Futures Traders

ANZSCO ID 222212

Overview

Snapshot

Employed
160
Future Growth
N/A
Weekly Earnings
N/A
Full-Time Share
91%
Female Share
10%
Average age
44

Summary

Futures Traders buy and sell commodity futures on behalf of clients.

Tasks

  • Obtains information on securities, market conditions, government regulations and financial circumstances of clients.

  • Interprets data from securities reports, financial periodicals and stock-quotation viewer screens.

  • Analyses financial markets and financial market products.

  • Provides information and offers advice on financial market matters and market conditions, as well as the history and prospects of corporations.

  • Executes buy and sell orders in the market place on behalf of clients.

  • Relays trade information to clients such as the number of contracts bought and sold and the price.

  • Monitors futures prices and market changes, and bidding for commodity futures contracts.

  • Records and transmits buy and sell orders.

Characteristics

Job Type
Professionals
Skill Level
Very high skill
ANZSCO Occupation group
Unemployment Rate
n/a
Industries
Pathway(s)
  • University
  • Vocational Education and Training (VET)
  • Informal or on-the-job
Interests
  • Administrative
  • Enterprising
Physical Demand
  • Sedentary

Outlook

Employment Outlook

JSA produces employment projections to show where likely future job opportunities may be. Employment projections data are only produced for occupations at the broad four digit Australian and New Zealand Standard Classification of Occupations (ANZSCO) level. While data are not available for this occupation, projections data are available for the parent occupation, Financial Dealers, under the outlook section.


Earnings and hours

Working arrangements

  • Around 91% of people employed as Futures Traders work full-time hours, in all their jobs combined. This is 25 percentage points above the all jobs average (66%).

    Full-time workers work an average of 49 hours per week in their main job. This is 5 hours more than the all jobs average (44 hours per week).

    Sources:Full-time share and full-time hours: ABS, 2016 Census, customised report. Compared to the all jobs average.


Industries

Main industries

1
Financial and Insurance Services
81.6%
2
Administrative and Support Services
3.8%
3
Professional, Scientific and Technical Services
2.5%
4
Retail Trade
1.9%

Regions

Employment across Australia

NSW

77.8% All occupations: 31.6%

VIC

15.0% All occupations: 25.6%

QLD

5.2% All occupations: 20.0%

SA

0.0% All occupations: 7.0%

WA

2.0% All occupations: 10.8%

TAS

0.0% All occupations: 2.0%

NT

0.0% All occupations: 1.0%

ACT

0.0% All occupations: 1.9%

Employment by State and Territory (% Share)

State Futures Traders All Jobs Average
NSW 77.8 31.6
VIC 15.0 25.6
QLD 5.2 20.0
SA 0.0 7.0
WA 2.0 10.8
TAS 0.0 2.0
NT 0.0 1.0
ACT 0.0 1.9


  • Around 90% of Futures Traders live in capital cities, compared with the all jobs average of 62%.

    New South Wales has a large share of employment relative to its population size.

    Source: Based on ABS Census 2016, Customised Report. Share of workers across Australian states, territories and regions, in this job compared to the all jobs average.


Worker profile

Age and gender

Age In Years
44
All Jobs Average is 40
Female Share
10%
All Jobs Average is 48%
  • The median age of Futures Traders is 44 years. This is higher than the all jobs average of 40 years.

    A large share of workers are aged 45 to 54 years.

    Females make up 10% of the workforce. This is 38 percentage points below the all jobs average of 48%.

    Source: Based on ABS Census 2016, Customised Report. Age profile and gender share compared to the all jobs average.

Age Profile (% Share)

Source: Based on ABS Census 2016, Customised Report. Age profile of workers in this job compared to the all jobs average.
Age Bracket Futures Traders All Jobs Average
15-19 0.0 5.0
20-24 6.0 9.3
25-34 22.0 22.9
35-44 28.0 22.0
45-54 31.5 21.6
55-59 7.1 9.0
60-64 1.8 6.0
65 and Over 3.6 4.2
Median Age 44 40

Source: Based on ABS Census 2016, Customised Report. Age profile of workers in this job compared to the all jobs average.


Employment Pathways

Education, training and experience

A university degree in commerce, finance, accounting, economics or actuarial science is usually needed to work as a Futures Trader. Some workers have a Vocational Education and Training (VET) qualification.

