How To Become A Trading Assistant: What It Is and Career Path

What is a trading assistant and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

3 min read

Trading assistants work with hedge funds or trading groups to trade stocks and increase the value of their assigned stock portfolios. They work with certified traders, and their main purpose is to ensure that their client's portfolios continue to grow in value.

The tasks that they perform in this capacity include coordinating between customers and co-workers, assisting with trade executions, monitoring the market for share prices, offering clerical services, and computing total holdings. Typically, a trading assistant works for a period of up to two years with a trader to amass the knowledge and skills necessary to become a full-time trader. Once they are ready to become a full-time trader, they need to take the Series 7 and Series 63 exams to become licensed. No formal educational requirements exist; however, a high school diploma or a GED is preferable to get started.

The average hourly pay for this position is $47.46, which amounts to $98,715 annually. This amount is likely to increase once the candidate becomes a fully certified trader.

ScoreTrading AssistantUS Average

Salary

7.6

Avg. Salary $101,645

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

6.0

Growth rate -8%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

3.1

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.73%

Asian 3.83%

Black or African American 9.30%

Hispanic or Latino 16.27%

Unknown 3.87%

White 66.00%

Gender

female 41.45%

male 58.55%

Age - 52

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 52

Stress level

6.0

Stress level is manageable

7.1 - high

Complexity level

4.4

Complexity level is basic

7 - challenging

Work life balance

7.6

Work life balance is good

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become a trading assistant

Explore trading assistant education requirements

Most common trading assistant degrees

Bachelor's

77.8 %

Master's

7.9 %

Associate

7.3 %

Start to develop specific trading assistant skills

Skills	Percentages
Trade Shows	11.94%
P/L	6.80%
Securities	6.53%
Portfolio	6.37%
Bloomberg	5.87%

Complete relevant trading assistant training and internships

Accountants spend an average of Less than 1 month on post-employment, on-the-job training. New trading assistants learn the skills and techniques required for their job and employer during this time. The chart below shows how long it takes to gain competency as a trading assistant based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real trading assistant resumes.

Research trading assistant duties and responsibilities

Manage the cross-book with various brokers, trying to get the best rates for ADR trades.
Ensure accurate communication between traders and stock markets and manage all derivative portfolios for internationally known trading corporation.
Maintain the day-to-day operations of multiple internal trade capture applications, including creating new securities and managing the various classifications.
Ensure reporting accuracy by preparing daily profit/loss spreadsheet for entire manage portfolio, including accrual of market positions initiate and liquidate.

Prepare your trading assistant resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your trading assistant resume.

You can use Zippia's AI resume builder to make the resume writing process easier while also making sure that you include key information that hiring managers expect to see on a trading assistant resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

Choose from 10+ customizable trading assistant resume templates

Build a professional trading assistant resume in minutes. Browse through our resume examples to identify the best way to word your resume. Then choose from 10+ resume templates to create your trading assistant resume.