got a job at a top institutional broker dealer?

Hey everyone,

I need a bit of advice regarding my situation:

I graduated from a target school, majored in two hard science majors, I interned at a BB in S&T last summer but didn't get an offer (headcount issues), market was really bad and hardly no one came to my school for S&T recruiting in the fall, subsequently despite being very competitive the only offer I had was for middle office at a BB... which I knew I would hate.

Fast forward to the spring I ended up with an offer to work as a "Institutional Sales & Trading" analyst at a subsidiary of a large BB - keep in mind the subsidiary is purely a broker dealer. The position is a one year rotational program - I would get to sit on different desks (energy, metals, options, cash, etc). I accepted the job offer because this was still front office, even though it wasn't at a BB, it was at their subsidiary (but it is run independently of the BB) . Plus, a job is better than no job.

Now that I've accepted however I am starting to get "second thoughts". I realized I didn't research enough on broker dealers (exit opps, career paths, etc) as I should have. I did a bit of research on WSO on broker dealers but I still have a few questions:

1) How will a sales trader at a broker dealer fare in terms of salary and exit opps compared to a sales guy at a bank?

2) Is it possible to go to a good b-school (top 10) having worked at a broker dealer instead of a BB? I'm very worried about this because having interned at a BB, I know I can get interviews anywhere after. I'm afraid after working at a broker dealer; I won't be able to get out if I decide this career isn't for me. I also don't want to go to a crappy b school after then having to deal with crappy recruiting.

3) After 2-3 years is it possible to switch to a sales desk at a BB?

4) Anyone know in light of the new regulations, where is sales at a BB headed? Where is say a sales trader at broker dealer going? Am I better off in a BB?

Ultimately I'm trying to decide if I should I continue looking for a job in S&T at a BB.

Thank you in advance for any advice.

3 Comments
 

wait...aren't all of the S&T arms of bank technically "broker-dealers"?

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