New junior in college
Hey, guys I'm new to this forum. I'm a junior at Drexel University; its in Philly incase you don't that school. My school is one of those schools that the major is all bus. admin, but you pick your concentration in whatever else. I did finance for a year and then decided to change to accounting in the chance I cant't get a job in the financial sector. What are my chances of getting a job as a prop trader? I know I need a Series 7 and then another licence if I want to broker/associate at a hedge fund. But does it really matter what major I am while in school? I would prefer to get a job as a prop trader, but if worst comes to worst I'll take the CFA. Would someone answer my concern; can I work in the financial sector, or will I be stuck filing income tax?
I think you really need to read up more on what you want to do. First of all you aren't going to get a job as a broker at a hedge fund because hedge funds aren't brokers, they're hedge funds. To that point you won't need a Series 7 because that's a license to be a broker, and again, hedge funds aren't acting as brokers for retail investors.
There will be more knowledgeable users who can comment on this but I would say the chances of getting a job as a prop trader or a front-office job at a hedge fund are very poor/verging on zero with an accounting degree. Majoring in finance would be better, though something more quantitatively demanding like engineering or physics would probably be even better for prop trading (and I'm speaking in terms of prop trading in the typical connotation of a very quanty prop shop, most hedge funds wouldn't require as much of a quant background).
Also you need to understand that it's very difficult to get into any sort of good buyside shop out of undergrad. The typical path is through the sell-side: Investment Banking or Sales & Trading. I would take advantage of being in Philly and try to get an internship during the school year with a boutique bank or a hedge fund in town and try to spin that into a sell-side job out of undergrad.
Yea I know that hedge funds aren't brokers.Honestly I know its too early since i have at least another year left in school. I would try to get an internship at a boutique bank or hedge fund, but don't know if there are any left; its all big retail banks/brokers that are impossible to even get an interview at. Only time will tell. Does anyone know anything about Forex brokers? I have some experience in that because I traded with my own money, but wasn't very successful.
It's not too early at all. If you are really serious about getting into a hedge fund later on then junior year of college is when you should really be going after an internship that will set you up for a good job out of undergrad. Yes, you've probably missed the boat for this year with the larger firms, but I bet you could find 50 boutique banks, brokers, and hedge funds in Philly to contact that might be willing to take on an off-cycle intern (especially if you're willing to work unpaid).
The problem is my school is on a co-op cycle which means that students work for half a year and then have class for half a year. I'm working right now until march 31st at foreclosure law firm (dont ask why). I wouldn't really have to time do another internship right now because my school is on tri-mesters not semesters; a month in we already take mid-terms. I have another one next fall; but I was thinking of find an internship in nyc, but one that could pay enough for me to pay for an apartment. But again never know what will happen. By the way im not partial about hedge funds; I would do anything in finance, broker, analyst, trader, anything. If it doesn't work then I can just go do accounting.
Are you in the co-op program?
Yea I am. Everyone in the school is.
There are plenty of good finance co-ops at Drexel. Blackrock and SIG hire a ton of Drexel kids
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