A career in trading is one of the most sought after in the financial industry. However, typically it can be incredibly difficult to enter the field as a graduate with little or no prior experience.

Head trader of leading financial futures trading firm Amplify Trading, Piers Curran, knows how tough the graduate market can be for those with their sights set on an investment banking career.

He said: "It is getting increasingly tough for graduates to differentiate themselves from the masses, every young graduate we come across at the firm can show equally exceptional academics and enthusiasm although we find that not many have yet had the opportunity to gain substantial practical experience. This is the deal clincher when interviewing at investment banks – a candidate who is able to talk knowledgably about global financial markets, having traded them, is able to speak to the banks in their language."

As well as trading the markets and appearing regularly on international financial news channel CNBC News, Piers Curran actively mentors trainee traders and interns on the firm’s financial markets training programmes. The programmes are specifically designed to train new traders or to help graduates wishing to enter the world of investment banking gain practical skills and experience, by combining trading theory and practical trading of the markets on their very first day.

He added: "There is no substitute for practical experience but a student can also increase their understanding of contemporary financial markets by keeping up to date with financial news channels such as CNBC and Bloomberg.

"It is also important to be able to speak the language of the trading floor. Many of the technical terms that graduates might first find confusing can be explained clearly on helpful sites such as www.investopedia.com."

William De Lucy, Director and Senior Mentor at Amplify Trading added: "We have worked with a number of fantastic graduates over the last twelve months who have either continued to trade with us or have been able to use this invaluable practical experience as a key competitive advantage in securing roles in top tier investment banks."

According to de Lucy, the most impressive interviews have been when graduates show a clear grasp of what is driving the markets that day. He explained: "I have interviewed graduates from top tier Universities who have outstanding academic results yet little comprehension of what is happening in the real world. It makes a great impression if a graduate has opened a paper trading account and has seen at first hand for example how the Greek crisis has affected the price of the Euro."

To find out more about Amplify Trading, visit their profile on Graduate Career.