How the AIFP Paid Trader Training Program Prepares You to Run Your Own Business

Is it your dream to run your own business? We want to help! Our paid trader training program takes recent college grads and other people looking to start a career as a commodity trader and teaches them everything they need to succeed. Here’s how our apprenticeship program will help prepare you to run your own business.

By Providing Thorough Training

Our paid apprenticeship program takes on the job training very seriously. During the 12-month program, you’ll learn about successful sales strategies, what you need to know about the building materials and lumber industry, and technical skills like how to calculate board footage and assess risk. You’ll also learn about the different departments at AIFP, so that you can better understand what they do, how they do it, and how you can best utilize them when you start making your own sales. During the final months of the training program, you’ll even formulate your own business plan. This preparation will be key when you graduate from the program and officially start the process of building your own business.

By Contributing Feedback

One of the great things about the AIFP paid trader training program is the amount of feedback you’ll receive from experts in the industry. You’ll receive helpful commentary at every step of the way from more senior members of AIFP, including recent training program grads, veteran traders, department heads, and even our president, Jon Vranizan. Not only will you receive constructive feedback about your strengths and weaknesses, your sales pitches, your industry knowledge, and your technical skills, but you’ll also get help refining your business plan into a more effective and realistic blueprint for running your own business.

By Encouraging Close Mentorship

At AIFP, we work hard to foster a community of mentorship, both formally through our trader training program and informally through our company culture. Our trader training program involves close formal mentorship between our trainees and senior traders, professional sales trainers, and our president, Jon Vranizan. The training also includes shadowing other traders on the sales floor before working more closely within a single department. Informally, our company culture encourages team bonding, which can help lead to even more mentorship opportunities within the company.

Mentorship doesn’t just benefit the trainees! It gives our more seasoned team members a chance to reflect on their business, analyze their success, and even think about their business in a fresh way. When it comes to mentorship at AIFP, everybody wins.

By Fostering Independence

While we provide many resources to help you throughout your career training, your success or failure in the training program is ultimately up to you. It’s up to you to put in the time, effort, and discipline necessary to learn the ropes, make sales, and ultimately create your own business. Don’t worry though, we thoroughly prepare you for this by giving you more and more independence as the program moves forward.

Once it’s over, you still have your team to lean on when needed, but you’re given plenty of autonomy to steer your own ship. In fact, our commission-only pay structure gives you more control over your income, unlimited earning potential, performance transparency, and plenty of independence and flexibility. Your business is what you make it!

Thinking about applying to become a commodity trader at AIFP? Send us your resume and find out if you have what it takes to succeed at one of the best places to work in Portland, Oregon! In the meantime, be sure to check out the many career resources available to you on our blog, including how to make the most of your apprenticeship program, what AIFP traders think you should know about our paid trader training program, and how to thrive in a commission-based job.