Transcript
GET TO KNOW US | JANE STREET
Hey, I’m Dan, I’m a TDO* on the American Depositary Receipts (ADR) desk. I work in London and I joined Jane Street in 2017.
WHAT DO TDOS DO AT JANE STREET?
The TDO role is quite a varied role. It covers a range of tasks — supporting trading, answering questions from compliance, helping operations. Different TDOs individually have different strengths.
DO I NEED TO HAVE EXPERIENCE IN FINANCE TO APPLY TO JANE STREET?
No, we don’t expect you to have financial knowledge as a background. It’s more about what you can learn rather than what you do already know.
WHAT TIPS DO YOU HAVE FOR CANDIDATES PREPARING FOR THE TDO INTERVIEW?
In terms of what you can expect for the interview, one thing that we’d like to hope is that we can give you something from the interviews and also we need to be able to see your true personality shine through, so come with an open mind. We like people that are inquisitive, so we want to challenge you and we want to see how you react to these challenges.
WHAT DOES GROWTH LOOK LIKE IN THE TDO ROLE?
It’s unique per TDO. As you grow into your role, you find out where your strengths and interests lie and generally, as long as they align, you tend to grow into those. Also, it depends on the needs of the desk. Every desk is different. So what our desk needs might be different to what another trading desk needs.
WHAT IS SOMETHING YOU WISH YOU KNEW WHEN YOU FIRST JOINED JANE STREET?
Something that I wish I knew when I first joined Jane Street is it’s impossible to ask too many questions. Even now, I don’t ask enough questions. If you don’t know something, yes, you can spend time reading it up, but sometimes it’s a lot quicker and you learn a lot more from it if you ask someone questions.
WHAT’S YOUR FAVORITE THING ABOUT WORKING AT JANE STREET?
One of my favorite things about working here partly is the people, but it’s also not knowing what to expect when you show up for the day. There is just so much you can learn and so much you can do. You can have such an impact even like really early on. So don’t be afraid, as a new joiner, to challenge things.
*As of December 2023, the “TDO” title has been updated to “TDOE,” standing for Trading Desk Operations Engineer.
