Six situations in which it makes total sense to take a job in the back/middle office
Judging by the frequency with which this question turns up in our Answers area, when to accept a middle/back office role is a hot topic - not only for people trying to enter the industry but also for people already in the industry and for those attempting re-entry.
The fact is, there are always loads more jobs in the back and middle offices than there are in the front office. Hence, Dixit Joshi, head of EMEA equities at BarCap, said recently that two thirds of the 700 equities professionals the bank hired last year went into 'infrastructure' roles.
Getting into the middle/back office is therefore comparatively easy. Moreover, such a move makes total sense if -
1) You don't want to work in the front office anyway
Believe it or not, not everyone wants to be a trader, a salesperson, or a spreadsheet serf M&A banker. There are honestly some interesting roles in the back and middle office, and there is a lot of hiring taking place here. As we are at persistent pains to point out, recruitment in product control, project management, risk, and areas of operations (eg derivatives documentation), is going through the roof.
2) You do want to work in a front office trading role and you're taking a job in close proximity to the trading desk
As we noted a few months ago, there are jobs that will allow you to move relatively easily from the middle to the front office. They include desk assistant and product control roles.
"The closer you are to the front office, the easier the move will be," says Terri Duhon, head of B&B Structured Finance, a structured product training and consulting company, and a former credit derivatives trader at JPMorgan.
On the other hand, it's pointless if you ultimately want to move into a front office role and the middle office job you're taking doesn't have that kind of exposure.
3) You do want to work in the front office, and the middle office role you're taking isn't at SocGen
Following the Jerome Kerviel affair, in which Jerome used his time in the middle office to gain knowledge of SocGen's systems, enabling him to allegedly rack up a trading debt of 3.6bn when he later became a trader, SocGen is thought to have stopped its middle office people moving into the front.
MDs at SocGen confirm this to be the case. Such shifts have apparently been prohibited for the past 18 months.
4) You do ultimately want to work in the front office, and you're prepared to put in the effort to get there
"The better you understand what's happening in the front office, the better your chance of moving across," says Duhon. "We train a lot of people from the back and middle offices who want to make the move, but a lot of them don't really know enough about the business to do it.
"It's very hard to get a big picture perspective in the back and middle office," Duhon adds, "But some banks offer in-house training courses with open enrolment, so if you're keen to learn and your boss allows you the time out, it is possible to learn."
5) You're senior, and you like to manage people
"The back office is increasingly sophisticated and complex," says Kate Grussing, of Sapphire Partners, a search firm with expertise in placing people in flexible roles (and a former COO at JPMorgan).
"Someone with strong product experience in a client facing role will be able to add a huge amount of value in the back office," Grussing says. "They will also get materially more opportunities to manage people than in the front office.
"Firms are increasingly paying senior back office people well," she adds.
6) You don't want to work in corporate finance
Generally, it is not possible to move from the back or middle office into M&A or corporate finance. The exception may be strategy or corporate development roles.
"Strategy and corporate development are a bit like in-house investment banking," says one former M&A MD from a bulge bracket. "But banks are very snooty about letting people move from there into M&A."
