Struggling to break into commodities despite a lot of effort – any advice?
Long post, but genuinely looking for honest feedback from people in the industry.
Background: I’m currently finishing a Master in Finance at a top 5-10 business school in Europe, where I’m ranked first in my cohort. I also finished first in my bachelor’s in business management, and in the exchange programme I completed at another business school during that degree.
Before the MiF, I interned in consulting at a Big Four firm with a focus on financial risk, and after that I worked a year in project management for an air freight logistics company. I’m also involved as officer in 2 relevant student clubs. I speak five languages. I’m an EU citizen, so work authorisation across the EU and Switzerland is not a constraint.
The search so far: I’ve sent over 150 applications. I’m not just blasting LinkedIn, I’m on specialised commodity job boards, applying directly through company career pages, cold emailing, cold messaging people on LinkedIn, and leaning hard on every connection I have or can make in the industry. I’ve also started sending spontaneous outreach emails to smaller companies that don’t have a structured hiring platform or any current openings listed.
I’m not holding out for front-office trader roles either. I’m actively targeting trade support, trade finance, operations, risk – anything that gets me in the door. Also not narrowing down on any specific commodity or sector, I’m looking broad amongst Energy, metals, Agri,…
Also have been applying all over Europe mostly, with some in London/Singapore as well with little response as well.
On the interest side, I’m genuinely passionate about this space. I read everything I can get my hands on. I follow markets, current events, the macro backdrop, the physical side. It’s become a real and growing interest, not something I’m performing for interviews. Also have gotten more and more comfortable with all the ‘technicals’ after preparing quite a bit on them.
The closest I got: I progressed to the final round of an ABCD agri graduate programme. The feedback was that they liked my profile and that I interviewed well – but they went with candidates who already had direct trading experience. Fair enough, but that’s a hard loop to break when every role seems to want experience I can only get by being hired.
What I’m struggling to understand: A few people I’ve spoken to who went through similar programmes in previous years, with comparable backgrounds, seem to have had noticeably more traction and response rate than I’m getting now. I don’t know if the market has shifted, if I’m doing something wrong in how I’m positioning myself, or if I’m missing something structural about how this industry actually hires.
I’m running low on ideas and would genuinely appreciate any honest perspective – even if it’s uncomfortable to hear.