Starting out investing, need advice

Hi guys, this is my first post on WSO. I am a sophomore econ major at a non-target in the northeast. I am looking to get some experience in putting some chips on the table and getting my own portfolio going this semester. Trading really interests me as a career and I have been following the markets for about a year now. Contrary to some, I did not always know I wanted to do trading and it is something that I have become interested in the past few months through networking conversations.

I am making this post because beyond getting a brokerage account and dumping some money in, I am a bit uncertain as of where to start in terms of diversification, amount of risk, and frequency of buying, holding, or selling. The biggest things I want to gain from this experience are to become better versed in what an investing role is like and have something tangible that shows my interest in financial markets in interviews. Also, I would be ecstatic if I did not lose all of my money in the first few months.

My question is what advice do you have for starting out as a college student, as I am sure many of you on this forum was in the same position as me, and if I should start out with stocks, ETFs, bonds, options, etc? Thank you in advance. 

 

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