Job Vacancies - Look for a Career in Forex Industry

Over the past few years, there has been increased interest of working in the Forex industry. Though most people have been pre-occupied in retail Forex trading; other opportunities to work in the Forex industry in general have grown with more people becoming sensitized on various opportunities available from support to core roles in the industry.

Core functional Foreign exchange jobs may require completion of various financial related examinations as well as compliance with certain regulations and laws that govern financial transactions and the financial market in general. On the other hand; employees in supporting roles to the industry come from various educational and experience backgrounds.

Popular Job titles and roles in the Forex Industry;

Though the jobs and responsibilities may be similar; different companies give varying titles for positions in the Forex industry.

Institutional Trader/Professional Trader;

Employees in this position are required to manage Forex trading portfolios on behalf of their institutions by making trade decisions. Banks, hedge funds, mutual funds, and other investment institutions hold speculative as well as hedging positions on behalf of institutional clients and other companies. The Professional trader is involved in allocating funds to different currencies maintaining a certain level of risks with the objective of reaching set profit targets.

Though this position has a high salary as well as bonuses when profit targets are met; it requires experience trading various financial instruments and preferably bachelor’s degree holders in finance, economics, statistics or business. Profitable retail Forex traders with a track record can also qualify for the position in various companies.

Market Analyst/Researcher;

Various players in the Forex industry including institutional Forex traders often rely on various currency reports, as well as political and economic analysis that may affect the direction of the Forex market. This is the work of the Forex market analyst including publishing daily commentary and news opinions for various market participants.

Forex education companies also employ analysts to publish education content as well as general analysis on the Forex market for their readers/subscribers. A bachelor’s degree in international finance or economics is preferred with experience working as a trader. Apart from experience; excellent communication and presentation skills are required. Market analysts may specialize in fundamental, technical or quantitative analysis.

Regulators;

Legislative pressure has increased tremendously in the Forex Industry giving rise to growth of different regulatory bodies. The major regulators in the Foreign exchange industry include;

• The Commodities Futures Trading Commission (CFTC).
• National Futures Association (NFA).
• Financial Services Authority (FSA, UK).
• Securities and Futures Commission (SFC, Hong Kong).
• Financial Services Agency (FSA, Japan).
• Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC, Australia).

Regulatory bodies employ people from a wide variety of qualifications including; attorneys, economists, auditors, trading specialists, accountants, investigators, and management professionals.

Software Developers;

Like most industries, the use of technology is also on the rise in the Forex industry. Some roles include development of trading platforms, creation of trading algorithms, and integration to Foreign exchange data feeds. Other roles include technical maintenance, website developers and system administrators.

The different roles require knowledge and experience in programming using particular computer languages such as Python, Javascript, SQL etc. A bachelor’s degree in Computer Science or computer engineering is desirable. Knowledge and experience working in the Forex industry is advantageous but not necessary.

Forex Operations;

Forex brokers and dealers will require people to manage various operations in their back-offices. For instance, retail Forex brokers require employees to handle customer related issues including new account opening, verification of new accounts, approval of deposits and withdrawals as well as customer service support.

Other roles include human resource personnel, translation experts, online customer support, sales executives etc.

For most of these support roles; learning different languages such as Korean, Spanish, Russian, Arabic, French, German, Mandarin, Portuguese and Japanese will place potential candidates in an advantageous position.

Some Perks of Working in the Forex Industry;

• The Forex industry is global providing opportunities to work abroad and experience various cultures and lifestyle. Some of the major Forex hubs include the United Kingdom (London), United States (New York), Japan (Tokyo), Singapore, Switzerland (Geneva), China (Hong Kong), Australia (Sydney), and France (Paris). Emerging hubs especially in the retail Forex trading sector are also in the rise with centres such as Limassol, Luxembourg, Seoul and Dubai.
• With most Forex companies having a presence and offering services online; the Forex industry also offers remote working opportunities.
• Most operations in the Forex industry run 24 hours a day with the Forex market being the largest in terms of trading which adds to the number of job opportunities available.
• The Forex industry, and the Forex market specifically, is very large and liquid offering job opportunities to people who would like to work in more exciting and fast paced environments.
• The industry offers jobs for all experience levels (entry, mid and senior levels) as well as different contract types (full time, part time etc.).
•  Different remuneration packages are available to employees in the Forex industry due to its huge size including salaried, contractual and commission based positions.

The Forex Industry at a glance;

Currency Market size;

• The daily trading volume in the Forex market is estimated to be $5.3 trillion per day (Bank of International Settlements).
• The Forex market trading volume is estimated at 4x the size of the global Gross Domestic Product and about 53x the daily volume of the New York Stock Exchange.
• The most traded currency pairs in the global Forex market are EURUSD, USDCHF, GBPUSD, USDJPY, AUDUSD, NZDUSD and USDCAD.
• Over 170 different currencies make up the global Forex market with Deutsche Bank being the largest dealer in foreign exchange.
• Retail Forex trading transactions only comprise of about 5.5% of the global Forex market.

Technology;

• Metatrader has built the most popular retail trading platforms in the world with Metatrader 4 platform leading as the most popular platform followed by Metatrader 5.
• Automated trading has been on the rise due to creation of online retail Forex trading platforms.

Conclusion;

Financial institutions are increasing their capital allocation dedicated to Forex related activities due to the lucrative nature of the Forex market. This has continued to add to the number of financial employment positions available in the Forex industy. As the financial positions rise, more supporting roles are required adding to the overall growth of working opportunities in the Forex industry.