Best Career Track? S&T, Asset Management, Private Equity

Which of the career tracks below is the best in terms of upside potential/outcome for a woman who is an undergraduate at a target school, likes the markets and investing (analyzing, taking calculated risk, running a book) is good at math, has good presentation and people skills and knows 4 languages.

  1. Going to an asset manager such as Blackrock. Concern is quite bureaucratic, some comments on the internet about lower pay and slower advancement
  2. Sales and Trading at a firm such as MS, GS, or JPM. Possibly higher pay and quicker career progression? Concern is the sales and trading business not as good as in the past and fewer exit opportunities. Also concern may be pushed into a dumber sales job with less potential?
  3. Investment management arm of a similar firm like Morgan Stanley’s MSIM or GSAM
  4. Starting as a Private equity Analyst at a firm like Bain Capital or Blackstone. Private equity seems like a lucrative career with future carried interest etc? Knowing fundamentals of private equity also seems good for any future investment management career such as HF, AM, etc.? 
  5. More quantitative firm like Jane Street, Citadel, Susquehanna. Offers higher starting pay to attract graduates but does it have a good/stable career? Would it be extremely competitive and one sided and require very high level of math/CS? Noticed that few people stay here for long.

Any input on the above would be very helpful.

3 Comments
 

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