Also called: Bond Trader, Rates Trader
Buys and sells bonds and interest-rate products for a bank or investment firm.
At 8:30 a.m. the jobs report hits and bond prices jump. You adjust your positions in seconds, quote prices to clients and manage risk until the close.
Bonus can exceed salary.
Approximate: anchored on Bureau of Labor Statistics data for a broader job group.
Bachelor's degree (4-year), about 4 years after high school. Bachelor's in finance, economics or math; FINRA licenses.
Ways in: 4-year college, Certification. Training cost: $15k – $60k.
Majors to look at: Finance, Economics, Mathematics.
Growing about average (about 4% over 10 years). Tracks securities sales agents and traders.
Medium risk in 5 years, high in 10. Bond trading is going electronic fast; humans keep complex, illiquid trades, but desks need fewer juniors.
Classes: AP Calculus, AP Macroeconomics, AP Statistics.
Official data: O*NET occupation 41-3031.
Career Universe is an early version. Pay, training and AI-risk figures are estimates to start your own research, not verified facts. The research was written with AI research assistants, checked by validation scripts and spot-checked by hand. Check anything important with schools, employers and official sources. How the numbers work.