BB ST vs top HF FO Operations

Yeah dude.... why start in a backseat role and try to claw your way out of it when you could just start in the front office and then move to a hedge fund later? It makes no sense. Even if you aren't that interested in trading it would be much easier to go S&T --> IBD or ER --> HF FO than HF Ops --> HF FO

Ehh, not so sure it's THAT obvious that you should go for the BB FO role. What I've seen from fixed-income funds is that guys from OPs and Tech can definitely make the transition to FO. Call it survivorship bias or whatever, but remember funds are typically smaller than banks. Likely the ambitious Ops/BO guy at the fund is probably doing a lot more than the typical Ops/BO role at a bank, and has easier access to the traders. From the PM/trader perspective at a fund, why hire a junior with 2-3 years experience at a BB (typically not long enough for a track record)? Sure they may know the product, but college students may have better programming skills, while there's already an established relationship with an internal Ops guy who may want a shot on the desk.

Ultimately, it's partly about who you surround yourself with and how independent of a learner you are. If you strive to learn markets on your own and test ideas against good people, you'll probably find opportunities.