Career Decision: Software vs. Trading

ep510 · #1 01-03-2007, 10:32 PM

I currently have a pretty good offer (deadline next week, $20k for the summer) from Microsoft as a software engineer for the summer (I worked there last summer too), but I'm also really interested in trading. I'm an Electrical Engineering and Computer Science major at UC Berkeley.

I also have ~$50k worth of money that I'm investing in the market that I made from playing online poker. I enjoy trading, and have an internship working for an asset manager and trying to learn as much about trading/markets. I've been actively trading for about 2 months now.

I'm also planning on applying for a Masters in Financial Engineering program.

So here's my dilemma:
1. Take the Microsoft position (and maybe recruit for full time trading next year)
2. Try to delay the Microsoft offer to recruit (but then the company will know i'm not committed to them and that it might be a backup decision)
2. Take Microsoft, recruit for S&T, and maybe accept if I get an offer (but burn bridges with Microsoft)

Other things to consider are that if I take Microsoft, I can relax and not do any work for the remaining year and a half in college. If I take Microsoft, it'll boost my pay when i go into FT. If I stick with software as a career, my pay will prob cap out a lot faster, and I don't plan on going to grad school in engineering.

Thanks for reading and I appreciate your advice.

Eric

g-p · #2 01-03-2007, 10:36 PM

this is a poker forum

donkey · #3 01-03-2007, 10:39 PM

def do trading. you will be much happier trading in 5 years than doing anything software related (and making 10x more money)

TheWorstPlayer · #4 01-03-2007, 10:42 PM

[ QUOTE ]
def do trading. you will be much happier trading in 5 years than doing anything software related (and making 10x more money)

[/ QUOTE ]

tradingman123 · #5 01-04-2007, 12:45 AM

i am a trader. i think you should be a trader over being a engineer.

*** · #6 01-04-2007, 12:49 AM

i am an engineer. i think you should be a trader over being a engineer.

turnipmonster · #7 01-04-2007, 01:29 AM

[ QUOTE ]
i am an engineer. i think you should be a trader over being a engineer.

[/ QUOTE ]

Fisher32 · #8 01-04-2007, 01:32 AM

I'm an Electrical Engineer for Lockheed Martin, and it sucks! Go be a professional poker player!

#9 01-04-2007, 08:49 AM

ep510 · #10 01-04-2007, 02:24 PM

Put it this way, I didn't hate it when I interned at MSFT last summer. There were some interesting moments, some boring, but overall it was pretty much something that I don't despise but don't truly love.

What I'm worried about with trading is that I might think I love it now, but I won't later on. It's kinda like poker. When I first started playing poker, I loved it. I read all the books at Barnes and bought every new book that came out. I read these forums 24/7 (didn't post that much tho). I'm doing the same for trading now.

After a while though, the enthusiasm kinda died down as the challenge went away. As I learned more about the game and started grinding out the tables, it got more and more boring. And when I lost my passion for the game, my winrate dwindled as well. I'd kinda compare it to the honeymoon stage of a relationship.