boiler room firms. can someone help???

[lttrader]

Hi everyone

i have a problem i hope you guys will be able to help with.

my problem is basically that i worked for a "firm" for approx a couple of months which i recognised as a boiler room pretty much as soon as i walked in the door. a month or so down the line i realised they were operating a "pump and dump" operation, i left soon after this citing that broking was not for me.

what can i actually expect if i am starting off as a broker. relentlessly calling potential clients? hounding pensioners for money? this is not really what i signed up for. am i destined to work for these types of firms till i am 40? spent money to do my unit 1, now i m thinkin "is it really worth spending money to do my unit 2"

can anyone help with some advice on how to get my foot in the door with a "legit" firm? how do i recognise a firm as a boiler room, apart from doing extensive research on the net and looking on the fsa register? i dont want to bounce from firm to firm as it looks **** on a cv. recruiters call me up wanting to put me forward for jobs but i am apprehensive as if they turn out to be boiler rooms, who will hire me when they go bust?

any help or advice you guys can give would be deeply appreciated.

thanks

 

[Masquerade]

First question: You said pretty much the minute you walked through the door you recognised it was a boiler room. So why did you stay for a few months?

 

[lttrader]

because i needed experience and thought that maybe i was wrong and wasnt sure if it was a boiler room. plus on the fsa register their app persons came from shady pasts. what was i gonna do? wait another 6 months for something to come along?

 

[Masquerade]

Well it's not worth going over the past, but boiler room experience is worse than nothing really.

So you get these calls from recruiters about broking positions now? You're doing all the right things checking FSA and you must be able to tell if they're legit? The important thing is not to mention boiler room experience as it's never going to help.

 

[lttrader]

also, i was desperate for a job........any job

 

[DT]

Well I reckon it would be more worrying if you were there for say a couple of years and then left. I think best thing to do is just be upfront about it.

Similar thing happened to me, started working at a dodgy brokerage - was there for less than a couple of months though - basically did one week of shadowing a senior broker while waiting for the FSA to sort out my paper work then spent about another week or so phone bashing and it rapidly became apparent that a lot of the prospective clients had been called repeatedly/been spanked by other firms before etc.. did a bit of searching on the net and found out a bit about the stocks we were recommending - same AIM garbage other dodgy brokerage houses were flogging and quit fairly rapidly.

I put on my CV that I had ethical concerns about their business model - it certainly raises questions at interview but the fact that I left pretty much straight away and had decent reasons for leaving seemed to be OK for the hiring managers at my previous two companies since.

One thing you will find is that a lot of recruiters who find your CV online - see you have worked for XYZ and have passed your SII certs etc.. will instantly put you forward for similar roles - despite you telling them XYZ were complete scum bags who rip off old grannies for their life savings and have been fined by the FSA you'll still get recruiters advising you to go for ABC firm (which does exactly the same thing as XYZ) but has apparently changed its business recently...

Have a look at the motley fool forums - there is a thread on there about firms which are (ahem) "not" bolier rooms - think they maintain a list - (or at least they did a few years back when I had this problem) - basically avoiding those firms might be a good start - if your job is going to be bashing numbers and teling people about some great new oppertunity on the AIM market or some new IPO then chances are its spank. Similarly the advisory CFD brokers are probably best avoided - they recruit the same type of salesmen - mostly essex boy types who've passed the SII exams and are prepared to bash phone numbers and rip off gullible people.

 

[lttrader]

thanks guys, this is all good stuff and i reckon i could blag it at interviews i.e it was the recession when eveyone is getting laid off i was happy to be offered a place, wasnt there for long etc...

but what can i expect from ground level positions? is it all "phone bashing"? how do i get out of the cycle? i have no where near enough experience as half the guys out there. its worrying and a bit depressing.

i have wanted to work in the city since i was a kid but am rapidly realising that there are more shady outfits than legit firms. aaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhh!! so frustrating. and this bloody recession crap aint helping.