What I Learned Interning on the Trading Floor at 16
By: Mia Gradelski
Tags: Teens, Money, Recruiting, Finance, Jobs

Image by Rod Long

When I ask my friends, what got them interested in majoring in finance/business/economics in college, all I can tell you is that if you are a recruiter, you don’t want to hear their answer.

If it’s coming from a teenager, you can probably guess what they will say from someone who has no experience and only watched Wolf of Wall Street or Money Ball. It’s always the paycheck.

I don’t blame innocent teens let alone, anyone. All of us have the same dream to make more and have aspirations for what we want to buy but cannot seem to identify why. There is nothing wrong with a desire to make money, make if it’s a driving force at my age, it will slowly kill you.

Teens know nothing more than understanding that money will get you almost everything you want in life and can make you feel fulfilled, up to a certain point. I’m at the age when my peers are starting to understand the less is more phenomenon and what is most valuable in your life is not that paycheck to buy you Yeezys or Gucci black market bags but rather your family, health, experiences, and education.

Those things will make you feel good every night as you feel grounded and appreciative once you put your head down on the pillow.

There is no better feeling.

By no means am I saying I’m more mature or older than kids my age. I’m sure there are those out there that know far more than me and that’s what makes everyone special and different, but from experiencing living a frugal and minimalistic life, I’ve caught on to a few things that typically takes someone much longer to learn if they didn’t take the chance to seek it.

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The Wrong Game

At school, there is only so much you can learn. We believe once we attain that credential, it will pay off our $30k student loans and be an investment for our future. Yes, it will help you get into a better job market starting with higher pay compared to a firefighter or construction worker straight out of middle or high school, but that doesn’t mean you don’t put in any effort.

In fact, once you’ve attained and worked hard for something, you have to prove you deserve it and continue to keep honor it or it will be gone quickly. I wish my friends and most college students knew this as precious time is wasted ruining their health, mental energy, capabilities, and potential for trendy external admiration and approval is valued instead that no one cares you have a few seconds and years later.

Now, this sounds really inspirational and mind-blowing coming from a teen and the last place you would think I learned these on the trading floor but it’s true. It isn’t a cage after all.

So you’re probably asking at this point, how did a 16-year-old post-puberty acne-prone teenager get an internship on Wall Street this young? She must be the daughter of a hedge fund manager or bought LinkedIn Premium to get in touch with recruiters through bribing them or something.

Don’t worry. None of that is even possible to last nor true. First off, none of my family members work in finance, and paying $60+ per month for a service to connect with strangers when I could do that for free with a couple of close colleagues is much more worth it and valuable for me. You know I’m frugale after all.

Middle of high school I had a lot of time on my hands. I never was big into the luxurious rich sports of lacrosse, golf or polo because I wanted to diversify my resume, experience and be different. We all are different but I wanted real skills, not how many teaspoons are in a tablespoon type of knowledge. Sure, I was grateful to have the money to be able to play those sports in a non-country club environment if I chose to do so but I was seeking to learn about the real world before college, something all high scholars lack.

My father passed away a few months prior to interning on teh trading floor and that was when my passion for finance and technology really started.

I firmly believe that the worst moments happen for you, not to you.

Image by Mike Kononov

As much as I would desperately love to have my dad here with me today, I most likely wouldn’t have gotten the urge to take the right step towards understanding what life is all about: yes, it is money. Whether you want it to or not, it controls where we live, what we do, who we are with and what we enjoy.

Due to his passing, I took the initiative that I would never take otherwise. I helped my mother and I with our portfolio and investments got things in order after his passing and ultimately made sure we stay financially free in the same town, not switch schools or jobs and most importantly be prepared for our future.

During a time of depression and sadness, the last thing you want to do is deal with paperwork, investments, brokerages, attorneys, wills, trusts, and the volatile stock market imitating your emotions but the truth was, that was the best decision for us to stay afloat.

One tip, cash is your best friend. The more you have, the more you will survive. Don’t let anyone tell you it’s deflating because let’s see where they end up in a pandemic.

