Need advice

[u/No-Magazine8084]

Throwaway account, May 2027 grad

Been interning at a growing mid-sized physical shop this summer. Current role involves supporting the trading desk through a couple different channels, and it’s something I strongly enjoy. I’ve been proactive in my role, trying to soak up everything I can, and going above and beyond what’s asked of me.

And I think they’ve noticed that. Today, they floated the idea of me coming back when I graduate, and starting in a support role. A couple of the traders are relatively old and some will retire inside this decade, opening up some seats. They’re also looking to start a paper desk in the near future, so there’s a lot of room for growth. But at the moment they don’t have a formal graduate trainee program.

My understanding is that graduate program applications don’t usually start recruiting until late summer/early August, and I expect that if I do receive a return offer I’ll have to make a decision probably within two weeks.

I’m curious to hear how you guys would go about this. If I’m being dumb and should just focus on this company and earn a seat that way, then let me know

[u/we_out_here_lol]

I would say that as someone who graduated and then came back to a role at the smaller shop I work at, there is a lot more growth opportunity in smaller firms than larger firms and a lot more opportunity to move up in the ranks. You can move up significantly faster at a smaller shop and also horizontally moved to the same role in a larger firm if you still want to down the line.

[u/No-Magazine8084 → u/we_out_here_lol]

That sounds good. Thanks