A New Home

Friday most of the students made their internship decision of where they would like to work. It is a matching process where the students rank where they want to work and the CS staff receive feedback from the sites - provided there is a good match most students get their first pick. I mentioned some of the places where I interviewed at but I can now go into more detail.

Millburn Ridgefield Corporation (www.millburncorp.com)
- A small office in Evanston (north suburb) where the intern would be working on a database of hedge funds as the supervisor there primarily deals with Millburn’s fund-of-funds accounts. I think the data would be very interesting and the work appealed to me as it was a much more qualitative job instead of quantitative. I also really liked the guy there, very friendly and seemed to have a lot of knowledge.

Andrie Trading
-A prop shop of about 40 guys who all either trade on the floor or electronically or both. The intern serves as a clerk or runner and basically does what the trader wants. This internship would be very fast-paced and exciting but also very high-pressure and the intern would have to deal with a little verbal abuse etc.

MF Global (www.mfglobal.com)
- A large publicly traded company. They have about 1,100 employees in Chicago and are a large brokerage and clearing house but also offer many other products and services. The intern here would be working with the project manager on a relatively new division that is being developed - the Alternative Investment Strategies division. Work with a database and perform a number of other tasks.

I chose to go with MF Global as my first choice and Millburn as my close second. Both looked like good opportunities but what really appealed to me about MF was the chance to see other departments in their corporation and have a chance to see what a bigger company would be like. It also seemed like the skills they were looking for matched up to my skills well. I will be starting on Thursday! They are in the same building as the CBOT and CBOE just on the south side of the loop.

Saturday was spent just moving into our apartments. I will post some pictures soon. There are three guys and we have one bedroom. Small but not terribly cramped compared to most college living that I am used to. Old yes…but we prefer more endearing terms like “vintage” or “shabby chic.” At first I was a little apprehensive about the apartments but already they are growing on me and are seeming more cozy. I also really like the location with things like CVS, Walgreens and grocery stores nearby.

Here is a picture of the outside - the building is around 20 stories tall and we are on the 5th.

Ever Seen "Trading Places?"

Wed. was my second interview with a company called Andrie Trading. They are a proprietary trading firm (a.k.a. “prop shop”) meaning they trade their own capital - no clients or customers, it is their own money on the line. They primarily trade options and some futures. In their office they do some electronic trading and then a lot of floor trading. This kind of internship is exactly what many people think of when they hear words like “floor trading” or the Chicago Board of Options Exchange (CBOE). I literally walked straight down LaSalle from the hotel toward the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) and past all of the traders hanging out. These are the guys you see on CNBC and Bloomberg in the background - wearing the mesh trading jackets with a large tag on the corner that identifies their trader code. Some have trading slips in their pockets while others are carrying around their tablet computers that they punch orders in. It was what I imagined almost exactly and was quite surreal as I have seen the scene many times on TV but was now very close to the actual action.

Andrie Trading was what I expected - in other words they somewhat fit the stereotypical trading firm persona that is portrayed in books like Michael Lewis’ “Money Culture” and scenes from movies like “Trading Places” with Eddie Murphy. The interns with them serve as clerks or runners on the floor and basically do whatever the traders needed them to do. It is a fast-paced, high pressure environment that you get thrown into. Needless to say you learn a lot very quickly. Check out this youtube video of actual footage from the Chicago Board of Trade floor for an idea:

And check out this footage from a TV show called “wall street warriors” - only the first part of the clip shows a trading floor and then goes into some hot shot fund manager who thinks he’s all that with a Ferrari. But you can see how shows like this love to stylize the open outcry trading floors, yet I don’t think they incredibly far from reality.

Thursday I had my final interview with MF Global. I thought it went very well. The intern there would be working on a specific project but seemed like they would also get a chance to see other departments of the company. They are a huge brokerage and clearing firm and make up the most volume traded in options and futures on all of the major exchanges.

www.mfglobal.com

I will elaborate more on my internship selection after it gets wrapped up.

Orientatin Overload?

