“I was managing a $100m hedge fund, and then I became an alcoholic. Is my career over?”

you should frequent the trader bars you use to go to when you were a lush, cozy up to the current trader in ruin, find out where he works, become his friend and make sure he becomes a drunk like you, eventually you can take his job...

Hi Saul,

I would not come out and tell any prospective employer that your an Alcoholic. First its a personal battle you will need to work on the rest of your life. Alcoholism killed both my parents and I too put down the drink. I'm in between jobs and have been clean for 2 years.
Besides being personal, if you offer up to a prospective employer what you went through he or she will most likely commend you for being honest, but your not g oing to get the job. No matter how good your track record was in the past, any one who knows a thing or two about alcoholics is the track record of them to staying clean the rest of their life is 5 to 10%.
Back in 2003 I had a personal friend who was an out standing prop trader in FX. She was with a mid-size U.S. commercial bank and always exceeded her annual budget by 25%. She took two week vacation time to get sober and checked in to a treatment center. The company found out through the insurance company and they laid her off 6 months after coming back, staying clean and producing. Back then the state she was in could relay info of her treatment to her employer. I hope I was helpful and good luck mate.

As a prop trader myself I recognise the same patterns. I also went through a period of what people call heavy drinking, in fact I did that for many years. The drinking didn't impact my performance in trading, although it did cause behavioural issues. I went through a period of being dry, after attending AA meetings, and traded sober for some time. But thats when I found trading and market focus harder, not easier or better. So I took a hard look at my past drinking and concluded, so what? My drinking harmed nobody. Just because I drink heavily does that mean I am evil? So I returned to drinking, I enjoy it, it calms ny nerves. In the movie Flight, the pilot landed a plane and saved lives whereas had he been sober the plane would have crashed. Don't let the self righteous anti drinking brigade ruin your life.

Basically, don't be honest and lie about it.

just say you have taken a year off to do some charity work in the forests of Brazil or something like David Beckham did.

If anything it will enhance your CV and career.

Nobody needs to know you have been an alcoholic

As a former drinker, happily re-employed let me say, you got off the booze hou can get a job. If someone asks wnere you've been you say "learning python, c++, and cleaning up the liver"
If the future hiring manager actually cares you don't drink/recovering alcoholic
A: the manager should grow up and finish his 20's
B: the hiring manager is a loser

Never forget, you can get off the booze but if you're ugly, you're stuck with it. How about an Arab/Malay/Indo bank? Maybe your ex boozing coupled with 9 years prop experience makes you a messiah ;-)