[Nick1984]

Here in Australia a lot of people start in back office positions such as being a dealers assistant. Most places require you to be licenced to give advise on financial products however. Your role generally revolves around placing ordres, making sure they are executed, and reconciling client accounts at the end of the day. Some roles require you to delve into the business development side of things as well so be prepared to bullsh*t on the phone a lot to clients.

After 1-2 years of this if you have shown aptitude and a solid understnading of the markets they may move you to a front office position as a trader however you will still be junior and will not be allowed to trade any of the company's own funds. You'll be in a "broker" role for a while and your job will revolve around alaysing the markets or particular stocks for the senior broker who then makes the sales.

If you have been successfull as a private trader with a proven track record or 3+ years you can bypass a lot of that and land a job as a trader straight away but you need to be pretty good and like I said, have a proven track record.