Just say you were a “professional dancer”. If pressed further, say you were more of an exotic sort. Sorry, bchad, but homemaker or housewife are the last things she should say. Here is an almost-40 female trying to break into a high testosterone, male dominated field. The moment you say you’re a housewife, you lose all respect.
And to be honest, there is 15 years of random ass jobs on that resume. I doubt anyone is going to pick out the 1-2 year empty period in the middle of that.
Anyway, OP, your main obstacle, other than your highly disadvantaged background, is that you don’t seem to have anything resembling a plan to accomplish your goals. You just say you want to be a trader. Ok, what is step 1?
start networking/ paticipate in CFA society/ take any random opportunities
4)pass CFA L2
start looking for work/ CFA L3
backup plan: if I _ totally _ can’t get in… buy a cabin, paint, trade my own account. I have no debt and no children… I can pretty much do whatever the hell I want! Taleb would call me “antifragile”
Why exactly do you want to be a trader? Serious question, as you were unsure about different roles in the field, yet seem dead set on it. Based on your comments, you seem to be more of a bchad-type tactical asset person…
^^ it has come off sounding that way. What I am drawn to most is the strategic part. That can be on a large scale as in balancing risk some macro fund or on a smaller scope as in contiuously solving the puzzle of keeping an ETFs value honest like what an authorized participant does. I would also be interested in buy side analyst as they are part of strategy implimentation. That is what I enjoy most about my own trading… information in, strategy out.
If KM were a homemaker recently, I would totally agree with you that she should hide it. However, if it is far enough in the past, it can become part of a story about being in a boring traditional role, breaking out and then accomplishing some pretty kickass things that show that she’s got drive and direction and capacity. The contrast between where she was and where she is now becomes that much more impressive, and the seemingly random collection of impressive achievements starts to make more sense in that she pursued a non-traditional path and succeeded.
It’s just one way to approach it, and maybe she prefers something else, but it’s not as crazy as it sounds if you frame it right.
Personally, I like the independent artist / dancer idea better because it’s closer to the truth; you just have to be able to answer the “what kind of dance” or “where did you dance” follow-on question convincingly.
your idea of writing seeking alpha articles would be a great way for me to build up some sort of quasi field experience. If they are really well done I could probably present the collection as a sort of self imposed internship.
KMerri must be the best addition to AF in a long time. I wish i could provide some support as it relates to the buy side but I can assure you your drive, social intelligence, and knowledge of finance could be rewarded in sales, aka the male version of stripping.
The thing i like second most about strippers is their realness.
why buy a cabin and paint there? stay where you are to paint and sell your paintings to local art galleries. in NYC get to know some curators or directors at galleries and show them your pieces…They might buy and if they are successful in selling your work then well you are in good hands. You are trading art on the sell side.
Frankly I think you really have no chance… I’d recommend pursuing some kind of programming boot camp instead of the CFA – at least in the short-term to get you in the door.
I think a program like Galvanize or something similar would give you a much better chance of getting in the door rather than pursuing the CFA.
hmmmm, I think strippers probably exist “in the tails”. We are either the most real or the MOST fake of all! I tend to be a little too real … I could probably benefit from a little more mystery
I had a GREAT time at this event. I even met this woman who started out in options market making and told me a background in mathematics, a strong poker game, and a mouth like a trucker was what I needed most. YES! If this business gets any more awesome I’m going to spontaneously combust!
