Broker or Trader job?

[ftse22]

So I took everyones advice and passed the SII Regulations and Securities exams. Securities was a tricky one. Anyway posted my C.V the other day and started to get calls. The recruiters are asking me what salary I am looking for and what type of exact position and I don’t know how to answer them? My background is sales and I do like selling and don’t mind making calls, however I want to really understand the markets now and start analysing movements, economic data, and political data and eventually make my own recommendations to clients. I would like to get a Bloomberg Terminal as opposed to just a phone and be mentally engaged and really delve to another level.

Should I be asking for a broker position or a trader position or a hybrid position? In the phone calls so far I know I can get some positions that just involve dialing all day but how about trading.

Can anyone advise?

 

[Skill Leverage]

"Must spread it around..."

Spot on advice there, no-one can tell you what to do with your life. The two jobs are entirely different; I've worked as a broker in a different industry before and, while I was good at it, I found it to be completely brainless. If you enjoy sales you'll probably be OK with it, it depends on what you want.

Being a broker is simply a numbers game; you've worked in sales before so you know this, but it's a fact; unless you're just crap at your job, you can be confident that if you hammer out 40-odd quality calls a day, you'll make money. You just have to decide whether you can see yourself dialling out 100 times a day, watching DVDs on cold calling and listening to other sales people bitch for x hours a day. As GJ says, no-one can tell you whether that's for you or not; I can only offer my experience as a guide, and for me the job was not mentally challenging at all, which is why I left.

Entering the job market without an exact notion in your mind of the job that you want is pretty foolish in my opinion, but seems to happen far too often. Take some time, research the industry inside out, then ask yourself what you would be happy doing for at least the next 5 years of your life. Only at that point would I be firing out CVs. One more thing; recruitment agencies are for the most part very crap at getting you interviews that you want. At the end of the day they are sales people too, and since it's a numbers game 9 times out of 10 they will take the approach of sending you to as many interviews as possible in the hope that one will work out. Find out what it is you want to do, then do a bit of searching and apply direct to companies who have vacancies in that role; you'll be far better off in the long run.

That's my advice, I hope it is of some use. Good luck in whatever it is you go for in the end, stick around T2W there's a lot of knowledgable chaps on here.

SL

 

[Adrian Success Gibbs]

Its early in my college career, I'm going to start early on pursuing a career in finance that I really want, and not get stuck with some lame job because I waited til graduation. I originally found T2W because I was searching for descriptions of careers in finance from people who actually work in the industry. Internships are a good way for me to narrow my goals to a specific job - right now my interests are too broad. The best advice I have received so far was what SL said, to take my time finding the right fit for the next five years of my life.

Thanks for the tip about recruitment agencies being sales oriented, at the end of the day I'm the only one looking out for my best interest. I'll be sure to take a more "direct" approach in finding my job after graduation.

 

[Adrian Success Gibbs]

The man on the tv said if I say it enough I'll convince myself its true

 

[luie123]

Hi FTSE222 can I ask where you posted your cv?