I’ve always been fortunate enough to have both parents have full-time jobs since they moved to the states so thankfully we didn’t lose the main breadwinner after my dad passed.

This is also a warning for you women out there since men till this day make more to the dollar than women and tend to be the sole dependant of the family to keep them afloat.

The more income streams and dependants the better.

Back up plans are key, especially an emergency savings account and cash if you couldn’t tell already.

As I alluded earlier, they didn’t work in finance, instead in tech so my mother and certainly I at age 16 just focused on buying the cutest skirts and playing Chubby Bunny, we were both not familiar with managing our portfolio, what our net worth was, various stock market jargon, what a broker does and everything you could possibly think of. Easily and luckily in a few months, we were financially literate and free simply through putting the effort and time to utilize free resources online.

So we made that our priority. I remember distinctly my mother and I planned each weekday and weekend evenings, before and after work to learn Excel, divide and conquer our assets, understand and compare brokerage fees, the fundamentals of good and bad debt, our long and short term goals, risk tolerance, retirement plans, ROTH IRA, compound interest, etc. till today.

Financial planning cannot seem like work because if you make it so, you won’t be able to accomplish and succeed with what you want. To have no regrets, you have to put in the work. Start slow, watch YouTube, go on Investopedia, Motley Fool, Seeking Alpha and Investopedia as top resources.

No need for a $500 class and no more excuses.

Now as I write for you all, I’m proud to say I’ve learned more on my own than school has ever or will ever teach me about Mesopotamia or WWII.

Financial literacy cannot be emphasized enough.

Expect the worst and plan for it so you can live freely and stress-free during it.

Now that finally gets me to my first lesson:

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Be Realistically Pessimistic

Thank you for being patient and waiting this long since I haven’t told you yet how I actually got this position to work in a lucrative, secretive space at 16. There’s no secret it’s just so simple that there was no reason to even mention it in the beginning.

It’s called emailing and 10 min research. Understand what firms do, what the culture is like, any opportunities, and gather the HR contacts. At this firm there were no opportunities (obviously) for 16-year-olds, let alone anyone younger than a junior in college purely because well, come on, teens don’t know much and they think that schools will prepare us.

So I convinced them and knew that wasn’t true.

I felt like a salesperson selling a car but instead myself, in a sincere and honest way and I really did deliver. The internship went on for a couple of months instead of 2 weeks as I had asked. Lying doesn’t get you anywhere.

Studying the firm, reasons what you will provide and uniqueness will get you a far way. So as the youngest, longest yet not the shortest intern on the trading floor, I began my journey for the next few months. Commuting in and out of the city every day when lacrosse practice went on back home while I was gaining the best skills of my life.

To be honest, I thought I knew more than I did.

I had overconfidence bias. Something you especially want to avoid trading. You over estimate your shots and loose out on a lot.

I didn’t know much and although I was surprised, I wasn’t disappointed I learned.

I crept up on my manager’s back learning and shadowing what he was doing, controlling the lights in the meetings with my notepad by my side furiously taking notes as the blood vessels swelled on my fingers as I clinched the pen so hard not to drop it on an angle writing on the side of my thigh in the corner and on my coffee runs and waited for the order of the employees while getting sneak peeks into their investments, strategies, new projects and the overall culture of the company.

I wouldn’t have traded it for the world.

I wouldn’t say I was treated terrifically but hey, I didn’t ask for that!

I asked for experience and as a result with that experience, I got to add value back into the company and there is nothing better than that!

So where does realistic pessimism come into play?

As I mentioned with financial planning, expect the worst so you can survive during it. Especially during this pandemic, this mentality has definitely been made clear and being jolly and not expecting to ever lose your job is not the right smart way to live.

Sure, live on the adventurous side but thinking cash is the devil and emergency savings is only for grandma and grandpa is a lie because when you need it, you will be begging the government and as we’ve seen through their efforts during this recession, they don’t always deliver what they are asked of and are slowpokes.

