2007 - Registered for L2 but didn’t study so I was a no-show
2008 - Failed L2 (Band 8)
2009 - Failed L2 (Band 6)
2010 - Failed L2 (Band 6)
2011 - Passed L2
2012 - Failed L3 (Band 4, with a lot of studying, but no plan of attack for the AM)
2013 - Passed L3
In the meantime:
Toddler son went from a crib to 6th grade, added two daughters, bought a house, worked at two failed firms (big ones) and had a fund closed at another. Two constants during this time was my love for my family and my desire to pass. I can be honest and say at times I wish that desire translated into harder work, but that’s in the past.
I don’t know the CFA’s worth to my career, I’m not a different analyst today vs. yesterday, but it’s not about that anymore. I’m just happy to know I reached a goal that I set. At some point the exam became more than just a professional designation for me. It really became a test of character (diligence, honesty with myself).
For everyone who got it in 1.5 yrs or 3 straight times…congrats. I’m sure you’ve never failed a test in your life; it’s what you’re good at and you deserve recognition. Still, I’m partial to the rest of us who took longer to get to the finish line or are maybe still running. It might just be that they’re learning the exam material AND something about themselevs, and that’s not all that bad.
When I meet CFA candidates in my class, I shake their hands differently than I do others…
When I shake hands with fellow candidates, I really shake them…squeeze them and want to hang on to them just a little longer just and lo to show gratitude and look at the person with tears in my eyes…
June 2010 - fail Level II (market and job implosion in process)
June 2011 - pass Level II
June 2012 - fail Level III (thought I nailed it)
June 2013 - pass Level III
Successful in 3 jobs over this period, navigated the market meltdown. Went from one child to two, and now have a 6 and 3 year old.
I’m not sure I will ever outsource mgmt of my own personal investments, but if I do, I can assure you the person will have CFA behind their name, and I will verify their standing with CFAI.
I really enjoyed GPM’s comments above - don’t miss them.
For anyone looking for Lev III study strategy, a post by Rolo550 entitled “Want advice from a passer” worked quite well for me. I can’t find the original post, but if you post your email below I’ll email it to you. Congratulations and best of luck to all.
Before this I was always reluctant to talk about my L1 experiences. honestly I’m not sure how many times I was registered, I know I no showed at least twice and failed probably 4 times, and always excused myself I’m an Analyst I have too much work to put the hours in.
Truth - I was a lazy B’tard
After failing Level 1 Band 9 whilst unemployed, I skipped the December test as I had a new job. from then my test results were
2011 June - Pass L1 CFA
2011 November - Pass Part 1 & 2 FRM (not really advised)
2012 June - Failed Band 8 CFA L2
2012 September - Pass L1 CAIA (7 sections from 8 Outstanding)
2013 June - Pass L2 CFA (All over 70 except PM & Quant 50-70 and Ethics under 50)
This is not just a question of keep on plugging, but look at what you are doing wrong and change it. I now work longer hours than i did when I was failing Level 1, but I am serious about doing whatever is needed to pass. I have also look a lot at how I study and tried to make that more efficient.
Everyone’s always asking what you need to do to pass. The answer’s both the same for everyone and different for everyone, the part that’s the same is commit to what you want to achieve and work harder to achieve it and the part that is different is look at how you study and adapt to improve your methods.
Hopefully this year my efforts will result in passing Level 3 first time.
For anyone looking for Lev III study strategy, a post by Rolo550 entitled “Want advice from a passer” worked quite well for me. I can’t find the original post, but if you post your email below I’ll email it to you. Congratulations and best of luck to all.
I am wondering if it is even worth the while to continue? Part of me says yes - Reason probably is more of like, I was an A student in university and I have never failed an exam in my whole life so why am I stuck with this crap? Sounds more of me going on an ego trip? The other part of me which says no is that the probability of me being able to reap the tangible benefits of passing all 3 exams are small. I am doing corporate tax (have been doing that for 3 years or so) and how likely is it that I can make a switch in view that I have accrued too much irrelevant experience (not exactly by choice either)? I figure that if I have not been able to do what I want despite trying to make a switch since I passed L2 4 years ago, what difference is passing L3 going to make?
It’s genuinely REALLY GREAT to see such determination on the forum. Commiserations to those who failed aswell as congrats to those who passed but my road was far from smooth as you can see below. I might quote Sylvester Stallone from Rocky Balboa in saying that (with regards to the CFA), “take the hits but always keep moving forward”
Do it Hydrogen - don’t let it get the better of you. I was an A-level student in Uni and got a real shock when I did these things. You’ve spent too much time to just throw in the towel at the last. If only for yourself.
My advice - re-revise all your handwritten notes, then do EVERY blue box and CFA EOC question and every single mock exam you can get your hands on ensuring that you constantly go over every question you got wrong again and again and again until they stick. You can do it pal.
Level 3 (June 2009) - Failed. Only time I was completely surprised that I failed. I thought I knew everything.
Level 3 (June 2010) - Passed. Studied less and was not nearly as dedicated as the previous year but I think the difference was being confident and relaxed. I had more knowledge in the previous year but the nerves during the exam definitely cost me points. When you’re writing long answers and you’re supremely comfortable and confident, the words and thoughts just flow.
Started in September/October 2006 as far as studying so the entire program consumed just under 4 years of my life. Those were hellish years. But the payoff personally and professionally was well worth it. I can’t say that it’s all attributed to the CFA but I’ve more than tripled my salary in recent years.
For those still in the program, don’t give up and be confident.
hello! Thanks for your kind words and advice. I’d need to evaluate if I can cope with being newly married, an upcoming new house in q1 2014 as well as my tax filing season which is expected to end in nov 2013. May not have much time to prepare either
As I mentioned inmy post I think the most important thing to do when you fail is evaluate why you failed. this will likely be a mix of not studying enough and your study not being effective enough.
Once you’ve looked at ways to improve the effectiveness of your study, you need to think whether that will be enough, probably not, and then whether you can dideicate more time to the exam. If you can’t probably best to let it go, this does not necessariyl mean quit forever, look at all the previous posts of people how’ve had years out, but bear in mind the longer you’re away from this the more you’re going to have to work to get back into it.
Whatever you choose to do commit to and do it and good luck.
Wow reading some of these journeys is unbelievable
Here is mine:
June 2011 - passed level 1
June 2012 - had baby in march - passed level 2 in june
June 2013 - wife pregnant…passed level 3…if i failed that means next year id have another newborn and a toddler to study over…
All of this while working a full time job on the weekdays and a side job every weekend…
Trust me, if i can find the time to study, so can you guys. And I think I can speak for everyone that passed level 3 that there is no better feeling in the world than getting that level 3 congratulations email.
