A master’s student recently asked me for advice. She had applied for a trading position at a major oil-trading firm but had been turned down.
She was sharp, articulate, and clearly passionate about markets. If I still ran my company, I would have hired her immediately. So why didn’t they?
My guess — and it was only a guess — was that the interviewer didn’t think she was “tough” enough.
Oil trading has that reputation. Sometimes you negotiate contracts in places where business norms, political environments, and expectations are very different. The work can feel intense, unpredictable, and occasionally confrontational.
But “toughness” in trading looks very different from the cliché.
Because the truth is: markets will knock down everyone.
Even when your analysis is solid, you can lose money. You can be right and still be forced out of a position. The key isn’t bravado; it’s the ability to reset, learn, and get back into the ring. A kind of emotional agility.
Rocky Balboa with spreadsheets.
As the student told me about some of the challenges she’d overcome in her life, it was apparent she had exactly the resilience the job required. Gender has nothing to do with it. Resilience is universal.
After our conversation, I found myself reflecting on my own assumptions.
Interviewers make life-changing decisions based on ten-minute conversations — and our brains love shortcuts.
But here’s what I’ve learned after decades in markets:
1. You can be both tough and kind.
Some of the best traders I know are empathetic, generous mentors. They’re steady under pressure, not loud.
2. Physical trading isn’t about confrontation.
The best trades are built on collaboration, transparency, and long-term relationships — not “winning” at someone else’s expense.
When I traded derivatives, I never tried to “beat” the market. I treated it like a conversation partner. When I moved into physical trading, I realised some people thrive in high-pressure negotiations — and some don’t. I eventually found my place as a broker, where analysis and relationships mattered more than brinkmanship.
And let’s be honest: trading isn’t the only job that demands toughness. Teachers, doctors, founders, artists, engineers — everyone gets knocked down. Everyone has to get up again.
So yes, you need resilience to trade. But resilience isn’t aggression. It isn’t volume. It isn’t swagger.
At the recent Commodities Show in Geneva, I asked a friend — one of the best traders I know — whether toughness is essential. He paused for a long time.
Then he smiled and said, “You need to be as hard as nails.”
Maybe. Or maybe there’s more than one way to be tough.
What do you think?
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