Stock broker or trader?

Hey, im 110% sure im ready to get into this field as i enjoy reading up / testing / keeping upto date with the news / everything - i love all of it!!

The thing is, i have a poor education behind me. I do not hold a degree or any other high qualifacations. I have been in sales for almost 5 years now which includes face to face sales(retail) - 2 years / telesales including b2c and b2b - 3 years. Every job i have done in sales i have always over performed! I dont like be your average joe at work, i need to be number 1 and that is why i would be successful in stock broking.

Im 20 years old and full of energy and all i need is a break so i can show the industy what i am capable of but i have applied to stock broking jobs but not heard a response except from 1 aim/small trainee stock broker position. Im happy with the sound of it but recently i have been reading and studying up on trading.

Now as some of you may have seen my post in 3 duck system(yes im strugling at it yet but al get it!) i really enjoy studying charts, watching how patterns are formed, what to watch out for, how news/poitics/etc can effect it. I Realy enjoy that as i am a bit of a computer bug(i love being with a computer)

I have looked at positions for stock trading but i seem to only find positions for degree class. Is there anyway i can break into stock trading as i may actually enjoy that more than stock broking?

not unless you go either through the back office route or you trade for yourself. sorry to be harsh but there are a million and one people with degrees ahead of you and that is pretty much the first way of sorting cv's.

Thanks for the reply gooseman!

You say trade for yourself, i am currently trading on a demo account on metatrader4 on forex and i have traded a small amount of real money on spread betting through interactive investor (ranging in a variety of markets). I have been trading on both accounts for a couple of months now, how long would my record be for them to even have a look at me?

Hey Horse,

I suggest you do your FSA Regulations and Securities. Once you have cleared thoses to exams only then you would be able to get your foot in the door at a junior level, but you can work your way up in a firm.

Thanks for the reply bruce, I am planning on sitting my FSA Regulations and Securities exams in Dec-Jan. I have been looking around and i see that the positions that require those two qualifications require experiance within the financial market. Would it still be possible for me to get a position comfortably within a stock broking / trading firm with no work experiance in the financial market but having those 2 qualifications?

I do currently demo and live trade in my spare time to get more of an idea what is going on - would that be a bonus for me in a recruitment side?

You can get a job with a prop trading firm.

Absolutely, as you said earlier that you have telesales experience, that would definately help. once you have got qualifications under your belt than you could really show that you are determined and you just have to SELL yourself big time to the recruitment agency so they could forward your CV to a decent company.
Trading from home is definately a bonus as that shows commitment.
Good luck.