With my internship, I was prepared to be grilled and be bored and that’s part of the experience. The firm took a chance on me and I delivered. I learned, stayed late to shadow, and applied those skills a few months later. Everything takes time, diligence, and realistic hopes. High hopes are great but keep them tamed, especially in a bull market.

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Networking The Right Way

I didn’t value the importance of relationships until my recruiting journey and then realized how much more difficult it was to find a job without a true connection that could spill the beans and let me understand what I’m really in for.

Since my freshman year of college, I made recruiting a 5th class on top of my already hectic schedule that doesn’t teach me nearly as valuable insight as connecting.

But what most students get wrong is the way to connect.

In the professional world, it is no different.

Everyone wants more connection in their lives, especially during this time and people are there to help you because they understand where you are coming from.

They were in your shoes.

You miss 100% of the shots you don’t take.

Just because someone is busy, doesn’t mean they hate you and if someone doesn’t reply to your email to connect, doesn’t mean they ignore you.

You are not the center of their life but to get more attention and make them feel special, connect with them often, not in a bombarding way but in the right sincere, humble way because at the end of the day it is a relationship.

Whether it is personal or professional, the mentor and mentee both need to add value to both lives. I send my mentors, which in fact all I’ve met at recruiting events, articles, insights, life lessons, etc. just checking in and spark curiosity.

Nothing super dorky or geeky related to work because they have enough of it anyway.

Giving someone your resume for the first time with a 30 second script about yourself and then reaching out in 2 years for an internship won’t foster the relationship and not make it work.

That’s creating a breakup.

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Quality >Quantity

Don’t always expect anything out of a relationship anyway. You are already learning how to deal with people, enhance your speaking skills and patience.

If you intend on getting a job out of every conversation then you are in the wrong field.

Work at McDonald’s instead.

Best = Worst

The worst moments happen to you not for you.

Yeah, I said that but still no one believes me.

I learned the most when my father passed away becuase he taught me how vital it is to take proactive steps towards managing our finances and truly defeating the stereotypes of having the male as the household provider. Working on the trading floor taught me a lot of similar lessons to this.

Thankfully no more death stories but how to deal with toxic culture and men taking advantage of young teenage girls. This didn’t seem like a big thing at the time because I didn’t know what was going on. They just kept complimenting me and it was nothing serious at the end of the day, but I became aware of what this type of behavior is and how to approach it next time. It was scary but without it, I would have brushed it aside, never paid attention to it, taken advantage of and maybe that would’ve translated to lesser pay in my future job since I wouldn’t have the guts to speak up.

When something looks fishy, it usually is.

Don’t let the bad moments define you, let them teach you something so you don’t learn it later.

Earlier the Better.

Image by William Iven

Time = Money

As emotionally driven as teh stock market is, so are stockholders and investors.

You remember your losses more than your wins because we are sad, egocentric people that always want more and exaggerate.

This can be a good sign that we want to improve and get better and bad that we always want more and there is never enough.

This is sort of the behavior I established early on working on Wall Street. They are great qualities to have for resiliency and understanding not to buy out of impulse, but the feelings can cross the line quickly if not realized.

On Wall Street, it is hard not to see emotion because the tickers and buying spree are built upon media coverage and trends, not so much rationality at times. The reason being markets do awkwardly and strangly well, is because they trade for the future, not in real-time. The market took a plunge in March for a brief moment when COVID hit but then quickly renounced to its all-time highs today. This always happens so if you can handle your emotions, you are in a great place.

Traders are very meticulous, diligent and have to follow the rules so their trades are placed correctly. I remember for lunch, we would all stuff Sweetgreen into our mouths and poke at our cheeks because there was no time to look down and position it into our mouth. Yes, this sounds crazy and unnecessary, but making the most use of the moment is the best way to go not to lose out on returns or opportunities.

Use your emotion in a calculated way. It shouldn’t be sporadic and preferably after trading hours to relieve some stress. The market and your sanity will thank you.