Registration or licencing may be required.

Visit

  • Course Seeker to search and compare higher education courses.
  • ComparED to compare undergraduate and postgraduate student experiences and outcomes.
  • My Skills to compare Vocational Education and Training (VET) courses, providers and student outcomes.
  • AAPathways website to explore Financial Services VET training pathways.

Highest Level of Education (% Share)

Source: ABS Census 2016, Customised Report. Highest qualification completed by workers in this job (in any field of study). Qualifications needed by new workers might be different from the qualifications of workers already in the job.
Type of Qualification Futures Traders All Jobs Average
Post Graduate/Graduate Diploma or Graduate Certificate 14.6 10.1
Bachelor degree 43.1 21.8
Advanced Diploma/Diploma 8.3 11.6
Certificate III/IV 4.2 21.1
Year 12 23.6 18.1
Year 11 2.1 4.8
Year 10 and below 4.2 12.5

Source: ABS Census 2016, Customised Report. Highest qualification completed by workers in this job (in any field of study). Qualifications needed by new workers might be different from the qualifications of workers already in the job.


Skills and Knowledge

Employers look for Financial Dealers who provide good customer service and who have strong interpersonal skills.

Skills

Skills can be improved through training or experience.

  • 61%

    Critical thinking

    Thinking about the pros and cons of different ways to solve a problem.

  • 61%

    Reading comprehension

    Reading work related information.

  • 61%

    Mathematics

    Using maths to solve problems.

  • 59%

    Monitoring

    Keeping track of how well work is progressing so you can make changes or improvements.

  • 57%

    Active listening

    Listening to others, not interrupting, and asking good questions.

  • 57%

    Speaking

    Talking to others.

  • 55%

    Judgment and decision making

    Figuring out the pros and cons of different options and choosing the best one.

  • 55%

    Negotiation

    Bringing people together and trying to sort out their differences.

  • 54%

    Writing

    Writing things for co-workers or customers.

  • 52%

    Persuasion

    Talking people into changing their minds or their behaviour.

  • 50%

    Social perceptiveness

    Understanding why people react the way they do.

  • 50%

    Active learning

    Being able to use what you have learnt to solve problems now and again in the future.

  • 48%

    Complex problem solving

    Noticing a problem and figuring out the best way to solve it.

  • 46%

    Systems analysis

    Figuring out how a system should work and how changes in conditions, operations, and the environment will affect it.

  • 45%

    Coordination with others

    Being adaptable and coordinating work with other people.

  • 45%

    Serving others

    Looking for ways to help people.

  • 45%

    Systems evaluation

    Measuring how well a system is working and how to improve it.

  • 43%

    Time management

    Managing your own and other peoples' time to get work done.

  • 41%

    Instructing

    Teaching people how to do something.

  • 36%

    Management of personnel resources

    Motivating, developing, and directing people as they work, and choosing the best people for the job.


Knowledge

These are important topics, subjects or knowledge areas.

  • 64%

    Economics and accounting

    Economics and accounting, the financial markets, banking and checking and reporting of financial data.

  • 61%

    Customer and personal service

    Understanding customer needs, providing good quality service, and measuring customer satisfaction.

  • 61%

    Mathematics

    Arithmetic, algebra, geometry, calculus, or statistics.

  • 59%

    Sales and marketing

    Showing, promoting, and selling including marketing strategy, product demonstration, sales techniques, and sales control systems.

  • 58%

    Computers and electronics

    Circuit boards, processors, chips, electronic equipment, and computer hardware and software, including applications and programming.

  • 55%

    English language

    English language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition, and grammar.

  • 50%

    Clerical

    Word processing, managing files and records, stenography and transcription, designing forms, and other office work.

  • 44%

    Administration and management

    Business principles involved in strategic planning, leadership, and coordinating people and resources.

  • 38%

    Law and government

    How our laws and courts work. Government rules and regulations, and the political system.

  • 35%

    Communications and media

    Media production, communication, and dissemination. Includes written, spoken, and visual media.

  • 26%

    Personnel and human resources

    Recruiting and training people, managing pay and other entitlements (like sick leave), and negotiating pay and conditions.

