New grad. take an entry-level admin role at a wealth firm or stay put and push toward an analyst career?
I am really hoping to get some advice from people outside of my circle because I have been thinking about this for days and I just cannot seem to make up my mind.
So here is a bit about my situation. I graduated from school a year ago and I got a job at a bank branch in a shitty neighbourhood and I work with clients. I sell things to them. I am lucky because passed the CFA Level I. I make around 53k CAD per year.
The thing is, my job at the bank is really taking a toll on me. There is a lot of pressure to sell things. The environment is not very nice. To be honest this is just not the kind of work I want to do. So when a friend told me about a job at a wealth management firm I was really interested. I ended up getting a job offer from them and part of me wanted to take it away.
The job they offered me is an entry level job where I would be doing tasks financial consultants and advisors . I would make 55k CAD per year. I would have a permanent job. The good thing about this job is that there is a path for me to move up. I could start as a support person then become a client service associate and eventually become a financial advisor with my clients. It would take around 12 to 18 months to get to that point.. Because I already passed the CFA Level I test I would not have to take as many licensing exams. I could get registered faster. On paper this all sounds really great.
There is a problem. I do not actually want to be a wealth advisor in longer term. What I really want to do is work as an analyst doing research and things like that. I want to work on the side of things and do credit/equity research, investment analyst. As far as I can tell the job at the wealth management firm would not lead to that kind of work. The two types of jobs are not related.
So I am stuck. The money is basically the same so that is not a deal.. I would be happy to get out of my current job because it is really burning me out.. At the same time I do not want to take a job that is not going to lead to what I really want to do. I am worried that if I take this job it will be harder for me to get a job as an analyst on.
There are a things I would really like to get some honest feedback on.
\* Does working in wealth management at the beginning of my career actually hurt my chances of getting a job in research or analysis?
\* Is it an idea for me to just get out of my current job because it is burning me out and then try to switch to a different job later on?
\* If I really want to work in analysis what should I be doing instead? Should I be studying for the CFA level II test or should I be building models and trying to get a job in a related field?
If anyone has actually made the switch, from wealth management to research I would really love to hear about it.
It is also okay if you think I am overthinking all of this. Thank you for taking the time to read my post.