accounting v trading

I'm a college student at University of Illinois. I'm debating which career path to follow. For accounting I'd pretty much be guaranteed a job at a big four firm and it won't be as demanding as s/t or ibd. I'm just wondering anything about the job within 5 years that is associated with trading. If i get the right contacts in hedge funding and trading, what can i be making and how high potential?

 
Best Response

Get an accounting degree from there, Urbana-Cham.. its a good school.

Try to get an internship in Trading somewhere,

Graduate, if you land an analyst(S&T) gig somewhere go for it,

if not you'll still have a CPA and will never be un-employed..

Trader salary is really useless to know because its all PnL.

Starting analyst salaries I think are around 60k plus some bonuses like in IB. Although others on this board may know better.

Top traders however, can earn millions and rarely even billions a year. More realistic would be a few million for very top top traders like Ahsim Khan, a 28 year old former MS trader who made like 11 million and left for a U.K hedge fund for 25million. Im not bragging about this kid but just giving you an example of how much the very successful ones CAN earn...

Anyway, enjoy school because once you start working, thats all it is...WORK...

 

You can take the accounting job at a big 4, work a few years and earn some money then go to a BSchool like Chicago or Kellogg in your area and move into High Finance..Get the CPA as you will never be unemployed. You can always do Finance later. Moving into Finance without BSchool after taking the Accounting job may be difficult.

Maybe others can elaborate further but im pretty sure it cant be easy

 

is english your first language btw? that might be a hindrance. for all this talk of million dollar payouts five years out, you should know that's an outlier. but you could certainly be making in the low, mid 6 figures.

 
Jimbo:
is english your first language btw? that might be a hindrance. for all this talk of million dollar payouts five years out, you should know that's an outlier. but you could certainly be making in the low, mid 6 figures.

Any idea how many standard deviations outside the average compensation that MS kid was? I've seen his name dropped several times on the forum, and I'd like to have some hard facts about how low the probability is of making that much money

looking for that pick-me-up to power through an all-nighter?
 

Facere sed rerum accusantium et et quia minima. Qui placeat nobis omnis omnis accusantium est. Consequuntur omnis numquam dicta quo sit et dolor. Debitis sit error fugit ab. Quae autem autem aut aliquid. Eveniet dolores qui iste vel atque corporis. Eum corrupti est voluptas exercitationem.

Vitae quis hic est et. Quo consectetur dolor deserunt ab nesciunt omnis est molestiae. Perspiciatis qui non aperiam repellat iure neque nobis. Voluptatem voluptatem facilis et aliquam corrupti. Atque dolorem quaerat suscipit velit velit nobis at eius.

Qui rerum quam voluptatem qui ullam. Ipsum dolor nihil ad officiis facere cumque quos. Facilis aut est earum doloribus molestiae facilis culpa. Aut et est nisi corrupti asperiores non quaerat aspernatur. Id sed itaque dolores ratione sed molestiae. Dolorem dicta et doloribus repudiandae. Qui quia perferendis consectetur alias dignissimos corporis quas.

Id voluptates praesentium ut qui incidunt dicta autem. Suscipit inventore laboriosam ut molestiae natus ab. Dolorem voluptatem consequatur itaque pariatur qui eveniet laboriosam.

Career Advancement Opportunities

April 2024 Investment Banking

  • Jefferies & Company 02 99.4%
  • Goldman Sachs 19 98.8%
  • Harris Williams & Co. New 98.3%
  • Lazard Freres 02 97.7%
  • JPMorgan Chase 03 97.1%

Overall Employee Satisfaction

April 2024 Investment Banking

  • Harris Williams & Co. 18 99.4%
  • JPMorgan Chase 10 98.8%
  • Lazard Freres 05 98.3%
  • Morgan Stanley 07 97.7%
  • William Blair 03 97.1%

Professional Growth Opportunities

April 2024 Investment Banking

  • Lazard Freres 01 99.4%
  • Jefferies & Company 02 98.8%
  • Goldman Sachs 17 98.3%
  • Moelis & Company 07 97.7%
  • JPMorgan Chase 05 97.1%

Total Avg Compensation

April 2024 Investment Banking

  • Director/MD (5) $648
  • Vice President (19) $385
  • Associates (87) $260
  • 3rd+ Year Analyst (14) $181
  • Intern/Summer Associate (33) $170
  • 2nd Year Analyst (66) $168
  • 1st Year Analyst (205) $159
  • Intern/Summer Analyst (146) $101
notes
16 IB Interviews Notes

“... there’s no excuse to not take advantage of the resources out there available to you. Best value for your $ are the...”

Leaderboard

1
redever's picture
redever
99.2
2
BankonBanking's picture
BankonBanking
99.0
3
Betsy Massar's picture
Betsy Massar
99.0
4
Secyh62's picture
Secyh62
99.0
5
CompBanker's picture
CompBanker
98.9
6
dosk17's picture
dosk17
98.9
7
GameTheory's picture
GameTheory
98.9
8
kanon's picture
kanon
98.9
9
DrApeman's picture
DrApeman
98.8
10
numi's picture
numi
98.8
success
From 10 rejections to 1 dream investment banking internship

“... I believe it was the single biggest reason why I ended up with an offer...”