Area of work
Fixed Income, Trading, FX Derivatives and Swaps (Euro, Yen, USD)

Studied
Business School, ESCE Paris (Leonardo Da Vinci)
Master's in Banking and Finance, University Paris 5

Joined
2008

Working in
Paris

I wanted to join a strong bank, a bank where I could have great opportunities and a great career. For me, BNP Paribas stood out from all the others as by far the best option.

I've been working for seventeen months now, one year as a trading assistant during my Master's course, where I spent most of my time learning how the system works, the mentality of the trading floor and the way you interact with other people and with the markets. Then everything changed when I actually started trading. I knew how things worked theoretically, but actually facing my computer and making trades and seeing how things moved and changed, I realised that you can never really know what's going to happen - which I found thrilling.

I have always wanted to be a trader, but in many ways it's different to how I imagined it would be. I thought it would be a bit like the business equivalent of a battlefield, lots of shouting and stress and pressure. It's not quite like that though. It can be intense at times, but there's a real team atmosphere; you work closely with Sales and you're their link to the markets. The part I really enjoy is being in tune with the daily revolution of the markets. Every day I get up and I know my day is going to be totally different, because I have no idea what happened in the markets overnight and how it's going to affect my day.

It's amazing the repercussions that you see happen as you trade. You realise how global it is and that everything is inter-linked. If I buy something in Paris I can see how it affects things in New York and in other markets around the world. I've been on the graduate training programme for three days and already I miss trading. I miss not being on the trading floor and watching what happens.