Working as an Online Stock Broker

Working as a stockbroker for a traditional Wall Street broker dealer isn’t the only stock broker career available to you if you have your series 7 already.

Today there are many discount online stock broker and brokerage houses that still need people with their licenses to conduct business, manage clients and do customer service like explaining to new clients how to purchase stock on your company’s platform..

Of course working for an online broker dealer is very different than a traditional one. Let’s just say the excitement isn’t there. And neither is the earning potential.

So why would anyone want to work for one?

Reasons to Work for an Online Brokerage Firm

I’ve actually had friends that have gotten jobs at some of the biggest online firms. So although this information isn’t “first hand”, it is accurate.

Here’s what many people have told me as reasons…

Almost all of them said the number one reason they chose to work for a firm like this was because of a guaranteed paycheck.

When I was working on Wall Street, if I didn’t close any sales, I didn’t get paid, period!

At the time I was twenty five years old, had a little money in the bank and only had to pay rent, utilities and be able to buy subway tokens and lunch everyday. And I was living in Brooklyn with two roommates, so rent wasn’t too bad.

But most of my friends that went on to work for online brokerages had families. They were usually married with kids and they really needed that paycheck every week.

This is a serious consideration if you’re seriously thinking about becoming a stockbroker.

The job is demanding, and there is no guarantee of any kind of payoff at the end. Either you believe and can endure, or you move on to something more stable.

And the few that left Wall Street that didn’t have kids told me they were just plain happier.

The reasons were because they simply didn’t like the “normal” day to day business of being a broker. The whole cold calling, dealing with clients, having to pitch and close customers everyday and deal with all of the headaches and stress involved whenever you control people’s money.

Not to mention market swings, news that can adversely impact the price of a stock that you have no control over whatsoever and on and on… Then things like credit, shorts, you name it.

It’s a stressful job when things go wrong. And they WILL! 99% of what happens you have no control over. It is what it is. But don’t think your clients won’t hold you responsible for every dip in the market or piece of bad press a company gets.

The truth is being a stock broker is sometimes very demanding and stressful.

And not everyone can deal with pressure well. So they look for other opportunities.

Hence, they work for online brokerages where they don’t need to cold call or close clients all day.

Rather, most of the jobs are dealing with customer care, or answering questions or calling to introduce new services or funds.

But they are already clients, so it’s totally different.

Now you need to ask yourself. Are you more interested in trying to make a lot of money? Or would you rather just receive a decent salary but have a lot less free time and stress in your life?

Only you can answer these questions. But be honest with yourself. If you’re not, you’re going to pay for it later.