Traders et. al.: How did they get the jobs? (transaction, fund, degree)

[JMadison]

Was listening to a PBS radio station today and the bonuses of traders and other non-executive Wall Streeters struck me as astrononical.

Back when I was in school (76-80 for high school) "engineer" was often pushed as a high paying career field. Little was mentioned of jobs with 6 - 7 figure bonuses.

So does anyone know how these folks knew of these jobs and how they got them in the first place?

And... the $69 question... where's the next place someone could clean up like that? LOL!

[Job-Seekers-Edge]

If you're talking about stockbrokers every company that I'm aware of recruits people right out of college. You used to be able to go to any job fair held at a college or university and find companies recruiting for this. With the advent of the on-line trading companies, I'm guessing the need for people to do this function will dwindle.

Stockbrokers are trained to sell. They are not trained to really understand the market and make good investment decisions. They make money on each transaction when people buy or sell stock and often make buy/sell recommendations based on the stock their company wants them to push. It doesn't matter whether their customers make money (except to the extent that they keep their customers so they will keep trading). It's a tough way to make a living.

The big traders on Wall Street are generally the people who manage the various investment funds that are offered through the large financial institutions. They make their bonuses by making trades within the fund(s) so the fund makes money. I'm guessing to get into that role one would need a degree in finance from a well respected school, intern at the right Wall Street companies during college, make the right contacts, probably find the right mentors to sponser their careers and then develop a track record of making good investment decsions. (Or they could just dream up a ponzi scheme and bilk 13,000 people out of $50 billion.)

The next place to clean up? Jobs related to computers and the internet of course. (Although with Obama's push to repair the country's infrastructure engineers might just be making a come back.)

Just one woman's opinion .

[FarNorthDallas]

Amazon.com: Confessions of a Street Addict: James J. Cramer: Books

This is a really interesting read about working on Wall Street.

[JMadison]

Originally Posted by Job-Seekers-Edge

If you're talking about stockbrokers every company that I'm aware of recruits people right out of college. You used to be able to go to any job fair held at a college or university and find companies recruiting for this. With the advent of the on-line trading companies, I'm guessing the need for people to do this function will dwindle.

Stockbrokers are trained to sell. They are not trained to really understand the market and make good investment decisions. They make money on each transaction when people buy or sell stock and often make buy/sell recommendations based on the stock their company wants them to push. It doesn't matter whether their customers make money (except to the extent that they keep their customers so they will keep trading). It's a tough way to make a living.

The big traders on Wall Street are generally the people who manage the various investment funds that are offered through the large financial institutions. They make their bonuses by making trades within the fund(s) so the fund makes money. I'm guessing to get into that role one would need a degree in finance from a well respected school, intern at the right Wall Street companies during college, make the right contacts, probably find the right mentors to sponser their careers and then develop a track record of making good investment decsions. (Or they could just dream up a ponzi scheme and bilk 13,000 people out of $50 billion.)

The next place to clean up? Jobs related to computers and the internet of course. (Although with Obama's push to repair the country's infrastructure engineers might just be making a come back.)

Just one woman's opinion .

Had a Seriez 7 and 63 back around '88. Decided to stay with my night job in IT at the time. So I'm acquainted with being a broker. As you say, it's straight up sales. Hated it. I realized at that point, what I was really thinking of was being a trader. I.e "How is money made in the market", not "how do I sell shares to retail customers as liquidity to trade against", LOL!

I have a bachelor's in Comp. Sci and have even done commercial software developement. Been in and out of the biz some 25 years. Unless you have a way to always have "3-5 years experience in [new and upcoming "technology"] I disagree with you on computers and internet. Heck IBM is offering to send layoffs to India for a job.

And I've never known an IT guy to get a 7 figure bonus!