Tell us about your job
 

This is an idea stolen from El Diablo's forum, it worked well there and also in BBV4L.

Many young posters here are often unsure what career path they want to take, so if you have/had a job in the finance or investment industry or anything realated, we'd like to hear about it.

What do you do? Do you like it? What makes you in particular well-suited or poorly-suited for your work? What kind of people do best in your work? What qualifications are necessary for people considering work in the same field as you? What is a typical day like? What kind of problems do you encounter? What are the biggest (most common) sources of frustration and elation? How much do you make? How much can one expect to make in your position? How old are you and what is your education level (from what school)? How long have you been in the workforce?

Feel free to ignore any questions that you don't want to answer.

Re: Tell us about your job
 

I'm graduating from college later this year and agree that this thread has a ton of potential. There isn't really a lot of information to go buy with some of the specific jobs available in the finance industry and it took me until my 2nd semester of my senior year to get enough information to decide for myself.

Re: Tell us about your job
 

I graduated from college in '03 and after a few years of cardplaying I got a job with Securian Financial, the financial division of Minnesota Life Insurance Company. I took the job because of my relationship with one of the senior advisors at my firm who wanted me to be his protege'. The independence is the number one perk to working in this industry. This can be good if you have the discipline to run your own practice or have a good support staff in place, it is easy to succeed in this business. It can also be very easy to fail, esspecially right out of college.

I now primarily do fee-based financial planning. Developing a working budget and planning for retirement, mostly for people in my age group. Marketing in this business is key. Yes, in the beginning you may have to cold call, but as you put together some money and develop a network, you can afford to hire a marketing company, which I did. This can allow you to service your existing clients, while still growing your business. Another key is to be honest and loyal. It is important to remember that referrals are key, there is no better marketing tool.

Finally, you have to make an effort to focus on a specific market (i.e. attorney, doctors, business owners) and develop expertise in this market. This requires lots of extra time and effort. Taking the time to do a little research on what benefits offered by a hospital that they are employed, for example, in order to better coordinate someones personal finances with the benefits they receive.

I would recommend that someone work at a bank straight out of college and learn the products, and learn the market for a couple years in order to hit the ground running when you decide to become an advisor. Also, make sure that the company you choose to work for is right for you. This is critical. In this industry there are so many "chop shops" that will hire anyone but not offer the support, education, or salary to promote success with its employees.

Being a good stock picker does not define success either. If you have noone to tell, it doesn't matter.

Hope this is helpful

Re: Tell us about your job
 

Thanks dopp.

All, please post any other questions you'd like to ask as well.

Re: Tell us about your job
 

[ QUOTE ]
I would recommend that someone work at a bank straight out of college

[/ QUOTE ]

What would be the best way to get an interview with a bank?
Which banks would be the best to work for?
What specific positions should I be applying for?

I just finished college with a degree in finance and would like to do work that would qualify me for the CFA designation. According to the CFA website, the applicant must have...


<ul type="square"> "four years of work experience in which 50% of the applicant's time is spent evaluating or applying financial, economic, and/or statistical data as part of the investment decision-making process involving securities or similar investments"[/list]

Re: Tell us about your job
 

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
I would recommend that someone work at a bank straight out of college

[/ QUOTE ]

What would be the best way to get an interview with a bank?
Which banks would be the best to work for?
What specific positions should I be applying for?

I just finished college with a degree in finance and would like to do work that would qualify me for the CFA designation. According to the CFA website, the applicant must have...


<ul type="square"> "four years of work experience in which 50% of the applicant's time is spent evaluating or applying financial, economic, and/or statistical data as part of the investment decision-making process involving securities or similar investments"[/list]
[/ QUOTE ]

I never worked for a bank and most of them require prior experience in order to do investment work with clients.

By working with a firm out of college, you are really putting yourself behind the eight ball as it usually takes as much as 2 years to develop your practice, and most firms have declining compensation schedules. Also, it is hard to gain credibility if you are 22 years old and giving investment advice.

