Still waiting on the ER guys, so am thinking they’re already fishing elsewhere. Had another extended conversation with the HF guy, who was candid (like you guys alluded to) that moving into an investment area would be tough (not impossible, but rare/tough). However, he did promise the role being front office with major exposure to relations, risk, and portfolio managers. Not sure if I can keep pushing the HF guys, so might take the role. Better than the corporate finance crap I do now.
I didn’t read all the responses but this is pretty easy: if you want to work in a front office role because you legitimately love research, then take the research job. If you don’t love research, then take the middle office job or something else. If you don’t know, take the research job and then figure it out. The research job, if played correctly, will allow you to pivot to something else better in the future. That’s basically all there is to say about that.
Ok, I didn’t read any of the other posts, but he clearly should aim at getting into research if that’s what he wants to do. I guess it depends on how long he has to wait to hear back from the ER guys. Personally, I would wait and skip the HF job altogether, but that’s because I love stock research.