Let’s assume for a second that things go well for us all this June (or if you’ve already received the charter) and we finally get that sweet, sweet charter…but lo and behold, still no luck advancing career-wise. What (if anything) would you try to do at that point to make yourself more marketable? I’m kicking around a couple of ideas and would appreciate any feedback of which would pair well with an average MBA degree and the CFA charter.
-try producing research reports indepenently; sell them or give them away if have to, just for the experience
-take CPA exams. Not very appealing to me, but I already fulfilled the education requirements to be eligible to take the exam
-Work on modeling skills, and C++ programming skills (maybe individual coursework, or independent study, not looking to get another degree)
I’ve still got to buckle down for this last month, then looking to put my feet up a bit after June 2nd, but anyone else thinking about what they might try to tackle next if, like I stated, you don’t see improved job prospects after receiving the Charter?
^ I would agree with this. Finance is heavily concentrated among the big hubs… available positions outside these hubs are far less competitive, and you can still get good experience even still within the US.
I don’t know about the stagnant career part. But if everything goes well with CFA, I’ll probably look into FRM next. I wouldn’t mind doing CPA exams on the side, but I highly doubt I would want to do the 2 years of auditing experience.
learn how to take your head out of the books and do some actual learning and thinking…all that stuff you mention is just plain ole geeky study routine which is very easy to do…you want to do equity research, than programming than you want to be an accountant?
it all depends on what you are currently doing ? If you are already in right position and want to grow then CFA will certainly will help… more with the knowledge which come from it.
if you are in wrong place and want to move to right place then you have to do something else too apart from CFA
I believe a fair generalization is that charterholders are rather ambitious people, and that after many receive the charter they will continue looking for ways to improve themselves professionally. Not considering a career change, just curious what forum members believe best compliments having a CFA charter and MBA.
I know many analysts who have both CPA and CFA after their names (although to be fair, most probably got their start in accounting and transitioned), also it’s pretty common to see analyst job listings asking for some familiarity/experience with programming languages such as C++.
In full disclosure, I’m working as an investment officer for a small endowment in a very rural area. Not unhappy career-wise, but I’d like to position myself over next couple of years to compete for better paying job at larger endowment/pension/fund closer to an actual city.
If you have CFA + MBA there’s probably not much to be gained from further study. Having said that it depends why you would undertake further study - is it for personal benefit or to advance your career? If it’s to advance your career there’s not much point, but for personal benefit can be a powerful motivation.
After I finished the CFA I enrolled in a research Masters degree, which I’m hoping to conclude with a PhD. Career-wise it probably offers only marginal benefit, but I’m doing it because I want to, not because I need to. Each to their own.
I would definitely think about mastering a useful language - assuming that you already have all the analytical tools tied up. That and a bit of modelling are always useful.
i dont know what the market culture is like in Asia… but in Europe/S. America EVERYONE speaks english so at the institutional level… the native language has ZERO value