  • 25%

    Education and training

    Curriculum and training design, teaching and instruction for individuals and groups, and the measurement of training effects.

  • 23%

    Telecommunications

    Transmission, broadcasting, switching, control, and operation of telecommunications systems.

  • 21%

    Psychology

    Human behaviour; differences in ability, personality, and interests; learning and motivation; research methods; assessing and treating disorders.

  • 20%

    Engineering and technology

    Use engineering, science and technology to design and produce goods and services.

  • 16%

    Geography

    Describing land, sea, and air, including their physical characteristics, locations, how they work together, and the location of plant, animal, and human life.

  • 15%

    Production and processing

    Raw materials, production processes, quality control, costs, and ways of making and distributing goods.

  • 14%

    History and archeology

    Events of the past, their causes, how we learn about them, and how they influence the way we live today.

  • 13%

    Transportation

    Moving people or goods by air, rail, sea, or road.

  • 8%

    Public safety and security

    Use of equipment, rules and ideas to protect people, data, property, and institutions.


Abilities

Workers use these physical and mental abilities..

  • 64%

    Deductive reasoning

    Use general rules to find answers or solve problems logically.

  • 63%

    Oral comprehension

    Listen to and understand what people say.

  • 63%

    Oral expression

    Communicate by speaking.

  • 61%

    Written comprehension

    Read and understand written information.

  • 59%

    Inductive reasoning

    Use lots of detailed information to come up with answers or make general rules.

  • 59%

    Working with numbers

    Add, subtract, multiply, or divide.

  • 55%

    Speech recognition

    Identify and understand the speech of another person.

  • 55%

    Near vision

    See details that are up-close (within a few feet).

  • 55%

    Written expression

    Write in a way that people can understand.

  • 54%

    Categorising

    Come up with different ways of grouping things.

  • 54%

    Mathematics

    Choose the right maths method or formula to solve a problem.

  • 52%

    Problem spotting

    Notice when something is wrong or is likely to go wrong, even if you can't solve the problem.

  • 48%

    Sorting or ordering

    Order or arrange things in a pattern or sequence (e.g., numbers, letters, words, pictures, mathematical operations).

  • 48%

    Brainstorming

    Come up with a number of ideas about a topic, even if the ideas aren't very good.

  • 46%

    Speech clarity

    Speak clearly so others can understand you.

  • 45%

    Flexibility of closure

    See a pattern (a figure, object, word, or sound) hidden in other distracting material.

  • 41%

    Selective attention

    Pay attention to something without being distracted.

  • 41%

    Originality

    Come up with unusual or clever ideas, or creative ways to solve a problem.

  • 37%

    Perceptual speed

    Use your eyes to quickly compare groups of letters, numbers, pictures, or other things.

  • 37%

    Speed of recognition

    Quickly make sense of and organize things you can see like letters, numbers, pictures, or other things.


Activities

These are kinds of activities workers regularly do in this job.

  • 71%

    Keeping your knowledge up-to-date

    Keeping up-to-date with technology and new ideas.

  • 71%

    Building good relationships

    Building good working relationships and keeping them over time.

  • 70%

    Collecting and organising information

    Compiling, coding, categorizing, calculating, tabulating, auditing, or checking information or data.

  • 68%

    Working with computers

    Using computers to program, write software, set up functions, enter data, or process information.

  • 62%

    Researching and investigating

    Looking for, getting and understanding different kinds of information.

  • 62%

    Looking for changes over time

    Comparing objects, actions, or events. Looking for differences between them or changes over time.

  • 62%

    Making decisions and solving problems

    Using information to work out the best solution and solve problems.

  • 61%

    Making sense of information and ideas

    Looking at, working with, and understanding data or information.

  • 61%

    Communicating within a team

    Giving information to co-workers by telephone, in writing, or in person.

  • 59%

    Checking compliance with standards

    Deciding whether events or processes comply with laws, regulations, or standards.

  • 58%

    Planning and prioritising work

    Deciding on goals and putting together a detailed plan to get the work done.

  • 56%

    Explaining things to people

    Helping people to understand and use information.

  • 54%

    Monitoring people, processes and things

    Checking objects, actions, or events, and keeping an eye out for problems.

  • 53%

    Communicating with the public

    Giving information to the public, business or government by telephone, in writing, or in person.