This is why the job you choose is critical to your success. Try to find one where you know someone in the firm who you can work along side, or underneath. Learn to market employee benefits as this gets you in the door and allows you to speak with a lot of people. Having the support in place to allow you to do health insurance/pension planning etc. will give you an advantage as a young advisor. While you are learning the business end of advising, you can learn the individual ends of the business.

The bank comment was meant to encourage someone to gain experience with stocks/IRA's CD's etc. prior to getting a commision based job. PM me if you have more specific questions about job hunting as this is the most critical aspect to success in this industry

Re: Tell us about your job
 

I'm not sure if this has been done before because I dont browse this forum much, but I would like to hear from someone who does proprietary trading, preferably not with a bulge bracket firm.

Re: Tell us about your job
 

I am officially titled the Director of Investment Operations. Don’t let the title fool you it’s an entry-level job. They just give us fancy titles. I work for one of the largest insurance companies in the nation. I've been at this job for a few months and got into to it because I hated Dobb's job. I’m 22 and graduated college last May.

I tried the financial rep route like Dobbs but could not stand it. I was pushed into calling every single one of my family members, friends, and any acquaintance that would sit down with me. I couldn’t handle that. I also received “hot lists” of leads in the area of 500 people. Not a single one would sit down with me. Maybe it was because the “hot list” was five years old and already combed over several times by newbies like me or maybe I just can’t sell but I couldn’t drum up any business but in either case I hated the job and got out quickly.

I found my current job about two months later after looking for many job in many different fields inside and outside finance. What I do is actually work for a group of three reps that have been in their careers for over dozen years each. They only take on clients that can invest a quarter million or more in insurance or investment vehicles and are a few of the top dogs nationwide within the company. They have recently joined together to form their own “spin-off” branch of company while still under the umbrella of the nationwide company.

I handle everything involving the investment side of the reps business. They go out and sell, come back to the office and have me complete everything needed. I have no real day-to-day routine. The grunt work of my job involves processing mutual fund orders, run the paperwork for new accounts, perform account maintenance, and run analysis reports on clients’ portfolios. The chaotic (fun) times comes in when big problems come up. Sometimes clients do boneheaded moves and it’s my job to clean it up. Sometimes money goes ‘missing’ in transfers and it’s my job to track it down. There is always something going on and everything is different from day to day. I don’t get bored and I love it.

As far as salary I’m on a very basic entry-level income. However the potential for the spin-off branch is quite large. My salary should rise extremely quickly based on the growth of the branch. From what they expect to do in business and the loose track number in place that I heard through the grapevine I should easily be in the six figures within three years.

I did get my Series 6, Series 63, and my Life Insurance license when I was with my previous company to become a rep and those licenses got me the job I have now. I am going to go for my Series 7 in the summer (it comes with a nice pay rise when I pass). As far as long term I can easily see myself here five years from now. As far as a life-long career I don’t know. I would like to get a Masters sometime before I’m thirty but not really sure if it would help me in this current position.

Any questions feel free to ask. I won’t try to sell you anything like Dobbs will [img]/images/graemlins/wink.gif[/img]

Re: Tell us about your job
 

I have been meaning to reply to this post but its been a few days because work has been hectic. I know before I got a job in trading I was hungry for knowledge so if anyone has any questions feel free to ask or PM me.
I went to a [censored] public school in Florida(FSU), did terribly in school. Played poker to pay the bills for 2 years after graduating.
Got super lucky that a highly regarded options trading firm in Chicago decided to take a chance on me as an assistant trader. From there I jumped ship and now trade oil for a hedge fund.
Feel free to ask any anything, trading is by far the best career I can imagine so I would like to help anyone trying to get into it.

Re: Tell us about your job
 

Thanks mal_noles

What makes you in particular well-suited or poorly-suited for your work? What kind of people do best in your work?What is a typical day like? What kind of problems do you encounter? What are the biggest (most common) sources of frustration and elation? How much do you make? How much can one expect to make in your position?