This morning we received more information on where we will be interviewing later this week. I have one interview on Wednesday and another on Thursday. They are actually in the same building not too far south from the hotel, so should be easy to get to. More on the interviews and internships later.

We also figured out where everyone was living and where. Chicago semester had a few different housing options with different locations, size etc. The order of who gets to choose what is chosen by lottery. I will be living with two other guys in Canterbury Court Apartments just north of the loop. It will be a small one bedroom apartment but should be just fine. I think the best part is that a lot of other CSers are living there as well which will be fun and convenient.

We also had a good overview of the transit system and the layout of Chicago and its streets. After an afternoon of going over interview tips and internship research we put our map and transit skills to the test by having to find a specific restaurant for our group to go out to dinner. Our group did very well as we got to the restaurant via the el quickly. I love public transport and I think I am really going to like Chicago’s.

Dinner was at a small Mexican restaurant and the people in our group were a lot of fun. As stated before, one of the best parts of this week has been meeting some really great people and tonight’s dinner was no exception.

Tomorrow morning we have an appointment to choose our apartment and then I have my interview at 1:00pm. Should be fun. I also realized that I need to actually take some pictures because I usually just scan the pictures on people’s blog and so far this one has none, giving it the most boring blog award.

An Early Interview and First Day

Monday is the day where everyone comes to the downtown hotel where orientation is held. However, the supervisor at one of the internship sites I was scheduled to interview at later in the week was going to be gone traveling so I actually interviewed there on Monday morning as we had been visiting relatives in a suburb of Chicago. The interview was with Millburn Ridgefield Corp (www.millburncorp.com) and was in their office in Evanston – an area north of downtown Chicago. I thought the interview went fairly well and enjoyed talking with the supervisor there. I will probably elaborate more on internship details after more interviews and after my site is officially chosen.

Orientation consisted of the usual introduction things, getting to know people etc. I correctly predicted that there was going to be a mixer game which I usually loathe; however, it wasn’t too bad and we didn’t even have to take off a shoe! We had dinner in small groups at different restaurants around the area. Our group took the el to a Thai restaurant which was excellent.

We also had a seminar on safety in the city. Fairly basic stuff – don’t be/act clueless and just be aware. Stuff that other city people and travelers would be familiar with but still good to know and review.

The best part is getting to know some really cool and neat people already. I am really looking forward to hanging out with a lot of different people on the program. Tomorrow morning is more orientation on where we will be interviewing, living and how to use the transit system.

Sioux Center to Chicago

The day of moving to Chicago is actually becoming a reality instead of a far distant idea. It’s one of those things that you have thought about, planned and imagined so many times that it seems a little surreal when it actually is happening. My name is Chris and I will be participating in the Chicago Semester (CS) this Spring for my final semester of college. I attend Dordt College in Sioux Center, Iowa and have heard about Chicago Semester since my freshman year at Dordt. Shortly after deciding to major in business/finance I knew I wanted to work the CS into my schedule. It turned out that my final semester would work best, so after 7 semesters at Dordt with the Chicago semester always planned a long time in the distance it is finally here.

If you want to know more about the Chicago Semester click on the link (www.chicagosemester.org). Otherwise a basic summary: The CS Program is an off-campus study program where students work four days a week at an internship and have class one day a week. The internships count as college credit as well as the classes, so it is like a full semester and I am still a full-time student. I will be taking two classes that fulfill requirements for Dordt as well as a general practicum class which I am sure I’ll talk about later.

Many people ask where I will be working and living and who I will be living with but
I can only tell them that all of this is figured out in the first week of orientation of the program. I also get asked if I am nervous – not really, but only because it doesn’t quite seem reality yet. However, I am extremely excited to finally start this semester. While I have visited Chicago and other large cities before, I have never lived or stayed there for an extended period of time, especially downtown. I have also lived, grown up and gone to school in small, rural towns so I am excited for a big change of pace and scenery. I am also looking forward to exploring the city and discovering all of the food and culture it has to offer.