I pass level III in June. At the moment, I work in a small company, in the fintech sector. I like the company but I want to change my job because it is not really related to finance and there is no clear progression path. I got some computer skills in my job (Office, SQL) but not much else of usable outside my company. I post here to have two suggests:
1)I pass level III but I still don’t have for yours of experience. What do you think is the best way to let the recruiters know that I pass it but without “cheating”? On linkedin for example, I think it would be really useful to show that I passed level III but I am not sure on what is the most proper way.
2)I am targeting mainly investment jobs. I would like to work on the buy side, my second choice is to be an investment analyst/equity research. What do you think is the best way to find a job, here in Europe? Do you know any headhunter/company that is primarily targeting people with CFA? I don’t have a great CV except CFA so I think for me the easiest would be to find an headhunter/recruiter who can help me with my specific situation.
You can say on LinkedIn or your resume that you passed the Level 3 exam. A lot of people do this and it is acceptable.
As for how you can get a job… it really depends on your specific position. You just have to address your weaknesses as a candidate until you fit the profile of a successful applicant. For instance, most prestigious finance jobs want something like:
Top tier university degree
High levels of language skills and personal presentation
Past experience in a related job
Other things…
You just have to go through this list objectively and fix everything you don’t have. If you don’t have a good university degree, go enroll in a university program. If you don’t have relevant experience, get an internship, and so on… If you cannot accomplish the sub goals, like if you cannot demonstrate that you can be accepted into some MS program, then your chances of career success are also going to be a lot lower. A recruiter cannot change an intrinsically uncompetitive candidate - they will likely just ignore you, rather than help.
There’s no easy way to do it. You just have to show you’re good and improve yourself in an objective way.