Best post 18 option for a career in Front/ middle office Finance

I am 18 years old and come from a middle income household just outside London. As the title suggests, I need help deciding on the best post 18 option in order to have the best chance to break into front/middle office of banking. I have offers to study finance and accounting at Bath, Durham and Warwick as well as an audit apprenticeship offer at Deloitte in London.  Although the primary focus is career, I do want to have fun in the process. I am not a fan of the Warwick campus or location so I need help weighing up if it is a worthy sacrifice to make. I also require assistance in what specific job in finance would be best for me. My interests are investing in stocks and reading the financial news which I have done with enthusiasm for the last 4 years.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

4 Comments
 

Well for starters if u wanna break into a big bank (doesn’t have to be IB there’s many tracks) summer internship your cv needs to be full. In two years have 3 professional experiences (part time jobs and internship anywhere like honestly go beg customers at your part time for a unpaid placement) and 2 leadership / volunteer experiences ( school shit like resident assistant or join a club and go volunteer somewhere for a year.

 
Most Helpful

If your interest is the stock market then I’d stick to a front office position; middle office or back office roles are usually reserved for people who either went good enough or confident enough to get a front office role or got blown by the wind in life and ended up there.

Although, not top bracket universities, you have offers at some reputable institutions; I would ensure you do everything in your power to leave uni with a first class and whilst there, do your Certificate in Investment Management (IMC).

It will show interest to potential employers - you could also open up a dummy account and begin investing/trading and writing/journal your investment hypothesis, strategy and execution.

You probably want an IB front office role (investment banking, sales and trading, equity research).

Be true and honest to yourself why you want this; I’m sure you are well aware how competitive these roles are and the long hours that come with them.

Good luck and you are on the right track; don’t get discouraged or nervous if things don’t go exactly as planned.

 

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