Hi all, I recently interviewed for an entry-associate position at a Canadian bank. The role involves trading-risk services, operations, and finance. I don’t know much about the informal titles in finance (FO MO BO) but it sounds like MO or BO. At this moment, I don’t really know if I were offered the job I would take it or not. I’ve read on this forum and many other places on the internet about the stigma associated with MO and BO positions. Is there really no upward mobility in these roles? Furthermore, is the pay that bad? Would it be a better idea to just wait it out for FO or take a corp finance role? Or is MO not as bad as what internet people make it out to be? If i take this job will I only ever be able to work in these roles?
would have to hear more about the role, traditionally the bigger the bank the more MO becomes a hole but some roles can provide you with the contacts & basic skills necessary to get to the FO.
they can be as good or as bad as you make them. making a move to a front office role may be easier at a smaller shop but it can be done at a large shop too. pay is good most places but will be lower then front office roles in your office. back office people in my shop make 70k -150k all in. Not bad for 40-60 hours a week but we have some traders pulling in 1-5 million. nothing wrong with being a VP in a middle or back office job. sure everyone wants to be an investment banker or trader but lots of people start out in these roles and move up
Depends on what you are qualified to do. If you are a Harvard grad with a 4.0 GPA then yes, wait for another position. If you are not distinguished at all, then maybe you should take this position. I think only you can make that distinction.
saw a posting for jp’s ops group and they are looking for 3.5 gpa kids… wtf
When GS comes to my school, they only hire undergrads for ops…not even IT, I think they go to MIT / CalTech for that. (I went to Carnegie Mellon)
goldenboy09 Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > > pay is good most places but will be lower then > front office roles in your office. back office > people in my shop make 70k -150k all in. Not bad > for 40-60 hours a week but we have some traders > pulling in 1-5 million. > I make about 75k for 40 hours a week in a MO position, non-US. From what I gather there is not much mobility going on MO --> FO but I’ve seen it happen. You might want to take that job if you get to learn stuff you can use later, and/or if your other options are being unemployed or in a job totally unrelated to finance.
it’s tough as hell to get to FO and you are competing against massive numbers of people and in this economy, I’d go for the MO and find a way to get some job satisfaction out of it.
Also, consider that a significant majority of people in finance never actually work in the front office. You have middle office, back office, compliance, risk management, accountants, business analysts, programmers, various sorts of “consultants” and probably people in positions that I haven’t even heard about. Many of these people have rewarding careers.
NYCAnalyst86 Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > When GS comes to my school, they only hire > undergrads for ops…not even IT, I think they go > to MIT / CalTech for that. > > (I went to Carnegie Mellon) They know the cream rises to the top no matter where they are placed.