We have the same education background, and I'm from Canada as well. Let's put it this way, I went thru trading jobs at SwiftTrade, a global macro hedge fund, and now in a tier 1 investment bank, I believe I'm qualified to give you my 2 cents. Knowing what I know now, and how people got into this business, I urge you to take the internship job at the pension fund. sorry, there is no simple explanation could be given to you without writing a long paragraph of my history, and the people I met to help me come up with this conclusion for you. Good luck.
BENG would u be so kind to discuss in greater detail with me you're opinion? Email or msn perhaps? (ps. thank you all thus far for your guidance n advice)
Mate think very seriously about taking it and be VERY careful listening tio most people on here as most of these pikers never will get the opp you are getting. I started on the Floor of Liffe in 92 as a runner and was earning shit for two years and I mean shit less than 700-1000 a month. Then I got on a desk gor some great clients and started earning real money. Within 7 years of starting I owned a house in London and a BMW and had loads liquid. Nothing comes easy in this world it all takes work
I think this would be better preparation for a portfolio management job than a trading job, but sometimes the line between the two is blurred. And remember your first job is not usually what you do forever anyway, so I would not overanalyze it if it sounds interesting and is your only offer. Get all the opinions you can but that is my take. I also would bet that if you do well there then after a while you would not want a junior trader or junior anything job anyway.
I have a pretty straightforward question then. Suppose I took the job, and this coming fall I applied to Sales&Trading Analyst programs at BB firms. If I landed an analyst program position, and I took it, would that be a step backwards in my career progression? I know it must seem like I'm searching for reasons not to accept the position, but if my career goal was to one day work at/start a hedge, it seems like all the top hedge fund managers came from Prop Trading desks at BB firms.
I don't know, maybe someone with more knowledge of that world can answer. I have friends who have done the NY BB thing but I have not - I thought about trying but did not want that lifestyle. My impression is that it would be taking a different path, not a step backwards or forwards. Probably bigger financial payoff and more rapid advancement if you are successful, less chance of making it, more shit-taking at least in the beginning, and IMHO lower quality of life unless you really love it and don't have many other interests. But as I said I am just somebody who gave it a look and decided it was not for me, you should get opinions from people who know more. And people from many different backgrounds start or work for hedge funds, although maybe you are right about the very top ones. I don't think working for a pension fund when you are young kills your chances even if it is not the most common path.
Pension funds? Give me a break, biggggg mistake! You will be broker than some government wonk 2steps from the dole. hedge fudns hire talent not papers pushers and staple flingers from the non creative side. THERE IS NO ALPHA AT PENSION FUNDS. You be better off calling Don Bright at this point, you make more and have better prospects for future. If you love market so much why not degree in Finance? stick with EE unless you want to go the way of the dinosaurs, something not rite here. HLJ
I think that you should practice trading first ,, because nowadays you are offered to practice trading with fake money , then when you become dexterous with it you can open live accounts. another thing is that you mentioned that iT is your ambition ,,so i think you will do great in it and you will be devoted in it also till your last breath. besides, if you don't have time for trading you can give your money to a money manager and get a return on your investments each month ... SO GO FOR IT DUDE.....
Unfortunately HLJ, you can't use technical analysis on human life, so hindsight is 20/20, would I have studied finance, probably. But I'll have you know, some of the most prestigious hedge funds in the world were started by people coming out of hard subjects like math and engineering (DE Shaw ring a bell?) Not to mention, I'm probably poised very well right now, especially with my math background, as a great deal of trading goes algorithmic. I wouldn't be so quick to right off engineers with a passion in finance, world isn't so black and white anymore.
Cheers mate, I have indeed been trading for several months. Mostly just swing trading and taking small positions to test out some technical analysis based ideas. I paper traded a while back, but it didn't give me the same sense of urgency or vigilence. I'm following Mark Richie's rules from Market Wizards "take positions that are so small, you question whether its worth putting them on at all"