Randy’s Career Tips

When the time comes to choose the profession which highly interests you and which can be professionally, financially and mentally satisfying, many people find themselves lured with the prospect of becoming a stock broker. But, before finalizing upon your choice and taking the next step towards pursuing this profession its imperative to make sure that you are actually intrigued by it and not merely selecting it because of its popularity in the past years.

The stock broker employment is also dependent on the type of operations they engage themselves into. Some of the brokers are interested in practicing with individual clients while others like to work for institutions. Brokers who work for institutional investors are often called securities traders. Many opt to work as dealer, advisor and security analyst. Security analysts are those who advise companies on flotation of shares as they are expected to have sound knowledge of capital markets. Stock Brokers also work in the financial sector with banks, mutual funds, consultancies, insurance companies, pension funds and financial institutions and so on.

A successful broker has immense knowledge of the rise and fall of the stock markets, and has studied the market intricately over the years. He work with complete devotion, keep himself updated about each and every change which occurs in the market, has a flare for further increasing his knowledge base and the most important of all keeps his client’s interests before his own. He does not pay heed to the amount of money he can gain if lured the client into making a wrong deal.

Working as a stock broker also requires you to possess sharp memory, analytical mind, foresight, logical approach to each transaction and dealings and the most vital of all a calm and well groomed personality. Dealing with the clients requires you to be patient, no (more…)

The first step in your preparation should be to determine your market value. There are a number of things to be considered here; the one over which you have most control is what you can do for an employer. This, as discussed earlier, should have been your central focus throughout the interviewing stage. By the time you have become immersed in the negotiations, there should be no doubt about your qualifications and your value should reflect this.

Unfortunately, there are many areas over which you can exert little or no control, and these have a powerful cumulative effect. Ranging from the general health of the economy to particular functional industries, and locations, these will help define the parameters of your market value. Economic issues such as inflation affect the real value of your income as the general ebb and flow of the workplace drives the demand for specific functions (salespersons, engineers, and so on) and industries (home, electronics, health care, and the like). The greater the demand, the greater the value in the marketplace. Succinctly, make certain that you can place your current specific situation, in context with the large, general one I order to get the best estimate of your market value.

Functions, companies, industries, and geography also help to define your market value in more direct ways. A particular position, Human Resource Manager for example, will have a different market value relative to how it is perceived in each of these categories. Ask yourself the following questions:

�How is the function viewed (i.e. prestige) in each category?

�What is the size and strength of the organisation?

�How does the organisation rate is compensation programme?

(In developing a total, integrated programme a Compensation Manager may place salary range for particular positions within the framework of th (more…)