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Stockbroker

ProfessionalsUsually a bachelor degree or higher, or long experience

What the work is

Buys and sell stocks and bonds on behalf of clients.

Would you enjoy the work?

These are the main tasks in the official description. Mark how each one sounds to you.

  • Interprets data from securities reports, financial reports and stock-quotation viewer screens
  • Monitors stock prices and market changes
  • Provides information and trading advice to clients on equities and bonds
  • Executes, records and transmits buy and sell orders on behalf of clients
  • Relays trading information to clients, such as market conditions, bid and cost prices, and number of shares bought and sold

Try it

A simulation and a case study from this kind of work, set in the trading desk of a fictional broking firm, with screens everywhere. They are fictional.

The kind of days you could have

Good days

  • A client's order is filled cleanly in a fast market and they ring to say thanks
  • You explain a confusing market move so well that a nervous client relaxes
  • A quiet desk where every check you set up catches a mistake before it counts

Hard days

  • A fast market where every second counts and small slips are expensive
  • A client blames you for a result that was never in your control
  • Early starts watching screens, then a long day of calls and records

Written by Career Calling as a general guide. Real roles vary by employer and place.

Work a mission

Step into a simulated workplace in this field, with a brief from your manager.

Description and tasks: Australian Bureau of Statistics, Occupation Standard Classification for Australia, 2024, Version 1.0 (opens another site), occupation 212232, used under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 licence. The skill guide above is our plain English summary.