Should I join one of the big physical commodity trading house in Mumbai or join a new gas/power trading company in Edinburgh.
So I used to work in back office of an investment bank untill 2021. I went to London, did another masters and got my break into gas prop trading as an analyst. Due to multiple factors I could not get a permanent offer but I did stay till end of my contract. Then I joined a startup trading company and left after 3 months and came back to London. Worked in a sell-side company for 8 months on contract. My visa and contract expired and I came back to India. Now I have to decide between joining a big company(Traf,Vitol,Glencore) where I can potentially end up as a trader in few years or join a less known physical gas/power trading company in Edinburgh. The issue is that I am not confident that I can do well in gas/power considering that I have to compete with nerds from Oxford and Cambridge. I think physical gas and power is becoming very quantitative. Even physical asset optimisation is now quant oriented. Maths/physics nerds avoid metals and crude trading because they think its beneath them. I like appeal of Traf or Vitol but if you look at my career it looks like this is my 3rd attempt at something different. If I become a gas/power trader then I think I will be just good enough. I dont know if I will be able to make big money with discretionary trading. But trading crude and metals is a peoples business and I feel that what I will learn at Traf/Vitol/Glencore will help me setup my own business. I am 30 years old and this next step is very crucial. I will need advice from an experienced professionals here. Thanks in advance.
"Now I have to decide between joining a big company(Traf,Vitol,Glencore) where I can potentially end up as a trader in few years" - yeah this won't happen.
I'm not OP but curious why not?
Those firms hire top traders from other shops. Glencore promotes internally, but this is mainly from their intake of graduates they train up. If OP does manage to break into one of these firms (which is still unlikely given his lack of industry experience), he’ll remain in a MO/BO role for a decade.
If you are one of those who lurk around here while unemployed then your opinion is not worth my time.
So, to clarify you’re a 30yo looking specifically for career advice from LARP’ing kids or the unemployed? You need your brain and/or hard drive checked, bozo.
If peoples’ opinions are not worth your time, why did you make a post?
What exactly does joining one company or another mean? The nature of the role matters a lot. Moreso than the size of the company or even whether or the product.
I feel that at a company like Traf ,Vitol, Glencore etc I will learn commodities business. As a gas/power trader I dont think I will learn anything entrepreneurial. And I dont know if I can compete with STEM influx in this industry. I have friends who started in gas trading and they get paid like 70-80K base in UK. But the big money is made by people who are deploying systematic strategies in gas and power trading.
It sounds like you have a strong view already, but I would just suggest that you do some due diligence on what exact roles you are getting. Don’t assume that you can network within Vitol, Glencore, Traf to move into a commercial role. I’m assuming that you don’t have a trader track position since you say you are interested in crude/metals, haven’t worked in either, and those firms don’t generally try to develop traders who have no experience. They tend to hire role players, who will just do the job they are hired for. If that’s not the case, it might be very compelling, but just know what you are getting into.
Is your UK offer an intraday / shift trader offer?
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