Sales can be alot of fun, but it can also get tedious and monotonous. I hope you like Happy Hours if you are applying for a sales job. It sounds good but trust me, after a year or two, you get kind of sick of it (or you fall in love with it and dont ever want to leave, not even for a promotion). As far as Middle Office, avoid it if you can. Working in a front office sales role, most of my peers do not know the difference between middle office and back office, its all just BO to us. In terms of needing/using CFA material, I use some of it but not alot. Its more a prestige thing (as mentioned elsewhere). My managers do not really care about it but whenever they have a project they seem to be gravitating towards me lately. Whether thats because they figure I have enough spare time to pass the L1 and can be milked for more production/projects or b/c they think the world of my finance skills, well… I have my opinion… If you get an offer do not let it sit in this market, someone else will jump on it. We continue to fill roles at the zero hour - eg, by the time they are posted they have already been filled (strong referral network at my company).
salary is about the same for the first few years. The career path after 2-5 years are very different for banking and s&t. I am in trading and salary/bonus/career have been good for me in my short career. Also if your interested in b school both jobs are great pre MBA job to re-enter finance post MBA I would not sit on any offers right now either. We have the pick on people we want to join us right now. Lots of talent out there.
Thanks for the advice guys. I’m definitely learning more on this forum than from my career centre. Ha Ha! So would I be correct to say: Investment Banking > Sales & Trading > Middle/Back Office With one caveat that in this market, any offer is a good offer?
can’t say Investment Banking > Sales & Trading, they are 2 different fields that require different backgrounds and personalities. If you can’t handle working 80+ hours per week working on pitchbooks and tweaking the same excel models, then you will be miserable as an investment banker, though you will make money. If you are more outgoing and enjoy entertaining clients and being on the phone pitching ideas your analyst put out, then you will enjoy S&T.
dont agree to Investment Banking > Sales & Trading cause they are different jobs. some people can do both and honestly more power to people who are indifferent in their career choice. I could never be a banker and will never be as polished as the banker friends I have. trading is more of a eat what you kill career
dracop Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > I hope you like Happy > Hours if you are applying for a sales job. Yeah, that’s a pretty accurate description. Those sales people can party like you wouldn’t believe. It’s part of the job.
sales people are fun folks. I sit a few sits from some power sale guys and they crack me up. they also attend a lot of sport events