Long term career development questionning
Hey boys,
I am a TA in a physical trading firm, and I just started my career with an FT position. I'm very grateful for this opportunity as we are a global player in a niche market, but I feel anxious about my career development.
My first significant career goal to reach is to break into the trading desk of the massive players, Traf, Glencore and alike. However, the product my desk is trading is highly illiquid, and thus I am not sure that the skills are transferable for trading in major financialized commodity markets.
I have managed to secure this position that would allow me to become a trader, if no significant upset, by avoiding the operations trap. However, my major fear is to become too specialized in this industry if I stay too long. So I have some different paths I can forecast for myself. I would love to hear your opinions about those ideas.
I am thing of either leaving my firm in 2-3 years (without becoming a trader) and applying for graduate positions in the majors or integrated energy producers (I will be around 25). But It sounds like a risky move, as this does not guarantee I will succeed, facing applicants from top uni worldwide with STEM degrees (which I have not), and I would abandon quite a good position.
I was also thinking about staying more time in my company, becoming a trader, and then applying to top MBAs, (though not sure how my background would be assessed by top BS). It would give me a fresh start, with proper experience, only necessitating to adjust to a new market. However, I am not sure of whether I would have a shot with such a curriculum, as MBAs are not that common in the commodity trading industry, and even with such an expensive qualification, I might have to step down in position to join a big player.
Similarly to plan B, an Msc in finance is also an option, as I have a keen interest in derivatives (which does not exist for the product I currently work with). It would certainly help me develop proper expertise, but is that much needed?
Every reaction is more than welcome
I’ve never heard of an mba or msf recruiting funnel at a major or trade shop. They might exist some place… perhaps in Europe where masters are more common but I don’t think that there is any established lane there for many people in the US. You can just apply with a few years of experience. Lots of openings for entry level tradebook analysts with 3 years of experience that doesn’t have to be too precisely relevant. Or try one of the TDPs. I wouldn’t worry about taking a step back in short term pay or title. Much better to align with long term interests and also to find the right team.
Thanks for the insight and your opinion. I will look at those positions and plan how to be successful in such a process.
Would you not recommend at all to lateral once I become a trader in my company? Will it be too late?
If you at all within 2 standard deviations of your peers in finance at 25, no one is going to think you are overqualified if you apply for a developmental role or an analyst role. That’s just my guess though from seeing people start those into their mid 30s. One good (or bad) thing especially at the majors is that they are much less rigid in timelines than a bank. It’s not a predictable promotion schedule. People change jobs, move around, in very non linear ways. You can have analysts become traders, traders become originators, originators become traders, traders become senior analysts, engineers become analysts, etc. Trade shops or hedge funds though want people with the exact experience they are hiring for so those could be tougher. But you would still be able to apply entry level if you wanted.
majors are helluva bureaucratic though. It can take 10yrs to get your end result whereas things are more straightforward at a pure spec play
That can happen, a lot depends on whose seat is available, who is moving, who is retiring as there is a largely fixed number of places. So you can get stuck even if you are good. When one person leaves, I’ve seen it change 3 other peoples lives as those consequences ripple down. Certainly makes you appreciate the role of circumstance in things.
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