Career suggestion - Last year UG student

Bump

why not move to the US.... i worked with some IIT grads and all were very bright

Move to the US and do what ? 1. I do not have any work experience so it would be extremely difficult getting a job there. 2. Do not want to go for MFE since it would'nt lead me anywhere closer to the AM industry (i believe MFE is mainly for S & T roles) and i don't want to be a 'quant', although i have taken rigorous courses in maths and i am not afraid of it. 3. I might be able to get into MSF programs offered by Vanderbilt/Olin (less quant). I have not given this much of a thought though.

Forgive me for my naivety but i am just speaking from the response i received and from whatever i have read on various forums.

Please help me out here guys!!

Hi

As far as I know, you can't appear for CFA L1 before completing 4 years of education (which you haven't I guess).

Furthermore, I would like you to rank the options suggested by you in you current order of preference. This post is pretty old, hence you must have got some other perspectives as well (and would have attended the placement session at IIT as well).

Cheers!

You can attend CFA 1 as a senior in college

Building career in stock market would be right decision in current business scenario. As there is something good news from america stock market. Leading economist in the US market claims that the US stock market has the potential to rise over 50% in the next couple of years. He recommends buying options, or to be fully invested in stocks but buy protection through out of the money put options, for example S&P puts.

So i'm back after a long time..sorry for such a delayed response.I was kinda busy during the past 5 months or so..Had an idea for a startup and implemented it along with a friend.Invested some money and had some initial success, but nothing great.Long story short I have put it on a back burner .In the mean time i accepted a job offer from the Prop trading firm i mentioned. Now,recently i was having conversation with one of my friends and he said that he could get me an interview at an equity research startup called Trefis (Founded by MIT Engineers and former Wall Street analysts..I do not know anything else apart from this)

Now as vitaminc said Prop trading does not generate a good enuf story to get into a top MBA program. Is an equity research analyst position at a startup more favorable? Also,which of the two would help me transition to an M&A analyst position at an IB?

Thanks!!

Fwiw, a friend told me about trefis a few months ago, and I've been using it regularly since. Its concept is very unique, allowing you to manually adjust the assumptions line by line to see how changes in the model can affect the final value. Plus it's really intuitive to use, so even the average joe now has the ability to test his assumptions and see how it impacts the price without having to have any financial knowledge at all. Point is, this is a very unique product, and I think it has a lot of potential, so it might be cool to be able to get on the ground floor of this if you get the job (plus would be really interesting to talk about in your MBA application if it takes off).

you must have graduated by now I guess.. and ya.. i like what nytrader said.. this can really prop up ur MBA app if it clicks.. but still i am not able to figure out how you are appearing for CFA l2 this time around... anyways, moving to another city would be better than futures first i guess... (unless you trading excites you)

whatsinthename : no i was not able to take the CFA L 2 because they didn't allow me. But the thing is i could have taken the exam if i had registered before January ..apparently they brought in some new regulations and denied my registration ..hope that clears up the fuss about the exam.

Yes this new concept seems cool..further i am more into fundamental/value investing than day in day out trading.So you guys thing Trefis would be a better choice ,right?

right.. in terms of build-up for an MBA App something like this would be far more valuable and I agree with vitaminc on that... I haven't heard much about it, hence it would not be right for me to comment specifically on the company..but it does seem in alignment with your near-term goals

Bump!!

So it's been 7 months since i graduated and took the Trading position with the Derivatives firm i mentioned.I have been day trading Government bonds (Bunds, BTPs etc.) with little or no success.During the past 7 months i have learnt a lot about markets,about government bonds and about economies in general, and i am liking the academic side of it.However i have figured out that taking position for 10-15 mins is something i do not prefer to do.In a nutshell this is what day traders do and i am not meant for this. So as it stands, another year has passed and i am in a fix again.I am pretty sure i won't continue with this for long and so i seek some advice from the gurus on this forum.

Options : 1.MS in Finance from LSE, HEC or Oxford >> Equity or FICC Research positions. Not aware of the job market in Europe.From what i have heard it's bad out there, even if i am able to secure admissions to one of these colleges. 2.Pass CFA L 2 >> lateral to some Risk Management(DB),Prime Brokerage(CS) or equity research (JPM =tough,regional brokerage shops=higher probability) jobs. 3. Leave the job. Take a vacation and explore the world.Maybe i will develop a different perspective altogether.Not kidding!!

Any other advice.I am stuck in a job which i don't like.It's taking a toll on me personally.I have never felt worse.The learning opportunities are great, but i am not doing anything based upon it.I want to be in a place where i am at least applying what i have learnt.