Breaking into commodities trading from Eastern Europe

Hi everyone!

Has anyone ever seen a russian guy in commodities trading in London, Geneva, NY, Houston, etc.?

I will be graduating in June 2013, and by the time I graduate I will have a 6 months of internship in commodities S&T desk in a major local bank behind my back. But the industry here is so small and underdeveloped I fear at some point I will feel the urge to move to one of the above-mentioned cities in order to grow professionally.

My questions are - is it possible? Would my skills be transferable? Would my knowledge of Russian be an asset or no one cares?

Thanks in advance for your answers.

6 Comments
 

I don't think anyone in the US would care too much that you speak Russian. It does show you're sharp when you speak more than one language.

Houston is the commodity trading capital of the world, so try to head down there. Maybe do a masters program down south to re-brand yourself and get some good ol' American education on your resume. Look at Tulane's Masters of Energy Management program and also their regular Masters of Finance program.

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Best Response

@Macro Arbitrage @lasampdoria Yeah, I guess it's a bit of an overstatement with Houston being the capital, but I see your point with the American education and all.

I've already done lots of reading on commodities trading on this forum, and I've come across some comments on Tulane's MoEM. These are not always good. Also, I took a look on employment stats and from what I saw only 4 guys/gals got decent jobs (see link below - BP, MS, Citi, Wells Fargo each hired one graduate) http://www.freeman.tulane.edu/cmc/docs/2012_MNRG.pdf

 

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