A big increase in the number of trading positions is creating lucrative opportunities for IT professionals with dealing-room experience.

Research firm Kimsey Consulting predicts an increase of 25,000 trading positions and a 7% rise in worldwide spending on trading technology over the next three years. With US firms such as Bear Stearns and Wachovia expanding their operations in Europe, the UK is expected to secure a fair few of the jobs that will inevitably be created as a result.

“The environment is a little more predictable than it was five or six years ago,” says report author Stephen Kimsey. “There are very much more definite plans in terms of opening new offices and planning new trading operations.”

What kinds of skills are the new US entrants looking for? Andrew Keene, director at financial IT recruitment firm Thomson Keene Associates, says there’s significant demand for senior IT people with Java, C# and, to a lesser extent, C++ skills. On top of this, you’ll need the ability to deal with irascible and erratic traders (i.e. you’ll need the patience of a saint).

This all adds up to a significant wish-list: “A graduate, who has maybe worked at a software house and then an investment bank, with five-plus years’ experience in banking, who is also hands-on, with a first in a numeric degree, will do well,” says Keene. “They also need to have been successful working with traders. It doesn’t matter whether that’s with Goldman Sachs or ABC bank.”

And if you can tick all these boxes? Recruiters say you can expect to earn a 100k salary, plus a 100% bonus. Contractors can rake in 1k a day.