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Work Hard Play Hard

We all look forward to the weekends for one reason, becuase we are creatures that like to take breaks and not really like the sound of working.

Unfortunately, it is rare to find someone who genuinely enjoys waking up and working. Work shouldn’t be called work, it is a game that you play to better the world but most of the time is seen as a gam that you could lose or get out of at any moment.

I know that sounds scary and you never want to think that your job could be replaced or there is volatility, be to be safe and actually appreciate work more, understand that you are the biggest asset the company has and no one can replace you. If you think this way, you will produce better results and enjoy it.

As my previous point about asking students why they get into this leveraged business, most of them say the pay and that’s not a problem until it goes overboard. Once you start obsessing over the money and not your results or opportunities you can provide the firm and clients, then you get sidelined and work less hard.

Don’t work because you want to buy this and that. They will always be available and its good to have goals.

I found that employees felt this way as well. Of course, there were some bad apples that had the same reason teens do but the majority had a relatively normal work-life balance and took time off respectively, never overdoing it otherwise they would be bored.

Remember: Taking breaks is never being lazy, it is part of growth.

Image by Kelly Sikkema

In and Out

Any job is not guaranteed and volatile. Obviously compared to a delivery guy versus an entrepreneur, there is different risk tolerance that you have to expect to take on.

The more risk you take the more return you can have.

But remember, that is never a guarantee, luck plays a huge factor in this as well.

As technology is advancing and becoming more ubiquitous in our lives, that means certain sectors are vanishing and real people are not needed. Certainly robots cannot take over offices completely, but this does mean that some jobs such as researchers or brokers could vanish. With the use of e-trading, AI, and machine learning, having physical brokers listening to client’s orders might not be efficient anymore in regards to speed compared to a Robo-advisor aking over.

Yet, we cannot fear our job will be vanished and live in a state of panic but what we can do is become prepared because it is always possible.

If you work in the financial industry, you already know how to manage your money since you do it on behalf of clients and the firm. Everyone inside this industry will tell you the number one rule is to have that backup in place.

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Football

Life is a game. It certainly gets chaotic on the trading floor let alone in any job but you cannot equate your finances with gambling or fun because it is money on the line that can make or break you. From the outside, trading floors look like cat and dog fights but in the inside, it’s relatively quiet and focused because deals need to get done. Now with the use of automated trading and fewer dealers on the floor, you will mainly see news networks or a few traders on there.

Only On The Job

The traits that really stood out to me with the traders (mostly men) included diligence, resilience, patience, determination, motivation, and able to handle annoying people and tasks.

A lot goes into a person when you are hired, beyond the hard and technical skill that can be taught everywhere and at any time, they want to make sure you are a nice, sincere human being that has a strong work ethic and will be able to handle for 12+ hour days. No sleep could easily happen in the finance industry, not as much on the trading floor since it’s open from 9:30 till 4 but it adds up to a longer than a typical 9–5 workday prepping before. If this field isn’t right for you, don’t try to force yourself to get into it just for the pay because you could have all you want but with dementia and poor health, it doesn’t do you any good.

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Money Isn’t Funny

Serious that’s their job and why they work there. To move the industry and markets forward. Anyone could replace you if you don’t show up and give it your all. That doesn’t mean you need to grind and never waste a second because that isn’t realistic long term or healthy.

Whatever path you take you need to make sure it aligns with you. Others can make more but you aren’t living in their shoes to understand what they are really going through.

FinTech a space that I’m exploring in college is a vast industry that is a part of every component in our lives. We use tech and business every day and regardless of what you study, you will eventually need to know how to code and budget.

That’s part of life!

As a 20 year old, looking back on my experience on the street, I wouldn’t have traded it for the world. It certainly gave me more exposure to how to work with people, deal with difficult mundane tasks, be okay with confusion and stupidity, and become more courageous about making calculated risks.

These are things that I never felt comfortable trying in school because grades are such a negative influence on our perspective. Gaining hands-on experience will lead you ahead.

Value and take advantage of it. It isn’t reserved for the 1%.