Is it wise to get a TRADING job at a bb?

wouldn't say its a dead end job

If you like trading then get into IB for a couple of years and make the switch to a HF. You make more money, have better exit opps and will generate a network filled with people in various industries if you change your mind.

trading is not a dead end job.....IF you are good at it

if you suck...then trading will spit you out...and then you'll need to figure out something else to do with your life.

i personally chose ib over s&t between 2 BBs because i was hesitant about the flexibility of exit opps and the job itself (never done s&t before), and ive done ib internships previously and rly enjoy the transactional team based work

lots of ppl i talked to really enjoy s&t though and have progressed through the ranks, so i guess it depends if you really enjoy it? def dont think its a dead end job though

but i think IB gives you more manoeuvrability career wise long-term, just my 2c

The thing that makes trading so hard is that either you’re good or you’re bad, nothing in the middle. Definitely not a stable career if you don’t have that foundation or edge. The thing about trading is that losses are inevitable. Bank traders, hedge fund traders, prop traders will all endure losses at some point. Have I taken losses? Yes. And I still do time to time. And that drains people and makes them think twice about making trading as a career. Remember this, and I’m sure iron chef can vet this, you don’t exit a trade because you lose a pre-determined amount of PnL but you exit a trade because you’re wrong. Completely wrong from your strategy. If I tell myself, I’ll exit a trade no matter what if I lose 200 bucks? Why? You should exit if you’re wrong. The good traders will understand what this means. Your stop loss shouldn’t determine your strategy. Besides I don’t use stops for that reason.

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Never understood why one of the strongest arguments against pursuing a S&T career is that you don't have as strong exit opps as IB. Truth is, only reason people put so much weight on IB exit opps is precisely because most people go in already wanting to leave.

Trading is one of those jobs that you either love and can make a career out of it, or you can't. Hours are generally great, and pay is good if you are good.

You can look at my previous posts for my view. I've been in the industry for about 5 years and I've spent time on all macro desks that take a lot of prop risk at a major BB (where I am now). I quite enjoy trading/markets and will likely to be doing in some form or another for the rest of my life. However, I don't really see it as a "career" as it used to be.

To sum it up, the future of the industry itself is not great (both sell-side and buy-side). But, if you spend a few years and learn a few things (ideally how certain markets work and how to trade prop)and get out at the right time, you'll learn some skills in risk management and "trading" that you can do on your own while doing something else as a career.

ya i think times are changing, i would say if your in love with trading than by all means stick with it but it does not offer the career flexibility as GCM or IB. My guess is that due to the narrow skill set the job requires theres few paths to easily transtion too unlike the other 2 fields. This probably explains why Buisness Schools tend to look down on Traders when selecting applicants.

If you care, I would say trading physical is a bit different in that while margins are also very thin (or sometimes bordering on negative) for any liquid product, you learn a pretty broad set of skills that would do you well in any sort of sales or industrial role.

Price risk is usually less of a worry, until it isn't, and in those times you may have to make some very big decisions using instruments that are a whole lot less liquid than futures (ie convincing customers and suppliers to change the way you price things for instance).

Credit risk is probably the biggest thing you have to watch in physical. Given the margins, you can do decently on widgets 1 through 19 only to lose it all and then some on widget 20 because your counterparty won't pay you back. You might say there are insurers and banks to cover that kind of stuff but pull that off more than a couple time and your cost of funds/insurance will make it impossible to ever make money.

So at the end of the day, same all-consuming, never off market focus. Sometimes find it hard to shift gears on a Friday night and my book is still pretty small.

This is why trading sucks. Screenshot below. I don't know if you can see this through the app. But below screenshot is a loss I took trading today.

Just FYI, People have been saying that trading is a dead end career for the last 10 years.

Smh

Trading is a calling and strikes me many dont respect that because they are in it for the wrong reasons ie money or ego. I struggle to even understand why because if money is your driving motivator there are many other careers one could pursue. Or just save up cash put deposit on properties and sit back and collect the rent FFS. I think unless a trader has the passion and sheer love for the markets like PTJ ( and everything that entails like risk, uncertainty, losing, info overload, losing and more losing) why are you even here? Even with Soros when interviewers ask him about say about say the weather he is like ‘well it’s just like with the financial markets , the weather ....’. It like your universe and you can’t see anything but the financial markets. Trading will never die , it evolves and is self filtering.