CAIA for '07 Grad

I am am '07 grad so I have little work experience and am really looking to beef up my resume. Even though the CAIA is relatively unknown I feel it will give me an edge. I am unemployed so I have alot of time to kill and given the current job market I feel I need to do something productive. I feel I have nothing to lose going for the CAIA. Worst case scenario I lose time and money. I can live with that. Any thoughts?

If you have money spare then why not, but CFA might be more relevant.

Simon, If you are unemployed you will have plenty of time to write both the CAIA level 1 and the CFA level 1. Go for it!

If you are trying to get into a fund of funds, pension and endowment fund or plan to do alts research it is a very relevant designation. It is very well known in the major financial centers. Getting into the Alts side will be much harder than equities though.

Regarding the CFA I personally feel it’s to difficult to do at this point. I’m pretty new to the field and the idea of spending 400 hours on CFA level 1 and then failing would be pretty brutal. I’m pretty confident I can pass the CAIA and I have more of an interest in the material. Honestly, my resume is pretty bare with only one year of relevant experience, and I didn’t major in finance so I’m hoping the CAIA will help me out!

If you spend 400 hours studying for CFA level 1, you WILL pass. I really think you are overestimating the difficulty of CFA lvl 1.

Simon- I am in a similar situation. How have things gone for you?