Breaking out of engineering...

[AS91]

Ok - So basically I am at an English university studying engineering (as you may have already guessed) and although I thoroughly enjoy the course, as a career path I don't feel its necessarily for me.

I'm nearing the end of my second year and I'm considering some sort of work experience in trading. I have an internship arranged in a local university to me to work on some structural dynamics / engineering-y based stuff in matlab, I'm just reluctant to go through with this as it is going down a path which I have already told myself I want to stay clear of, so I am having second thoughts.

As I have read on a couple of the threads there are some very talented and experienced candidates out there who have actually traded themselves and could make me look like nothing down on paper...

I have left it too late to be able to apply for organised internships this summer. However, I am still very interested and am unsure about where to start and to be honest, what to do - Does anyone know of anywhere which could be offering unpaid internships, or any sort of websites where you can post your CV stating what you are looking for?

I would like to try some trading for myself also, but I don't have alot of money behind me as most of my money is going towards paying for university studies...

Any ideas/help/feedback would be much appreciated, Cheers.

 

[AS91]

bump?

 

[brewski1984]

There are many posts like this on here and I think many if not all of them advise on completing education and learn about trading alongside. Don't quote me on that though.

 

[Martinghoul]

Complete your degree, do well in it and it won't matter that it's engineering. Learn about trading on the side in your spare time. In fact, I can tell you from first-hand experience that good engineering graduates get ahead.

 

[jpennybags]

Put all your efforts into your studies... complete your degree... trading can wait.

 

[wmd]

+1

Complete your degree and study trading on the side(get a book, open a demo account etc). When you finish you will have the chance (if you get excellent marks) to go on to a MSC in Finance which will beef up your profile even if you don't get in to trading or decide to go in to a different area of Finance.

 

[tabjockey]

Engineering undergrad + Finance post grad + Learning about markets in your spare time = Good shot at getting into a very wide range of careers.

 

[price777999]

just start your own company and trade .

 

[AS91]

Ok cheers for the help guys... I was thinking of doing a MSc after my undergrad anyways, maybe I will drop down onto the BEng (instead of doing the MEng) then do Finance after 3 years of engineering.

Strangely enough over the past couple of days EDF Trading called me up but I missed the call as i was revising and have only just heard that they want to talk to me about my application (which I must have sent off 4 months ago now), anyone have any ideas about what they would ask if they interviewed me?

I went for an interview with EDF Energy a month ago or so and all of the questions were competency based and not at all technical... It took me back a bit and by the end I felt I was giving very wishy-washy answers, I found it hard to understand how they wanted me to give such incredible answers to questions concerning experience which I just don't have...

From what I have read, technical skills in trading are very valuable (almost as valuable as interpersonal skills) Is this true? What can I expect? And what should I know if they do ask me technical questions?

Thanks for all your reply's by the way.