Advice in career choice..

Originally Posted by threadstarter

Sales & Trading would require some really good credentials like first class honours and many other achievements. Competition will be really intense and i'm not sure if I can even make the cut.

Apart from retail sales, what are other options?

You are correct in saying that competition is fierce for S&T roles. An impressive academic resume helps get you noticed but it is not a requirement.

To get closer to your objective of a market-related job, the conventional way is to try to squeeze yourself into one of the analyst programs of a bank or asset manager for a sell-side or buy-side entry level position. Less trafficked paths would be applying to be a trading assistant for a trading house or hedge fund. Junior sales roles is all about being lucky enough to be called up for the interview, and then impressing the hell out of your recruiting manager with your drive, energy and knowledge.

Originally Posted by Unregistered

You can consider joining MFA, Functional and Corporate track. Starting pay same as those scholar political track officers if you hold same qualifications. Anyway now they lack officers with number sense because hired too many humanities type. Get to go on posting and earn expat allowance. But hours can be long as many of my friends are. Competition is stiff but never try never know

How are their work/experience there, as compared to private sector or big four? I heard they will only get posted overseas in senior years and have to be stationed for a certain number of years overseas?

[chancellor]

Audit path is really tough... Long hours, dry work, take a long time to climb up the ladder if you are in a big 4 firm.. if you're in a SME firm, may not have much climbing to do except look forward to pay increments..

It really depends on your personality. do you prefer to work with numbers or work with people? RM needs to work with, woo and service customers.. It's really a service line kinda role.

Would you enjoy that? If so, go and give it a go. like the other guy said, sales is a must try career as you can learn alot.

Anyway there is no such thing call "cannot change path". I was an accounting grad too, started off in big 4 and 10 years down the road, I am doing something that is completely different from accounting and audit. Your personal interest and priorities change with years. What you want to do when in your 20s will be different from what you want when in your 30s, etc. Just follow your heart and do what you want to do. If not, 20 years later when you look back, you start regretting why you did not try out what you wanted to do when you were younger.

Somemore the economy and industry is always changing, and is now changing faster. How we do things 3 years ago is already different from how we do things now. Even if your desire is to stay in the same job for 10, 20 years, the technology and economy may force you to change path and focus faster than you expect.