http://www.analystforum.com/comment/91487726#comment-91487726
is this too far?
Trying to rally the WC crowd? Kinda like pushing water uphill.
Thanks, Igor.
I’m starting to realize that these people don’t want to hear the truth of the matter–that 90% of them won’t pass Level 3. And if they do, it probably actually won’t open any doors for them. But maybe they should figure that out the hard way.
Yes, a bit too far.
People have overconfidence bias. Let them fail, gotta have people on the other side of our trades, per se.
It did open doors for me though.
^whats your story?
Just ignore
Short version:
I was economics pre-med, biology minor in college. Graduated with a low gpa. Tried to find a job, any job with some type of corporation (business analyst, financial analyst, anything). Hundreds of applications and lots of networking events, no interest. Went to go sell cars for 4-5 years. Found out about CFA, learned how to use a financial calculator, studied, knocked out 2 test in a row, in a year (dec/june), started getting interviews (never got a serious one before) took an offer to from a charterholder to do valuation work, knocked out the last one. If I get 3 more years of exp., I’ll apply to be a charterholder. Beats the hell out of selling cars.
You seriously couldn’t get a job in a corporation with a college degree? That too one that has quant in it? Are you trolling?
I got his back…let ppl fail CFA…its a factor that continues to promote its exclusivity.
I wish I was trolling, I applied everywhere for everything, for any salary. I was applying 8 hours a day after graduation and then applied for a 1-2 jobs a day till about 3 years in, and I got into highline german car sales. As for quant, they want master/phd level people to do that stuff. The quant I learn is more than enough for CFA but not nearly enough for a true quantitative role in a company. I also graduated in 2007 and it was a tough job market to come.
I went to a large private university in Texas.
I think that if he wanted to lie, he’d have come up with a better story than that.
Hard to believe, job’s aren’t that hard to get.
^ I felt the same… i thought, if I have a college degree, I shouldn’t have trouble finding a job. I even had career services tell me, you can be an economist if you get an econ b.s. (huge lie)
The thing was, I didn’t know any finance, had 1 accounting class, 1 business class, an introduction to quantitative skills (compared to what the real ones do), and a rediculous number of science classes. Simply put, with what I knew, I couldn’t make any company much money and that’s why they didn’t reply.
(Written after the below… I appologise if the below is long winded, I just meant to say “Yes I agree with Greenman”, but I got diarrhea of the mouth and went on a tear)
Agree with Greenman completely. I could not have said it better myself (and am suprised to learn how similar our backgrounds are).
He did not attack anyone, he just told it how it is. Sometimes the commitment it takes to pass is too much for people.
If you expected to pass but failed because you were raised a pretty little snowflake, got your little league trophy as a kid just for participating, and ensured you made an A+ in each class not becasue of work but becasue there were extra-points if you stayed late and helped grade papers… then well you deserved it and got a dose of reality. There are no shortcuts here. Give it a serious effort and try again. But, if you can look yourself in the mirror and know you put in a serious time commitment (not some 300 hours bullshit guideline… I’m talking every waking hour for months up to the exam) and STILL failed. Then sorry bud… this test just may not be for you. That was Greenman’s point. And he didn’t say stop… he just said you might want to seriously reconsider taking on this commitment. There’s no shame in giving up… I’m on the desk of a >1bn hedge fund and the charter doesn’t mean shit here. I started this process right after I got my MBA and I intend to finish it. Not the best of motivators but in my book it adds some resume fodder in the event it blows up here.
I myself also am 33, have an MBA, and have previosuly held the Series 7,66, and 55 (which aren’t that difficult), so I also know a thing or two about test taking. I have also worked in one capacity or another in the field of finance since I was 20. (Trading, Sales, Research, Ops… Big Banks, Broker Dealers, HFs…). I hold knowledge in some areas of finance that makes the CFAI body of knowledge look like 1st grade phonics. On the other hand there are parts of the curriculum that knocked me out like Peter McKneely (Namely FRA. I don’t do any of that stuff and hate accounting. Failed Level II the first time because of it). My point is I can agree that the curriculum as a whole is no joke. If my g/f didn’t love me unconditionally I would not expect her to have stuck around during this process. And myself willing, this will be the last Memorial Day/Easter Sunday/Weekend she spends alone from Jan-June. Time is my most valuable resource and most of it is taken up by work (12+ hrs a day) and commute (3+hrs) a day. Taking into account time to get ready in the morning, making meals and working out for an hour, I get basically 1 hour of study during the week each day and 5-6 hours of sleep if I’m lucky. As such I put in 8-10 hours each saturday and sunday. I think I put in north of 400 hours for those who count that stuff to pass level two… 400 hours TWICE.
The Level I candidates who failed and are complaining don’t get it yet. The CFA institute mails you 6 text books and says good luck. Thats like a college freshman walking into school on Sept 1 and being handed Textbooks in Biology, Calculus, Philosphy, Sociology, Psychology, and History then being told there are no classes, all this material is testable, and the grade is 100% based on the Final in June… see you then.
I’d bet a lot of the same people who failed level I and are complaining are the same people who up till a month or two before the test were still posting questions like “Which 3rd party provider is best?”, “How many hours do I need?”, “Is my study plan enough?”… I admit I probably posted one or two of these questions back in the day until i realized they are all shortcuts and procrastinations that just forego the eventual conclusion that is simply you need to study your balls off to pass… and some people just aren’t cut out for it.
I’d post this in the other thread, but F-that. Why waste my time on people who didn’t pass level I. (That was sarcasm and a joke… maybe)
It’s hard to cut into the corporate world with hp’s background with tons of accounting and finance commerce undergrads with more quickly transferable skills in the corporate world. I’d believe him.
Same here actually, I ended up taking an unpaid internship many mos after graduation which eventually became the first FT job.
good job.
I wish CFA exams would be harder
I do too now that I’m done with them. I also wish they’d raise the driving age to 18. Damn kids.