Internships and Alternatives

Quote from brownsfan019:

I suggested that b/c I've been where you are. I interned a summer at Morgan Stanley and it really helped the resume and lead to some great interviews as well.

And all I did at the office was make cold calls for a broker. It sucked, but getting the experience on the resume turned out to be much more important than I even realized at the time.
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See, right now I tend to be gravitated towards Chicago and New York, towards the action, but if that falls through, getting any kind of experience at a brokerage house would be an option.

After the internship at Morgan Stanley, did you continue within personal finance, or did you choose a different path?
 
Quote from JOEY O:

See, right now I tend to be gravitated towards Chicago and New York, towards the action, but if that falls through, getting any kind of experience at a brokerage house would be an option.

After the internship at Morgan Stanley, did you continue within personal finance, or did you choose a different path?
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My path went something like this:

College
Became a broker (not at MS)
Got tired of the selling and quit to become a full-time trader

In a nutshell, that's where I went. I enjoyed being a broker (esp the $$$ - was making very good money for being a recent college grad) but the firm I was at hit some rough times and I took that as an opportunity to look at trading more seriously. And haven't looked back since then. There were plenty of days when I thought... what did I just do... as trading is a very difficult business but after talking w/ a few guys still at the firm, I'm happy I did what I did. The problem w/ being a broker is when the market goes down you have little at your disposal to combat that. And these guys are feeling it now... stocks are down, funds are down, bonds are down too. Doesn't matter that they sell now, it loses money. That will wear on you sooner or later. Just like trading, being a broker is not for everyone.
 
Quote from brownsfan019:

My path went something like this:

College
Became a broker (not at MS)
Got tired of the selling and quit to become a full-time trader

In a nutshell, that's where I went. I enjoyed being a broker (esp the $$$ - was making very good money for being a recent college grad) but the firm I was at hit some rough times and I took that as an opportunity to look at trading more seriously. And haven't looked back since then. There were plenty of days when I thought... what did I just do... as trading is a very difficult business but after talking w/ a few guys still at the firm, I'm happy I did what I did. The problem w/ being a broker is when the market goes down you have little at your disposal to combat that. And these guys are feeling it now... stocks are down, funds are down, bonds are down too. Doesn't matter that they sell now, it loses money. That will wear on you sooner or later. Just like trading, being a broker is not for everyone.
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Thank you again for the input. Being a full-time trader is something that I plan to work toward, but right now I lack the equity, knowledge and expereience to pursue that. I am working to make that a reality sooner rather than later.
Also, I play enough online poker that I consider it my second job. This experience has given me a very good understand of risk/money managment. I have plenty of losing days, but as long as my wins outnumber my losses, I'll be green in the long run. I attribute much of my success in online poker to discipline, and I hope to be able to transfer that discipline into trading. This leads me to believe that I could handle the market swings and rough patches, and any other adverse conditions that a broker must deal with daily.
 
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