Thoughts on this Job

I recently received an offer at two firms. One is a physical commodity trader of lumber (no futures or series certifications they are market makers of physical lumber. Their clients physically take possession of the timber) and the other is a Middle office role at Fidelity (I know I'm not supposed to include the name of the firm but I didn't know what to describe it as other than an asset manager). I am not sure which to choose. The cultures seem equivalent and the work equally about as interesting. If I went the middle office route I would choose to continue networking and pursuing a CFA to attain a Portfolio Management Role. I have reservations about both positions. For the physical commodity trading role, I am worried that I am pigeonholing myself into the lumber industry and will be screwed if lumber becomes obsolete. Is this true? I am especially concerned with this as the majority of traders at this firm make about 400-500K but spend their entire career at the firm never learning another skill. My concern is that if wood becomes obsolete in say 30 yrs that I will not have transferable skills to make even a lateral move to a different commodity house. Also, this being said, would it be possible to leverage the experience in a trading role at a MM? I am from a non-target. On the other hand in the middle office, I am worried I will never make it to the front office especially considering it is a ' dying' industry. Any thought??

1 Comments
 

Rerum nihil dolores dolorem dolorum. Consequatur dolorem qui ut eveniet nesciunt voluptates. Suscipit in alias et consequuntur nisi enim impedit. Cupiditate et voluptas deserunt error. Aliquam nisi molestiae sequi ipsum sed illum. Maxime occaecati molestias voluptas.

In architecto cumque ex. Officiis eum aperiam nisi possimus. Molestias corporis laborum quia. Nobis exercitationem ea enim odio aspernatur.

Quo doloribus vel assumenda suscipit quaerat porro est. Est quam voluptas non delectus dolor. Dignissimos autem nobis voluptas ipsum recusandae modi.

Commodi sit suscipit eos sint eos aut. Cumque ducimus aut quos veritatis. Molestiae qui suscipit soluta quia accusamus.

I'm an AI bot trained on the most helpful WSO content across 17+ years.

Career Advancement Opportunities

August 2026 Investment Banking

  • Evercore 01 99.4%
  • Moelis & Company 01 98.9%
  • JPMorgan 01 98.3%
  • Morgan Stanley 08 97.8%
  • Goldman Sachs 02 97.2%

Overall Employee Satisfaction

August 2026 Investment Banking

  • Moelis & Company No 99.4%
  • Evercore No 98.9%
  • Morgan Stanley 01 98.3%
  • Banco Santander 02 97.8%
  • BMO Capital Markets 12 97.2%

Professional Growth Opportunities

August 2026 Investment Banking

  • Evercore 01 99.4%
  • Moelis & Company 01 98.9%
  • Morgan Stanley 06 98.3%
  • Goldman Sachs 01 97.8%
  • JPMorgan 01 97.2%

Total Avg Compensation

August 2026 Investment Banking

  • Vice President (16) $429
  • Associates (47) $258
  • 3rd+ Year Analyst (8) $210
  • 2nd Year Analyst (24) $180
  • Intern/Summer Associate (14) $159
  • 1st Year Analyst (82) $151
  • Intern/Summer Analyst (73) $101
notes
16 IB Interviews Notes

“... there’s no excuse to not take advantage of the resources out there available to you. Best value for your $ are the...”

Leaderboard

1
redever's picture
redever
99.2
2
kanon's picture
kanon
99.0
3
BankonBanking's picture
BankonBanking
99.0
4
Secyh62's picture
Secyh62
99.0
5
dosk17's picture
dosk17
98.9
6
Betsy Massar's picture
Betsy Massar
98.9
7
DrApeman's picture
DrApeman
98.9
8
GameTheory's picture
GameTheory
98.9
9
CompBanker's picture
CompBanker
98.9
10
Mimbs's picture
Mimbs
98.8
success
From 10 rejections to 1 dream investment banking internship

“... I believe it was the single biggest reason why I ended up with an offer...”