Case Study: Thomas
| Personal details | ||
|---|---|---|
| Degree: | Maths |
|
| School(s): | School of Mathematics and Statistics | |
| Year of Graduation: | Jul-2010 | |
| LinkedIn: | ||
| National of: | United Kingdom | |
| Employment details | ||
| Organisation: | Sky Bet | |
| Job title: | Risk Analyst and Sports Trader | |
| Occupational Sector: | Risk Management | |
| What has been your route to getting your current position? | ||
A degree in a quantitative subject is a requirement for a graduate position within a betting company. Candidates should have a passion for sport in general, and an expert knowledge in at least one specific sport (mine was golf). A good starting point is to register on the following recruitment sites, which give regular updates of opportunities within the industry. betting jobs; Hyperion Gaming; RP Jobs. | ||
| What does your job involve ? | ||
| If you love sport and like working with numbers then this is a great job and one you would certainly enjoy!
I have two parts to my job; the first is to analyze bets that have been placed and managing risk within a betting market. The second is to compile odds for various sporting events, and react in-play, constantly creating new prices depending upon the situation within a game. It’s a fast paced working environment, but with a lot of responsibility; one mistake could cost the company thousands. | ||
| What are the best bits of your job ? | ||
The job is never the same day-to-day, and I get to watch lots of sport! | ||
| Why were you successful? | ||
I think it’s important to show that you are interested and passionate about what the job entails, and be able to get that across through your CV and interview. I had a passion for sport, which was evident due to my heavy involvement in University Sport Club’s. I also had prior knowledge of betting markets and exchanges; for example, my final year honours talk was titled “The mathematics behind profitable bookmakers”. | ||
| What skills/ knowledge from your degree have you found particularly helpful in this role? | ||
A mathematics degree has given me a sound analytical approach to problems, and I’m certainly required to use this on a constantly within the job. I have also been set a project’s to produce algorithms, which can model different prices for a given betting market. | ||
| What advice would you give to students wishing to follow the same path? | ||
If you love sport, then you would love this job. It provides you with the opportunity to work independently and under a constant pressure to succeed. The hours however, are unpredictable and often unsociable in order to fit around sporting events. | ||