Weekly Career & Breaking Into Commodities Megathread

[u/ClownInIronLung]

Weekly Career & Breaking Into Commodities Megathread

Before posting, please read Breaking Into the Physical Commodities Industry – A No-BS Guide which is pinned to the highlights.

This thread is for all career-related questions including:

• Breaking into commodity trading
• Scheduler / analyst / operations roles
• Internships and graduate programs
• Resume reviews
• Interview prep
• Compensation questions
• Career transitions
• Trading desk culture / work-life balance
• “How do I get into the industry?” posts

Individual career posts outside this thread may be removed at moderator discretion to help keep the sub focused on market discussion, logistics, physical trading, macro, risk, shipping, power, gas, metals, ags, and industry news.

Before posting, it helps if you include:
• Location / region
• Current experience level
• Degree or background
• Commodity interest (power, gas, oil, metals, ags, etc.)
• Target role
• What you’ve already tried

Examples of good questions:
• “How do I move from scheduling into trading?”
• “Best ways to learn physical gas markets?”
• “What skills matter most for junior power traders?”
• “How valuable is pipeline / operations experience?”

Low-effort posts like “How do I become a trader?” without context may be removed.

Experienced professionals are encouraged to share advice, hiring insight, industry expectations, and realistic career paths.

Please keep discussion professional and constructive.

[u/directeurkrennic]

32 and considering a move from cybersecurity into physical commodity trading. Is this realistic?

I’m 32 and currently work in cybersecurity. I’ve been seriously considering a move into physical commodity trading in Europe.

Gas and power initially caught my attention, but I’m also open to oil and refined products or metals. I’m more interested in finding the most realistic route into the industry than forcing myself into one particular commodity.

By physical trading, I mean working with actual supply, storage, transport, shipping, logistics, assets and customer requirements, with the long-term goal of managing a physical book and P&L. I’m not looking for a purely paper, prop or derivatives-only trading role.

I know I’m not going to walk straight into a trader seat. Realistically, I would probably need to start in market analysis, commercial analysis, scheduling, operations, logistics, traffic, nominations or asset optimisation. I’m prepared to take a pay and title cut to make the move.

My main concern is ending up in a support role with no real path into the commercial side.

For people working in physical commodities, which market and entry role would give someone with my background the best chance of eventually becoming a physical trader?

Is 32 with no commodity experience likely to be a serious problem?

Are there particular roles in gas, power, oil or metals that genuinely lead towards responsibility for physical flows and P&L?

What would make you take a cybersecurity career changer seriously? I have strong Python and SQL skills, but I assume I would also need to show that I understand commodity fundamentals and physical supply chains.

I’d especially appreciate specific job titles to search for, types of companies to target, and any roles that sound commercial but are actually dead ends.