  • 52%

    Documenting or recording information

    Entering, transcribing, recording, storing, or maintaining information in written or electronic/magnetic form.

  • 51%

    Influencing people

    Convincing people to buy something or to change their minds or actions.

  • 50%

    Giving expert advice

    Providing guidance and expert advice to management or other groups.

  • 49%

    Assessing and evaluating things

    Working out the value, importance, or quality of things, services or people.

  • 48%

    Thinking creatively

    Using your own ideas for developing, designing, or creating something new.

  • 44%

    Estimating amounts, costs and resources

    Working out sizes, distances, amounts, time, costs, resources, or materials needed for a task.


Interests and demands

Learn about the daily activities, and physical and social demands faced by workers. Explore the values and work styles that workers rate as most important.

Interests

Interests are the style or type of work we prefer to do. All interest areas are shown below.

  • 95%

    Enterprising

    Starting up and carrying out projects. Leading people and making many decisions. Sometimes require risk taking and often deal with business.

  • 67%

    Administrative

    Following set procedures and routines. Working with numbers and details more than with ideas, usually following rules.

  • 33%

    Helping

    Working with people. Helping or providing service to others.

  • 19%

    Analytical

    Ideas and thinking. Searching for facts and figuring out problems in your head.

  • 14%

    Creative

    Working with forms, designs and patterns. Often need self-expression and can be done without following rules.

  • 14%

    Practical

    Practical, hands-on work. Often with plants and animals, or materials like wood, tools, and machinery.


Values

Work values are important to a person’s feeling of satisfaction. All six values are shown below.
  • 76%

    Achievement

    Results oriented. Workers are able to use their strongest abilities, giving them a feeling of accomplishment.

  • 76%

    Independence

    Work alone and make decisions. Workers are able to try out their own ideas, make decisions on their own, and work with little or no supervision.

  • 74%

    Working conditions

    Job security and good working conditions. There is usually a steady flow of interesting work, and the pay and conditions are generally good.

  • 71%

    Recognition

    Advancement and the potential to lead. Workers are recognised for the work that they do, they may give directions and instructions to others, and they are looked up to in their company and their community.

  • 62%

    Relationships

    Serve and work with others. Workers usually get along well with each other, do things to help other people, and are rarely pressured to do things that go against their sense of right and wrong.

  • 62%

    Support

    Supportive management that stands behind employees. Workers are treated fairly by their company, they are supported by management, and have supervisors who train them well.


Demands

The physical and social demands that workers face most often are shown below:
  • 100%

    Electronic mail

    Use electronic mail.

  • 100%

    Telephone

    Talk on the telephone.

  • 100%

    Spend time sitting

    Spend time sitting at work.

  • 99%

    Face-to-face discussions

    Talk with people face-to-face.

  • 99%

    Frequent decision making

    Frequently make decisions that impact other people.

  • 98%

    Freedom to make decisions

    Have freedom to make decision on your own.

  • 97%

    Contact with people

    Have contact with people by telephone, face-to-face, or any other way.

  • 95%

    Being exact or accurate

    Be very exact or highly accurate.

  • 95%

    Impact of decisions

    Make decisions that have a large impact on other people.

  • 90%

    Unstructured work

    Have freedom to decide on tasks, priorities, and goals.

  • 89%

    Time pressure

    Work to strict deadlines.

  • 88%

    Indoors, heat controlled

    Work indoors with access to heating or cooling.

  • 88%

    Teamwork

    Work with people in a group or team.

  • 88%

    Competition

    Compete with others, or be aware of competitive pressures.

  • 82%

    Consequence of error

    Work where mistakes have serious consequences.

  • 73%

    Physically close to people

    Work physically close to other people.

  • 71%

    Responsible for outcomes

    Take responsibility for the results of other people's work.

  • 71%

    Contact with the public

    Work with customers or the public.

  • 70%

    Angry or unpleasant people

    Deal with unpleasant, angry, or rude people.

  • 69%

    Conflict situations

    Deal with conflict or disagreements.

Occupational Information Network
O*NET is a trademark of the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration.
The skills and importance ratings on this page are derived from the US Department of Labor O*NET Database Version 21.2, 41-3031.03 - Securities and Commodities Traders.


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