How to hire a sales trader

How to hire a sales trader, step by step

Here's a step-by-step sales trader hiring guide:

• Step 1: Identify your hiring needs
• Step 2: Create an ideal candidate profile
• Step 3: Make a budget
• Step 4: Write a sales trader job description
• Step 5: Post your job
• Step 6: Interview candidates
• Step 7: Send a job offer and onboard your new sales trader
• Step 8: Go through the hiring process checklist

What does a sales trader do?

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1. Identify your hiring needs

   First, determine the employments status of the sales trader you need to hire. Certain sales trader roles might require a full-time employee, whereas others can be done by part-time workers or contractors.

   Determine employee vs contractor status

   Is the person you're thinking of hiring a US citizen or green card holder?

   Yes

   No

   A sales trader's background is also an important factor in determining whether they'll be a good fit for the position. For example, sales traders from different industries or fields will have radically different experiences and will bring different viewpoints to the role. You also need to consider the candidate's previous level of experience to make sure they'll be comfortable with the job's level of seniority.

   This list shows salaries for various types of sales traders.

   Type of Sales Trader	Description	Hourly rate
   Sales Trader	Securities, commodities, and financial services sales agents connect buyers and sellers in financial markets. They sell securities to individuals, advise companies in search of investors, and conduct trades.	$30-88
   Registered Representative	A registered representative's job involves researching market conditions, liaising with potential clients, implementing advertising campaigns, cultivating personal contacts, and creating investment plans. Their duties and responsibilities include soliciting business from potential clients and selling financial products and services to clients for investment purposes... Show more	$15-42
   Investment Representative	Investment representatives, also known as financial advisers, usually work in a bank, investment company, credit institution, or other financial firm. They handle the marketing and promotion of financial services and give clients investment advice... Show more	$17-53

   Show more

2. Create an ideal candidate profile

   Common skills:

   • Equities
   • Derivative
   • Institutional Clients
   • Trade Execution
   • Client Relationships
   • Equity Trades
   • Fixed Income
   • Securities
   • Hedge Fund Clients
   • ETF
   • Buy Side
   • Market Data
   • Account Coverage
   • Bloomberg

   Check all skills

   Responsibilities:

   • Price, trade and risk manage equity derivatives including OTC single stock options and list options.
   • Manage business, sales, marketing, international negotiation and communication for a commodities business.
   • Administer institutional equity accounts and expedite customer order flow for the NYSE, NASDAQ and OTC marketplace.
   • Trade exchange list and OTC stocks, fixed-income securities and equity derivatives, prior to company sell to UBS.
   • Develop relationships with institutional clients in equities primary and secondary markets.
   • Transact institutional equity and derivative trades on behalf of alternative investment funds.

   More sales trader duties

3. Make a budget

   Including a salary range in your sales trader job description helps attract top candidates to the position. A sales trader salary can be affected by several factors, such as geography, experience, seniority, certifications, and the prestige of the hiring company.

   For example, the average salary for a sales trader in South Carolina may be lower than in New York, and an entry-level sales trader usually earns less than a senior-level sales trader. Additionally, a sales trader with certifications may command a higher salary, and working for a well-known company or start-up may also impact an employee's pay.

   Average sales trader salary

   $108,427yearly

   $52.13 hourly rate

   ---

   Entry-level sales trader salary

   $63,000 yearly salary

   Updated January 20, 2026

   Average sales trader salary by state

   Rank	State	Avg. salary	Hourly rate
   1	New York	$145,733	$70
   2	Connecticut	$110,813	$53
   3	Massachusetts	$103,167	$50
   4	California	$96,223	$46
   5	Texas	$93,418	$45
   6	Illinois	$92,081	$44
   7	Florida	$75,443	$36
   8	South Carolina	$70,281	$34
   9	Georgia	$67,269	$32

   Average sales trader salary by company

   Company

   Rank	Company	Average salary	Hourly rate	Job openings
   1	Merrill Lynch	$144,726	$69.58
   2	Citi	$141,601	$68.08	72
   3	William Blair	$126,489	$60.81
   4	Deutsche Bank	$125,861	$60.51	16
   5	Wedbush Securities	$125,777	$60.47
   6	Bulltick	$125,405	$60.29
   7	XP Securities	$124,569	$59.89
   8	Louis Capital Markets	$124,082	$59.65
   9	Standard Chartered	$117,305	$56.40	4
   10	Barclays	$117,079	$56.29	4
   11	SG Americas Securities Holdings, LLC	$116,526	$56.02
   12	CIBC World Markets	$115,913	$55.73
   13	Rbc Holding Co Ltd	$115,868	$55.71
   14	Angel Oak Companies	$114,942	$55.26
   15	BayCrest Partners	$114,924	$55.25
   16	*n/a*	$114,820	$55.20	2
   17	UBS	$114,171	$54.89	12
   18	Renaissance Acquisition Holdings	$114,087	$54.85
   19	NewEdge	$105,792	$50.86
   20	AJC International	$102,418	$49.24

4. Writing a sales trader job description

   A good sales trader job description should include a few things:

   • Summary of the role
   • List of responsibilities
   • Required skills and experience

   Including a salary range and the first name of the hiring manager is also appreciated by candidates. Here's an example of a sales trader job description:

   Sales trader job description example

   Your role
   
   Do your analytic and interpersonal skills help point you towards covering clients in the futures markets? Are you an agency sales trader?
   
