How to break into finance world? (Or Should I?)

Water Cooler Careers
#1

Background -25 years old -Degree in Electrical Engineering (barely passed, education isn’t my strength) -Work for one of the largest tech companies in the world as a sales rep - hence I make decently good money -As a sales rep, I’m a big people person and love giving presentations and public speaking -Started day trading in 2012 - seen some really good returns, all self-taught -Addicted to making money, hence why I trade only trade options nowdays

Looking for -A job in the finance world without taking a pay cut because I feel like it’s something I would enjoy more and I can make more money -No, I don’t know what job I want. Mainly because I don’t know what jobs are exactly out there/available. Doesn’t have to be a trader, I just want to make lots of money fast -Not looking to go back to school at all -Not work extremely long hours. Being a sales rep, my schedule is pretty flexible hence I’m able to day trade with a fulltime job -Willing to take some type of certification test. Looked into CFA/FRM/CAIA but it requires work experience which I don’t have -If I want to make quick money fast why not just continue what I’m doing? I want to learn, grow, and advance my career more

Suggestions??

#2

Nothing sounds more like a recipe for disaster

Based on everything you just outlined, don’t go into finance. You will be sorely disappointed.

And unless you have some inside info, you’ll likely lose your shirt trading options

#3

can you please elaborate on why a recipe for disaster?

and no, i have not lost my shirt trading options. i lost a good load of money when i first started playing it, but learned from it, and doing well. matched my fulltime job’s monthly salary in december

#4

You’re more useful to society by staying in engineering. You should short finance everytime there is a dead cat bounce.

#5

that’s kind of rude, and i never stayed in engineering hence why i’m in sales

#6

I worked as a “financial advisor” during my first year out of college. I use the term lightly because, at that age, I had no business advising anyone on financial matters. I had about $1000 to my name and had moved back in with my parents just to stay solvent. If you find that you excel in sales, but want to move to a different industry, then you should look into financial services (which is an entirely separate field from "finance’). A bachelor’s degree will get you in the door and the required licenses can be obtained in 3 months or less. There are very few jobs that pay as well as sales when you consider that most sales roles don’t require extensive education or long hours.

#7

my end result is just to make money fast and have it steady. when i day trade options i make (or lose) thousands in matter of minutes, that’s fast, and it’s only possible in the “finance” area. it’s also something i have a lot more interest and passion for. FYI i should mention my current salary is 80k-100k

#8

Here’s an idea of what type of jobs you could do :

https://www.csi.ca/student/en_ca/careermap/index.xhtml#

Click on Start Exploring

#9

It sounds like your doing just fine with trading as a hobby. When you trade with other people’s money, I think that you will find yourself constrained by their investment objectives and a myriad of compliance measures.

#10

Hello, OP. In all seriousness, you should get in touch with some people in various finance fields, sit down, and talk to them about their jobs. “Finance” is a very broad term, and encompasses many different sorts of jobs. 99.99% of these jobs are not similar to day trading your own account. Contrary to what outsiders seem to believe, banks are typically not run like casinos where traders make risky bets all day. People who work in banks have real business functions, like sales, compliance, marketing, operations, risk management, etc. - just like in any other company. Sure, some finance people work in proprietary trading, but they comprise a very small percentage of all finance people, and their compensation might not be in line with what you are envisioning (although, most do make a lot more than $80-100k).

Getting a good finance job in today’s job market is very difficult. There are significant barriers to entry for people who do not have Ivy League degrees or relevant work experience. Since you are unwilling to pursue more education, you should instead make a real effort to learn as much as you can about *specific* jobs in finance. Hopefully, you will stumble across a job for which you are uniquely suited, so you can make a convincing case for why someone should hire you over hundreds of other people.

#11

OP im in almost the same situation as you.

mechanical engineer.

after asking around most people who transit from engineering do it via an MBA.

the work ex,background should serve you good,

if you don’t want to go back to school then idk.let us know how it goes

#12

You could consider becoming a Quant… but you’ll need more education (depending on the role, a PhD, or at least a MFE or a CQF).

#13

Pretty sure you ruled out finance when you said you don’t want long hours…

#14

Most finance people work fewer than 50 hours, from my observation. The first few years, you will be the bitch, of course.

#15

yea as a sales guy, my hours are so flexible. just need to make sure i make my numbers. i love the openness. day trading is definitely more a burden on my schedule than sales

#16

even more useless than finance.

#17

try the high stakes table at Vegas. or Macau. or Singapore. 24x7 fast money.

#18

^ agreed.

You want to make lots of money fast, but are unwilling to go back to school, and unwilling to work long hours and want a realtively higher salary compared to someone with your finance knowledge.

If I was a managing director, I’d be like ‘wtf are you smoking? no one would want to hire you’

There are PLENTY of new grads willing to work long hours, more hungry to learn, and will take a much lower starting salary.

#19

+1