2 years out of UG

have you looked into headhunters? I know a girl that graduated two years ago who started in some tiny research shop then used a head hunter and is now at macquire as a trader assistant on a desk. I don't know the headhunter, but I could try to find out

So you've been completely unemployed for 2 years or what?

How do you know you'd be good at it?

Jeez, its ridiculous how monotone most applicants are in terms of path to trading: Junior as an SA then FT offer and thats it. What happened to those that work on startups, go to grad school, military service, work in an unrelated field. I find after graduation you really figure out what you want to do and not when you barely turned 20. It would make the "analyst class" slightly more interesting, or is it people are easier to indoctrinate right out of college?

I worked as a research assistant at the Federal Reserve in DC before deciding that economics was not my calling. My original plan kind of fell through and I'm definitely in a "oh shit what do I do now?" period. I think I would be good at trading, because my job at the Fed was to predict GDP releases of ASEAN countries and after two years I became pretty damn good at it. With enough information and appropriate model building I think it wouldn't be too hard to beat the average investor. And thanks for the vote of confidence kiwi!

Resume: https://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&pid=explorer&chrome=true&srcid=0B6lf…

What's it mean that you're registered for June 2010 CFA I? Does that mean you already took it and are waiting on scores? Sorry I'm not familiar with the tests..

It means that I am taking the test in June. It's a computer adaptive test (CAT) I believe - what this means is that it tells you whether you pass or fail immediately after taking the exam.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chartered_Financial_Analyst https://www.cfainstitute.org/pages/index.aspx

But it's currently November 2010.. Am I ridiculously out of touch or is there a typo or something?

Ooohhh....that's a good point. I need to change that. Thanks.

Nice catch. Thanks juked07

SLO89 - I never claimed having worked on a desk before. I usually append my posts with "this is the way I think it works" when the question is not directly applicable to my experience. I take no accountability for your presuppositions.

Buyside Noob - Huh I thought it was supposed to be computer adaptive. I'll have to look into that, thanks.

Monkeysama,

The CAT is for the GMAT, level 1 is scantron and you get your results later (4-6 weeks I believe).

After completing the test, you should be able to tell if you passed or not. If you feel good, congrats! If not, start praying because the outlook is another six months of prep.

Few suggestions:

1. Come a little bit early and factor in time for parking
2. Leave your cell phone in the car; they won’t let you bring it in.

Good luck!