   We're looking for an ETD Macro Execution Sales Trader to:
   
   * cover and transact Futures and Options for a diverse client base
   * keep on top of market fundamentals and client execution coverage needs
   * help cover our clients in our follow the sun coverage model
   * be one of the team leads on content and idea generation
   * effectively manage execution risk
   * work closely with other ETD sales teams to generate revenue and grow client business
   
   Join us
   
   At UBS, we embrace flexible ways of working when the role permits. We offer different working arrangements like part-time, job-sharing and hybrid (office and home) working. Our purpose-led culture and global infrastructure help us connect, collaborate, and work together in agile ways to meet all our business needs.
   
   From gaining new experiences in different roles to acquiring fresh knowledge and skills, we know that great work is never done alone. We know that it's our people, with their unique backgrounds, skills, experience levels and interests, who drive our ongoing success. Together we're more than ourselves. Ready to be part of #team UBS and make an impact?
   
   Your expertise
   
   * ideally have a minimum of 5 years in the ETD Execution business
   * must have a strong Equity focused futures and options execution skill set
   * ability to work effectively within global futures execution team
   * have good instinct for overall market behavior and how broader fundamentals effect the listed derivatives markets
   * demonstrate the aptitude for growth with respect to market commentary and content creation
   * possesses the behaviors of integrity, accountability, culture and collaboration
   * must have Series 3, 7 and 63 registrations
   
   About us
   
   UBS is the world's largest and only truly global wealth manager. We operate through four business divisions: Global Wealth Management, Personal & Corporate Banking, Asset Management and the Investment Bank. Our global reach and the breadth of our expertise set us apart from our competitors.
   
   With more than 70,000 employees, we have a presence in all major financial centers in more than 50 countries. Do you want to be one of us?

   Copy this example

   

5. Post your job

   There are various strategies that you can use to find the right sales trader for your business:

   • Consider promoting from within or recruiting from your existing workforce.
   • Ask for referrals from friends, family members, and current employees.
   • Attend job fairs at local colleges to find candidates who meet your education requirements.
   • Use social media platforms like LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter to reach potential job candidates.

   To find sales trader candidates, you can consider the following options:

   • Post your job opening on Zippia or other job search websites.
   • Use niche websites that focus on engineering and technology jobs, such as salesjobs, salesheads, allretailjobs.com, sales trax.
   • Post your job on free job posting websites.

6. Interview candidates

   To successfully recruit sales traders, your first interview needs to engage with candidates to learn about their interest in the role and experience in the field. You can go into more detail about the company, the role, and the responsibilities during follow-up interviews.

   It's also good to ask about candidates' unique skills and talents to see if they match your ideal candidate profile. If you think a candidate is good enough for the next step, you can move on to the technical interview.

   The right interview questions can help you assess a candidate's hard skills, behavioral intelligence, and soft skills.

7. Send a job offer and onboard your new sales trader

   Once you have selected a candidate for the sales trader position, it is time to create an offer letter. In addition to salary, the offer letter should include details about benefits and perks that are available to the employee. Ensuring your offer is competitive is vital, as qualified candidates may be considering other job opportunities. The candidate may wish to negotiate the terms of the offer, and it is important to be open to discussion and reach a mutually beneficial agreement. After the offer has been accepted, it is a good idea to formalize the agreement with a contract.

   It's equally important to follow up with applicants who don't get the job with an email letting them know that the position has been filled.

   To prepare for the new employee's start date, you can create an onboarding schedule and complete any necessary paperwork, such as employee action forms and onboarding documents like I-9 forms, benefits enrollment, and federal and state tax forms. Human Resources should also ensure that a new employee file is created.

8. Go through the hiring process checklist

   • Determine employee type (full-time, part-time, contractor, etc.)
   • Submit a job requisition form to the HR department
   • Define job responsibilities and requirements
   • Establish budget and timeline
   • Determine hiring decision makers for the role
   • Write job description
   • Post job on job boards, company website, etc.
   • Promote the job internally
   • Process applications through applicant tracking system
   • Review resumes and cover letters
   • Shortlist candidates for screening
   • Hold phone/virtual interview screening with first round of candidates
   • Conduct in-person interviews with top candidates from first round
   • Score candidates based on weighted criteria (e.g., experience, education, background, cultural fit, skill set, etc.)
   • Conduct background checks on top candidates
   • Check references of top candidates
   • Consult with HR and hiring decision makers on job offer specifics
   • Extend offer to top candidate(s)
   • Receive formal job offer acceptance and signed employment contract
   • Inform other candidates that the position has been filled
   • Set and communicate onboarding schedule to new hire(s)
   • Complete new hire paperwork (i9, benefits enrollment, tax forms, etc.)

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How much does it cost to hire a sales trader?