Hungry for knowledge, dedicated and passionate about the domain of algorithmic trading – this is what describes Kranti Potluri.
His is an incredible journey that starts right from Engineering to a brief career in IT and then amalgamates into the domain of Finance. Kranti has successfully established himself in the domain of Algorithmic Trading today, and this story is about how he did it.
Hi Kranti, tell us about yourself!
Hi! I’m Kranti Potluri, I am an IT graduate and have a 1.5-year of experience in the IT industry as a Web Developer.
The COVID-19 Pandemic is an unfortunate event and a lot of people lost their jobs. Work-from-home made people rethink their career paths, many of my friends switched their careers.
I too was in the software industry as a frontend developer and this gave me time to reflect on pursuing trading. The conditions of work from home made me understand what I am more inclined to do for the next 5-10 years.
I have always been interested in trading and the stock market and resigned from my job to dedicate my time to developing a full-time career in it. I completed EPAT, and am currently established in the domain of Algorithmic Trading. I have also been trading in Nifty and Bank Nifty Options.
How did you traverse from the software domain to the finance domain?
I’m a Programmer, graduated from CBIT, and have always been interested in things related to automation. I used to do courses related to machine learning, data science, etc. The work I used to do before was similar to prediction.
While learning, I realized how ML, coding, Python are interconnected. In my opinion, although we choose these tools, we have to understand where we are supposed to use these tools i.e. their application. We can use these in the field of Medicine, the Military, Police, Governments, etc.
The stock market and the entire concept of compounding really interested me. Combining Stock Market, ML and Programming, algo trading falls into a sweet spot between them. And that's how I thought of shifting my career to trading.
I’ve recently read that 25% of graduates from STEM-related courses are getting into finance, and perhaps that’s why the US has a strong Finance backbone.
My first project was on automating Rummy (the card game). I didn't even know about algo trading at that time.
My friend's father is a trader who was selling options. With my background and knowledge of ML and programming, I thought that this could be automated.
On researching, I discovered the field of algorithmic trading. I aspired to work with experienced people in this industry and thus explore various career opportunities, instead of just leaving my job and becoming a retail trader to do my own trading.
To be on the quant side, I realized it was not necessary to do an MBA. Anyone can get into with the right knowledge and drive. This led me to EPAT.
How did you learn Algorithmic Trading?
When this seed of thought came into my mind to get into learning Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML); I immediately started research on finding courses in this field.
Online courses provide certification, help achieve goals and get placed in companies. Today, knowledge is not confined to just IITs or MITs, anybody can teach anybody in this age. I really believe in this concept of online learning and online training.
I didn’t learn from books or websites - they can get you only so far. But I started learning about the stock markets – primary markets, secondary markets, why all this is important in a society, etc.
I was looking to learn these concepts and more in a formal way. I looked at courses that taught Algorithmic Trading, and that’s when I found EPAT. There is just no other course like QuantInsti – I couldn’t find anything like it anyplace to compare it to.
I did a lot of research on EPAT before joining, spoke to the team at QuantInsti and I went for it. With the kind of recognition that it has, pretty much every finance company knows about QuantInsti and the EPAT certification that they provide.
I left the company that I was working with, to focus on EPAT. This might not be a good decision for somebody else and might differ. This was a complete shift in my career and I didn’t want to do it half-heartedly, on the weekends or after my office hours. I was completely dedicated 24x7 for 6 months to EPAT.
If you are career-oriented, then it's important to get in-depth knowledge about what you are doing. This helps in building your resume, showcasing your profile, and impressing your recruiters.
Since I was from an IT background, I didn’t have anything experience in Finance to show either. But, having an EPAT certification in my profile provided a much-needed boost to my career. Through my project here, I got a chance to work with Vishal Mehta (Founder, Market Scanner) and then I got a job at ARB Trading Group via the placement cell.
Which feature of EPAT did you like the most?
I really feel a sense of gratitude towards EPAT. If not for it, my career would have headed in a completely different direction. I even recommended it to my friends and they have joined the latest batch.
In EPAT, I really liked:
- Faculty - I can reach out to anyone from the expert pool of well-qualified tutors and faculty who are well qualified. I can ask them queries and get answers, and I have access to them as an EPATian.
- Recorded lectures - Personally, I love having the option of viewing the recorded lectures as I don’t have to sit for 3 hours at a stretch – I like to take my own time with them, pausing and learning, searching on the internet about the terms, making notes, etc.
- Structure - Everything is pre-arranged in the courses themselves – right from the learning material right to the placements, I just have to do what is there in the curriculum.
- The way the classes are conducted
- Assignments and exams
- Python and ML - I had an edge here, as I had knowledge about this
Being a Developer, how did you land a job in Algo Trading?
My intention for doing EPAT was to build my portfolio and resume and then get placed in a good company. So, it was important for me to understand how the placement features of EPAT worked.
Before joining EPAT, I discussed with the EPAT Placement team about my job requirements, types of companies, profiles offered, where could I fit in this domain, and the team were very cooperative regarding this. Especially for someone like me with no experience in the industry. They gave me a run-through on what to expect and what kind of companies offer different roles.
After getting that clarity, it was important to have a plan for myself. My strategy was to do the project whilst doing this course. I’d attend each and every lecture, to learn and simultaneously implement it in my project – in a sense, I became more project-oriented and job-oriented.
From the first day of joining EPAT and throughout my 6 months there, the placement team has been sending me emails about:
- job offers
- what kind of companies are offering the job opportunity
- what job roles are they offering
- their expectations, and
- prerequisites to apply for those roles
This helped me understand what recruiters are actually looking for, the various packages offered, etc.
Even after completing the course, everyone at EPAT was quite supportive in providing me 2-3 months’ time for working on my project – to make it robust. After completing my project, I started applying for companies.
The placement team was incredibly helpful!
- They guided me with the suitable companies and roles befitting me
- They helped me with looking for a role fit for me
- Their feedback on what went well in an interview and what could be improved
All this helped me reflect on myself and within 2 months that helped me get placed in a good role in this domain of Algorithmic Trading.
What is your advice to those who want to get into Algorithmic Trading?
It is important to have clarity and a goal in mind of what you are doing and why you are doing it. You should have an answer to the questions:
Where are you going to be in the next few years?
How will you go about achieving what you want to achieve?
Finance is booming now with many companies are recruiting in this domain actively and Fintechs are popping up more and more.
This field of Finance is not widely known when compared to IT, for example, algorithmic trading is growing exponentially in India. This is a good time for anybody who wishes to enter this domain.
Algorithmic trading has a lot of opportunities and taking the EPAT certification will make your journey easier. I found EPAT to be that one course among others, no other course provided what EPAT could. It will just require your time and effort, and the placement cell will take care of your job prospects.
Thank you for sharing your journey, Kranti. You’re an inspiration to all those who wish to be a part of this rapidly growing and lucrative domain of Algorithmic and Quantitative trading. We look forward to keeping in touch with you as an EPAT alumnus.
If you too desire to equip yourself with lifelong skills which will always help you in upgrading your trading strategies. With topics such as Statistics & Econometrics, Financial Computing & Technology, Machine Learning, this algo trading course ensures that you are proficient in every skill required to excel in the field of trading. Enroll in EPAT now!
Disclaimer: In order to assist individuals who are considering pursuing a career in algorithmic and quantitative trading, this success story has been collated based on the personal experiences of a student or alumni from QuantInsti’s EPAT programme. Success stories are for illustrative purposes only and are not meant to be used for investment purposes. The results achieved post completion of the EPAT programme may not be uniform for all individuals.
