What is your role at VivCourt?
I took part in the 2023/24 Summer Trading Internship, and I’ve just started the 2024 Graduate Trader program!

What sparked your interest in trading?
A lot of my hobbies had skills that were applicable for trading. Poker, chess, sports betting, they shared this commonality of requiring strategic thinking to find a competitive edge. After a friend told me about trading at uni, I read more about it, did an internship, and never looked back. It was incredibly captivating to me to apply my analytical and quantitative skills I had developed in a real-world environment.

Is a non-finance background a barrier to entering trading?
I wouldn’t say so. VivCourt will teach you all the financial knowledge you need. However, a genuine interest in economics and financial markets is still ideal as curiosity will make you want to learn and gain a deeper understanding of the concepts.

Any tips for acing the internship interview?
Nowadays, there are countless amounts of resources that can be found online. I recommend brushing up on probability and statistics, these make up the backbone of the technical questions. Focus on the approach of problems over getting answers correct.

How did your skills develop throughout the program?
At the start of the internship, people from different teams will run classes and lessons to help establish trading fundamentals and elucidate what they do day-to-day. Whether it be market-making games or the projects you work on, everything will hone your quantitative and problem solving skills.

What is your favourite part about being at VivCourt?
My favourite part about VivCourt is the culture, it’s something unique that’s hard to find. A like-minded, motivated environment where everyone you work with is incredibly smart and bright, you learn new and interesting things every day, whether It be about work, general trivia or a certain niche hobby someone has. There’s far less bureaucracy than other jobs and companies, seniors are always happy for you to pick their brain over a coffee.

Advice for students seeking trading internships?
Joining a trading/quant club at university is incredibly beneficial. It helps you connect with like-minded people also looking to break into the industry. Firms will also often run events that help you learn more about the industry and what they look for.