Risk Management - How difficult is it to break in?

You see Risk Management is kind of a weird section of a bank. It is extremely important to have, but on the other hand, no body really likes you. The reason is simple, you try to manage the risk of the group and anything that would seem out of the ordinary would not be allowed. Traders usually hate the risk management guy because of the limits he or she puts on them. Also, in my experience, money has never been the selling point for the job. This is because RM people don't create value or cash flow, they just ensure the group doesn't lose money (or lots of it). We all know that in banking, the more flow you generate or the more value you bring, the more money you'll make (sorta).

What do you guys think?

Thanks for the reply, but I want to clarify a couple of things:

1. I'm not too concerned about traders liking me or not. I just want a job that might be interesting and based on the limited material I've read about risk management, it seems like something I would enjoy. So I wouldn't worry too much about so and so not liking me.

2. Same goes for salary. I mostly asked out of curiosity, but I'd be happy making 100k or so and reasonable working hours, so I'm not too concerned about that either.

My first job out of college was an analyst role in a risk management group. It was within market risk. I stayed for 1.5 years. PM me if you have specific questions. Generally there are upsides and downsides. The best upside was that its a career close to markets with great importance but with much less stress. The downside was lower comparative pay and - this was the deal-breaker for me - no real sense of achievement...What I mean for that is don't expect pats on the back, praise, or promotions for doing great work. If things go well nobodys going to praise the risk manager..but when something blows up guess who's the second person they always come to? This can get annoying.

That said risk management is great career choice for a certain kind of person. Especially if you want a lower stress life with family-time/hobbies outside of work. But it shouldn't be a fallback option.

i'm currently in Market Risk in Asia now.

I was at BB market risk in NYC, and just moved to Asia.

UP: life is good- not 9-6, but 8:30-7? Not so stressful as other said. Follows market. Understand products.

DOWN: lower comp, repetitive work with daily/weekly work.

Many of my collegues are Masters of Science in Financial Engineering or Stat. (lots of Columbia MS in NYC...)

I only have BS from target though...