I always wanted to be a sales trader, any desk would have made me happy from repos, to derivatives. However back when I was in college, my career path changed because I couldn’t find an internship for my junior year. My freshman and Sophomore year I had internships at places like Cohen and steers, Sterne Agee, or KGS-Alpha. So during my junior year without an internship in finance, I ended up helping a friend launch his startup. Long story short is, it failed after 2 years but I was hired by a real competitor in the space, and now I was in tech. I have been working in sales at tech companies for a while now, but I always think back of what could have been had I went into sales on a trading desk. Besides job satisfaction increasing if I was on a desk, I feel like I could have made more money or even had more upside as I move up ranks. Below is my comp, age range, location currently, and what comp will look like if I stay in tech Age:25-28 Location: NY Title: enterprise account executive Comp: $100k salary, $100k bonus, $40k/4 equity (now worth about $200k thanks to the bananas market we SaaS companies have had) If I stay in my role as an IC you can make about $350k TC within the next 5 years. If I get to a manager level in the next 10 years, my TC can be between $350k to $600k Side note, I kind of already know the answer, but would it be even possible to get back on a desk without having to get an MBA at this point? #sellside
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You’re making way more than a lot of people idk what you’re worried about
You are underpaid
Most traders fail, get fired by mid-career, and have terrible exit opportunities. You're doing well
Grass is always greener from the other side. Lots of sales traders get burned out or pushed out and try to break into tech. You’re already ahead of them.
What is "IC"? You make $240K in NY and you're in your mid 20s. What exactly is the problem here?
Individual contributor, I have nobody working under me. I know $240k seems good, but like any role you work hard for it and have just some luck mixed in. If I mess up a year, or my stock doesn’t play out like I hope, I could end up only making 120k a year. I have been lucky to hit my quota and get the full 100k+ payout, but if I only hit 50% of it I’ll get nothing on my bonus
You’re in the right job! Sales trader role isn’t what it used to be! Brokerage list at the top shots are constantly shrinking and paying either by check or electronic trading!
What’s your YOE?
2 years of internship in S&T, 3 to 6 years of tech. I can’t give exact amount of YOE because It would be so obvious who I am
I'm more on the side of gotta-do-what-you-wanna-do. I think this transcends weighing in with TC, career upside, or other factors. Sure you can have a nice well-paid career with your current job - but by the sounds of it, you'd always be looking back, thinking maybe you should have switched. Might as well try, and if you get screwed in your new career, oh well. At least you won't regret about not switching.
Most sales traders make less than what you seem to think.
Too long to read so I’ll just say you F’d up