Hi,
Does a trading background( equities Intra day trading ) really have any significance for a later shift to say...ER/ buy side HF...i am a CFA L2 candidate right now..
a brief about my current case
a business finance graduate...an year into HF back office ops i secured an offer as a trading associate ( my profile would be NASDAQ equities day trading for a start..low salary base+15% profit share)
= my current profile of being in HF BO is well..!!! ( i guess nothing needs to be said!!#!)
=aiming to get into a decent to top B school in a year or max 2
=i talk lot to Buy side analysts at my firm and i really like what they do...and prefer working as one later on rather than say i banker...( that shit aint made for me)
1)
there is ZERO learning in my present job but probably the worlds most easiest and tension free job! i get a lot of time to study for GMAT and CFA...I do have a good HF on my resume now...even though i do back office shit here...
2)
does it make sense to chuck it and accept the trading offer...i m really concerned if i dont get through the masters next yr i want my present BO job will drive me fuckin nuts!!!
3)
will the lack of stability( 3 cos in 3 years in 3 completely diff profiles) assuming i get into B school next yr go against me.
4)
Please do tell if any1 out there who have made this jump from trading to Buy side....
Please do share your take on my best options...
I worked in custody, doing BO work on mutual funds for 3 years. Probably even more "back-officey" than what you are doing now. I know all too well how easy it is to get comfortable with that kind of job and that's the last thing you want. I'm doing an Msc. in Finance right now and getting my butt absolutely handed to me after 3 years of having to put in virtually zero thought into my work.
I think you should take the trading offer. At the very least it's a good way not to go crazy. But more then that, it shows balls, it shows that you want to get out of the back-office and learn about risk management and actual trading, experience you'll never get by reading books. As far as a path to b-school, I'd suggest sticking it out for 2-3 years in the trading job if you can afford it. 5 years of pre-MBA experience seems to be the sweet spot as far as getting into top programs and it would suggest you're hitting your stride from a professional perspective. Who knows, you might even end up being good enough you won't even need b-school.
To be honest, the only reason I would suggest staying at the BO job is if you have a legitimate chance of making a move towards the FO there. A CFA without the qualifying experience isn't all that useful and the MBA programs yous can target with two years of BO experience don't really seem worth it. Good luck.
Thanks alot...really good points you mentioned.....yes now seriously considering the offer now....i was in 2 minds over the fact that this might hamper my stability( 3 cos;3 different domains; 3 years!!) n resume and that i never had trading as a long term goal ever...even though i immensely enjoy following it....
but yes another year here in same profile at present with no legit FO move i see might well permanently set me into the comfort zone i can never get out of..
thanks alot....really looking forward to ur post..
who's going to do you BO job if you leave?
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