How to save my career? Need help

A little about myself first:
I'm from China, did my bachelor degree on engineering in China and my master degree on Maths in Japan, so I'm native in Mandarin and quite fluent in Japanese.
The schools I attended are top schools in both countries, but I don't really have a finance/economy/accounting background

2 years ago upon my graduation I got hired by a top tier EU bank into their OPs division and worked there until now. The pay is decent but the work itself is terribly repetitive and career prospect is bleak.

These days I'm thinking making a move to equity research but in the bank i'm working with it's difficult to go from middle office to front office directly. So my strategy is to go to some boutique bank or some firm specializing in equity research first for few years, do my CFA there, and then try come back to those big-name banks again.

After spamming my CV to literally everywhere recently I got an investment analyst offer from a KPO firm as they are expanding their business in Japan so they want someone who has good Japanese skill. The pay will be much lower but I'm OK with it as long as the career path will be bright

So my ultimate questions are:
1) Is it a good idea to leave the middle office of a top-tier bank to join an equity research KPO?
2) What is the typical exit opportunity for ppl who worked a few years in equity research KPO? Do I stand a chance to get into IB or AM to do ER after a few years?

Really important decision for me, any advice will be appreciated! Thanks in advance!

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