In back office, where to go from here?
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back office for life baby............
No, you're not back office for life. Time to network- meet people, talk to alumni, etc. You'll get there.
you might make it to the front office, but only in name, and not in the ferrari level base salary.
Are you at CS in the RTP area? I cannot think of another city who might offer such cheap rents (even flatsharing) .
You should seriously think about your passions/where you want to spend the next 40 years of your life. Trading is getting more and more regulated so while front and even mid office staff are being downsized, there will still be a need for back office people. It can be boring as hell but if you are okay with it this can still provide a very good pay/work life balance, good salary if you are not in NYC/SF or any big city and you will have the opportunity to transfer to IT/compliance consulting.
Really it's not too late to switch industries if you are not dead set on S&T
Your career track should be backoffice to middle office/trade support then to Institutional Sales. There have been people that made it to IBD or Trading but it's harder and all three require a substantial amount of networking. Also, you should be looking for an opportunity to take the Series 7 and 63/66 as it will make your transition to front office easier as they'll take you more seriously.
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