No, your Series 7 is NOT VALID for two years if you are not currently sponsored. (It would be on "inactive status"... to reactivate it without retesting, you'd have to become sponsored again within two years.) Supervision of the activities of registered reps applies whether you are a salaried employee of the BD AND if you are an independent contractor registered rep. "Failure to Supervise" is one of the NASD's big potential trouble areas. Broker-Dealers do not take it lightly and none who wish to stay in business have a cavalier attitude about it.
you may not have to stay with quest , but you will not be registered at a firm ,thus license is of no use ,only to show you can pass test.:eek: why register just to report to sec all of your activity.
Some bigger firms like you to have a 7 or require you to have your 7 even before you apply for a poisiton. If you get some little firm to sponsor you, get your 7 then quit, you have 2 years for your license. Inactive or not, when you apply at a bigger firm you can atleast say you took and have your 7 vs. being another college grad off the street without it....
Some firms may "like" a potential rep to already have his Series 7, because it's one less thing to hassle with. (That may not always be a blessing. There are lots of losers who change BDs because they are fleeing trouble or just hoping for a fresh start.) However, if they think you have potential they will sponsor for the license. It's really no big deal... fill out a form and wait for the candidate to pass the test.. or not. (Years ago when I tested for the Series 7, it wasn't a slam dunk. Only about 35% passed and half of those taking the test were taking it for the second or subsequent time.)
Broker or Trader but with a bigger firm. I didn't have the best grades in college and I am trying to do everything I can to make myself stand out from the crowd.....I just need to get my foot in the door.....
To get a position as a Trader, (a) you'd either have to *already* demonstrated your ability to handle the market or (b) they'd have to train you as a noob. To get a position as a Broker, you'd (a) have to come across as a BS artist or someone who can lie to strangers without conscience ... AND have the ability to cold call to build a book of business... OR, (b) have significant big money contacts in your "natural market"... people you can approach for sales and who might buy securities just because they know you. THEN, after you've exhausted the easy money from your natural market, you'd have to be able to cold call for new customers. Depending upon your psychological makeup, that can be very difficult.
I agree Gnome, a broker and a trader are two completely different things. If you really want to be a broker the best route is to come from some type of sales background. It was always a strange thing that the biggest producers in the offices I worked at were almost always the stupidest people there. So your lack of academic prowess might be okay.
I understand the postions are different. They are both areas that interest me. As far as hinting that I might be in sales because of my grades is pretty pathetic. For the record I interned with ML and MS during college and worked with GMAC with mortgage backed securities for my first position out of college. I'm having a hard time finding a firm that is hiring. That is why I am asking about trying to get a 7 to make myself more marketable, and the the 7 is required in either position. I have no problems paying 1,000 for a license that is going to make me more $$$ down the road.