Equity Trader

“Equity” isn’t just your piece of the pie when you own your home; it’s also the value of stocks and shares issued by a public company. When you’re an Equity Trader, therefore — or Stock Trader — it’s your job to monitor and maximize the value of shares in your company’s stock portfolio.

More specifically, the job of an Equity Trader is buying, holding and selling stocks based on financial data and research. Although as an Equity Trader, you’ll have Equity Research Associates and Equity Research Analysts to help you with the research part, the choice about what to buy, sell and hold — as well as how many shares and when — is yours.

To make it, you’ll study and develop trading strategies to maximize profits for your employer, which could be a corporation investing its earnings or an investment bank that’s investing its clients’ money. Either way, you spend your days studying stocks, evaluating financial risks, then making transactions in pursuit of generous returns.

Although it’s a guessing game for the Average Joe, the truth is: Trading requires a lot of study and skill, as you’ll need to watch the market, identify and understand trends, and make transactions in compliance with laws and regulations.

Because your work is tied to the stock market, you’ll set your clock to securities exchanges’ operating hours, which might be difficult if you don’t live in the same time zone as the market where you’re trading. Ultimately, though, awkward hours are worth it: If your portfolio shows a profit at the end of the year, you’ll typically get a bonus!