The Mental Strategies of Top Traders: The Psychological Determinants of Trading Success

6.3. CASE STUDY ON A COMPARISON OF TRADERS

An example of a good candidate who exemplifies a team player is Cory, a candidate for an analytical/quant team. Cory is a math undergrad with several years of experience doing event-driven strategies. He thinks probabilistically and has special skill at knocking out the noise, gaining clarity in crowded events, and considering binomial and trinomial solutions. He is particularly interested in series and sequences and numerical error approximation and combines mathematical modeling with creative thinking to calculate different event outcomes and timing.

Upon interviewing Cory, I found him to be very receptive, open to challenge and learning, and very self-examining and willing to adapt. He prefers a team environment to working in individual silos. He likes the philosophy of the organization and is very enthusiastic about being part of the team. Whereas he is very open, honest, and forthright, he likes debate and so may come off as a bit rough and prickly; however, he is quite receptive and very eager to get guidance from others so that he can improve.

His default style when stressed or challenged is to become more intense, quiet, and focused on the task at hand. His greatest strength (which he admits may at times be a weakness) is his tendency to be overanalytical and to dig deep for the meaning of things. He is very good at reading people and situations and analytical materials and very confident about what he knows. He believes that ...