me wrong, I love a good brain teaser- but as a criteria for hiring?
My favorite are the "personal probing riddles"
I actually got this today
q:"if you were stuck on a desert island what 3 items would you bring with you"
me:"seriously?"
q:"yeah"
me:"ok. a boat, a sat phone. and a tank of gas"
q:"oh"
me:"what would you take?"
q:"well, generally people say their favorite book or something"
me:"that wont get you off the island."
q:"no, it wouldn't.
me:"next question"
Friday, September 7, 2007
Tuesday, September 4, 2007
the times, they are a changing
So, the dust has settled... mostly.
The world has calmed... mostly.
And the market has stabalized- er, well at least it's not tanking- er, at least not as bad as a couple of weeks ago.
And now is the time for change.
At my firm, it began with mortgages (pronounced "morgue-ages"). Then onto CDO. I get that. Then onto repo. OK. And now, it has began to spread everywhere. My firm was not a trading firm- purely brokerage. Riskless. That was until my division came around. As a whole, I think we did ok, but the scare has changed things. Books are flattening, and you can taste change in the air.
And so, after 2 years, and my best month of trading ever (seriously- it was ridiculous. 100% win rate one day. 122mm traded. 100%! Come on) I find my self looking for another job, which is a real shame because I loved my job. I loved my boss. And I loved that the solutions to the problems we were solving were always just out of our reach- which kept us reaching. I loved my team, small and fast, the way all things should be. Most of all I loved my freedom- it was a lab first- a trading desk second. And although at the time I sweated the actual trading- looking back it was good for me personally.
I'm not afraid of change, I was always ready to leave if required. I've had the number for a truck driving school as my desktop for almost 2 months. Change is good. It means a new challenge, new problems, and new people/friends. And so on that note, if you're looking for either
a. A professional surfer for your southern California team. Or...
b. A new statistical arbitrage group. Or...
c. A kdb+ programmer (I've decided not to work in another language except if absolutely necessary)
Then drop me a line.
The world has calmed... mostly.
And the market has stabalized- er, well at least it's not tanking- er, at least not as bad as a couple of weeks ago.
And now is the time for change.
At my firm, it began with mortgages (pronounced "morgue-ages"). Then onto CDO. I get that. Then onto repo. OK. And now, it has began to spread everywhere. My firm was not a trading firm- purely brokerage. Riskless. That was until my division came around. As a whole, I think we did ok, but the scare has changed things. Books are flattening, and you can taste change in the air.
And so, after 2 years, and my best month of trading ever (seriously- it was ridiculous. 100% win rate one day. 122mm traded. 100%! Come on) I find my self looking for another job, which is a real shame because I loved my job. I loved my boss. And I loved that the solutions to the problems we were solving were always just out of our reach- which kept us reaching. I loved my team, small and fast, the way all things should be. Most of all I loved my freedom- it was a lab first- a trading desk second. And although at the time I sweated the actual trading- looking back it was good for me personally.
I'm not afraid of change, I was always ready to leave if required. I've had the number for a truck driving school as my desktop for almost 2 months. Change is good. It means a new challenge, new problems, and new people/friends. And so on that note, if you're looking for either
a. A professional surfer for your southern California team. Or...
b. A new statistical arbitrage group. Or...
c. A kdb+ programmer (I've decided not to work in another language except if absolutely necessary)
Then drop me a line.
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