Thoughts on two jobs

I recently received an offer at two firms. One is a physical commodity trader of lumber (no futures or series certifications they are market makers of physical lumber. Their clients physically take possession of the timber) and the other is a Middle office role at Fidelity (I know I'm not supposed to include the name of the firm but I didn't know what to describe it as other than an asset manager). I am not sure which to choose. The cultures seem equivalent and the work equally about as interesting. If I went the middle office route I would choose to continue networking and pursuing a CFA to attain a Portfolio Management Role. I have reservations about both positions. For the physical commodity trading role, I am worried that I am pigeonholing myself into the lumber industry and will be screwed if lumber becomes obsolete. Is this true? I am especially concerned with this as the majority of traders at this firm make about 400-500K but spend their entire career at the firm never learning another skill. My concern is that if wood becomes obsolete in say 30 yrs that I will not have transferable skills to make even a lateral move to a different commodity house. Also, this being said, would it be possible to leverage the experience in a trading role at a MM? I am from a non-target. On the other hand in the middle office, I am worried I will never make it to the front office especially considering it is a ' dying' industry. Any thought??

 

if you make 400k a year until wood becomes obsolete than you don't have much to worry about

Can't really speak to if you will be pigeon holed, in either position. However, I've seen many people of many pedigree's in various positions pivot to totally new, similar or completely different career paths. It's what you make of it.

Choose the role you think will set you up for success and you will enjoy the most.

 

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The only difference between Asset Management and Investment Research is assets. I generally see somebody I know on TV on Bloomberg/CNBC etc. once or twice a week. This sounds cool, until I remind myself that I see somebody I know on ESPN five days a week.

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