careers right for me
I'm a sophomore econ major at a semi target top 20 who's debating what careers are best for my personality and skill set. I'm most interested in financial markets and macroeconomics, and I've taken econ classes, business classes, and stat classes so far. I enjoy reading the WSJ and watching Bloomberg, and a career where I could apply information I continuously learn to make money would be ideal. I'm interested in trading and investing and have been looking into careers in sales, trading, Asset Management, hedge funds, and research.
The thing is I'm not sure about which path is best for me because, for instance, I've historically been most interested in S&T because I love strategic risk-taking and as a former athlete I know I would love the competitive aspect of it, but having taken only calc 2 and a couple stat classes and no comp sci, I wonder if I don't have enough quant skills to be a trader. Then, taking business communications this semester has made me a good communicator, but I'm not really a people person, so maybe sales isn't for me?
Then that would leave me with AM, HF, and research. Something like buy side research or portfolio management seems ideal, but I've heard that it's almost impossible to get into HF or good AM internships or jobs straight out of undergrad. Meanwhile, I'm attracted to research because I know I'd be good at analyzing and writing about economic and financial trends, but I've heard that research gets boring, and I'm someone who'd prefer to work on an action-packed place like a trading floor. On the other hand, if I love reading the WSJ and FT and Economist so much, would research be up my alley?
So to sum up what I'm asking is what careers among S&T, AM, HF, research, or others would you recommend for me, given that I'm competitive, somewhat introverted, and a hardcore econ/financial markets person? With my self-description, which do you think I'd be best suited for and why?
Thanks and all advice much appreciated
I'm not really qualified to answer your question in relation to S&T jobs, but I do know this about analytical/research roles..
Most firms like to recruit from reputable universities. They will actively recruit business/finance/math majors for internship roles such as a summer analyst position. You want to make sure to take advantage of these opportunities if these firms do recruit from your campus.
Once you have some sort of analyst internship under your belt, the rest is networking and keeping good grades. Maybe consider starting to study for your CFA your last year as an undergrad.
Without a solid internship as an undergrad and good grades, it's going to be tough to break in unless you have some other outstanding qualities. Trust me, I'm paying for it right now.
And don't get it twisted.. a lot of the people who are in analytical roles are not introverted like you may think. On the contrary you'll find a lot of analysts like to have just as much fun as the next person.. but when it comes down to work they take it 110% seriously.
To sum it up.. make sure you start building your career throughout undergrad.. don't wait till the last semester of senior year to start worrying about who would hire you.
i already have solid grades--3.6 overall GPA as an econ major at a top 20, and over this past year I've built up my resume and applied for internships at firms that recruit on campus and at those that don't, first in s&t, and then in ER, and now in AM. I've gotten two interviews, but I haven't landed any internships yet, and now i'm thinking that while i'm working on building up my professional skills, networking, and getting an internship, maybe it would be good to narrow down my career interests a bit
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