I'm a senior in Finance at the Univ. of Illinois, U-C with a 3.6 GPA. I just received an offer for an analyst position for JPM IB-Operations out in NEw York. My problem is I want to trade. NY is my fallback plan if I cant find a trading position. My deal is: I really don't want to be an analyst. I am born and raised in Chicago, why would I leave here if this is a prime location to trade. How can I get noticed. Not all trading companies recruit at school and I feel like emailing my resume and cover letters to companies is not doing me any good. I'm taking options and futures classes now. I'll start out at the bottom of the barrell if thats what it takes. But what else can I do. Any suggesstions?
My suggestion to you is to get off your high horse and be happy with a job offer from a good company. Or, if you think you're too good for them, be a gentleman and tell them, "No thanks", so, someone else who needs a job gets one.
Its not that I dont know its a good position, I am trying to keep my options open in case I find a trading position. Thats why I feel a time crunch to find something that is my top career choice. And I would be a "gentleman" but I'm a woman.
Your suggestion is she take a job that she doesn't want in a city where she doesn't want to live? I assume this is because you believe it will eventually lead her to where she wants to be.
I think working for a top tier firm out of college is a blessing. If she has a brain and works hard, the opportunities are very good. Kids who hold job offers with little or no interest in the job, simply keep other deserving kids out of jobs. They feel entitled to something, my bet is if thats her attitude, she wont last a week at any real firm.
If you want to be considered seriously then your entire resume should demonstrate how you've excelled in competitive situations. If you haven't, then how will anyone know you have the fire in your belly for trading? Everyone is looking for the Secretariat of trading. If you can consistently demonstrate the oversized heart then you'll get a shot. You should also mention in your resume some confidence in your abilities such as "I'm willing to work on a consultant basis at minimum wage to demonstrate how I can add significant value to your firm". For example, the first line of my experience section of my resume says "I was selected as one of four persons from over 1,000 candidates to design weather forecasting models". In the education section it says "I scored a 800 on the Math SAT section as did 2 of my siblings". In my first real job it says "I way one of three key employees in a startup firm that became the 34th fastest growing business in the US 4 years later". "Our company was ranked number one in our industry in independent surveys and our products were purchased as part of the Camp David Accords". The rest of my resume was similarly focused. Would you give a shot to someone that demonstrates a pedigree for competition or someone that says "I've always wanted to be a trader and would love to speak with a member of your firm to discuss opportunities you currently have available. I've seen this on hundreds of resumes...straight to the don't bother pile.
Wow, its hard to believe this is a serious post but with no question you should take the JPM job. You will be on a real career path to trading if you work at such a prestigious firm. Its much easier to get a real trading job once you are on the "inside." Why would you want to work at the bottom of the barrel and work your way up against people you know you are better qualified for? Most of these people don't have options.. you do!
Before everyone jumps at you for not considering the job at JPM, am I reading it correctly that it is an "operations" job? There is no future in Ops, period. Operations is a fairly deadend line of work. So if that were the case, I don't blame you for not considering the job too seriously. As for getting a trading type of job, since you are born and raised in Chicago, there should be someway for you to get introduced to somebody that does trading for a living (at CME, CBOE, etc), through family, family friends, etc. There are still plenty of local firms around, if you get a start with one, then you are closer to the business.
I wonder how many times we will need to read basically the same question from individuals who have no sense of priorities and who clearly do not possess the mindset right now to be a good trader---suggesting that they trade instead of the analyst job--taking options and futures classes---this is gambling--not a good quality for a trader--maybe not even an analyst.