I was laid off not long ago. It was not surprising as the company has been struggling and I was expecting this to happen. I was happy about this, as juggling work, family and study is not easy (I am a mother of a three year old). Now with a severance package, I can focus on studying for level 3 and still enjoy my time with my child. I have sent out some resumes and have met a few recruiters casually, as I don’t want to seriously look until after the exam. The feedback is not great. According to the recruiters, even though my experience is good , the employers are picky and want the exact match. I guess they could do that because the candidate pool is big. My casual job search turns into a nightmare, as I become more and more frustrated and obsessive. This costs me time which I could have used to study.
Could some of you give me advice? Should I just study and forget about the whole job search thing now? I guess I also need some motivation to keep me going.
January is just about over, so the exam is about 4 months away, which is still a ways to go and shouldn’t be a big stretch to study for since you don’t have a job. If you had 1 month to go, I’d say you can focus on studying. But given 4, if you are worried, then I’d advise just applying for the jobs you really want, and have a decent chance at landing. You should still have sufficient time to study.
But remember, if you do land a good job and have to start work just weeks before L3, there is no question the job has highest priority.
Remember: pass rates for L3 is around 50%
Landing a finance job these days with ~500+ applicants for 1 job. That’s a pass rate of 0.2%
Don’t put off a job search to just study for the CFA. There really is time for both, particularly if you are studying already. If you arent getting any traction by May, then maybe concentrate on studying hard during the final push.
However, if you put off a job search in order to enjoy a little time with your family, that’s not necessarily a bad thing: just make sure that you are doing it as a conscious decision, weighing pros and cons.
Thanks! I remember the time when I was studying for level 2 and was working full time. On top of that I had two hour commute. It was brutal. I didn’t get to play with my kid. I was also very impatient with my kid. Fortunately I have a supportive husband. That’s why I really want to take a break.
It’s great that you have a supportive husband. I got laid off a few months ago too, and after trying vigorously to no avail on the job search, I too am wondering what my priorities should be (short term) as in the next 4 months.
Agree with the other posters i.e search for new job should be your 1st priority as you can always study for the take the exam next year whereas the job won’t wait for you.
Thanks for all your comments. The last thing I want is failing the exam. This damn exam is screwing up my life. If it were not for the exam, I would have started job search way before the layoff, as I was waiting for the inevitable. But on top of everything (work, family, study) I couldn’t handle the additional stress of job search. Now I can’t even think of the possiblity of failing - unbearable! I hope this is the last exam in my life! So Frankz888 is right. For me studying should come first. Besides this is more achievable. If I put the effort, I should see the result. Based on my experience with level 1 and 2, the exam is tough but doable. As for the job search, even if you do everything right (good resume, some networking), you still need a bit of luck. And so many things are out of your control (I could start another thread on that). My husband said to me I should probably spend no more than 2 hours on job search every day, the rest of the time I should be studying, playing with my kid and simply relaxing. Ideally I could forget about it after I submit the resume or application. Worrying about it and being obsessive about it is not getting me anywhere. But it is so hard not to think about it. My daughter told me none of her classmates’moms works. Why should I? Investment industry is more of a boys club. My husband also thought I have the wrong priority. I’d better stop, or I will start rumbling.
Anyway best wishes to all of you. I will just keep going.
There is a alot more to add. Nobody in their right mind thinks that the designation is as or more valuable than relevant experience per se, but when you factor in constraints (likelihood of getting new job,passing test,family commitments,lifestyle and other issues) then the choice is not between what is more valuable but what is attainable in the given context.
It seems quite apparent you have already made up your mind. Word of caution I would echo is that people consistently way way overestimate the impact of passing these test. Then we frequently see people come back to AF and complain how the program did nothing for them
I understand what you’re saying but I still don’t have the same view. It is a really tough job market out there not to mention that the payoffs for passing the exam, in all likelihood, will not translate monetarily in the same way as getting a new job. The fact that the original poster is getting frustrated with lack of success is something we all have to endure. The most successful job seekers are the ones that understand that it could be a long trek, but will be pleasantly surprised if things progress faster than you expect. Obviously the original poster is anchored to the CFA exam being some type of life changer – and for all anyone knows, maybe it is, at least for her – but there’s really no reason not to learn how to manage a job search concurrently with the CFA. I guess the story would be different if she doesn’t need the money right now and can just focus on studying, but otherwise I stand by my view.
Looking for work and studying are not mutuall exclusive
Come on - obviously finding a job is more important. CFA helps but it is not a guarantee that the charterholder gets the job against the non charterholder
As you interview, you may find yourself considering positions for which the CFA may not really help you. Dont let that pull you off your goal. You can always get back onto this track.
In my job search recently, I’ve found that there hasn’t been a big distinction between being an L3 candidate and having the charter. Employers I have interviewed with focused predominantly on my experience. They’ve asked if I planned on getting my charter, which is a yes, and that was good enough for them. Plus, it’s better not to have large gaps in employment history, so I would also say that the job search is more important.
Can’t believe none of you mentioned how OP could evaluate the best outcome.
Possible actions:
Study full-time (12 hr/day): 50% chance of losing your principal i.e. failing L3 (worth $-10,000 in emotional cost); 50% of passing and feeling good about yourself (worth +ve $1000, say) or bad because it doesn’t help you further in career or job search (-$1000). Net NPV -$5000.
Study 2-3 hours, play with kids 2-3 hours, half-time job search: 1/6 less negative NPV of study + very high NPV from playing with kids [*] + half the NPV of jobsearch (0), clearly the winner
Job search full time: 99% chance of rejection (say worth -$10,000) vs 1% chance of succes with an annuity-like lottery payoff = worth $100,000 (easy to get base salary) / 10% discount rate for perpetuity = $1M (what the job is worth over your lifetime) * 1% chance of getting it = $10,000; so net 0 NPV.
[*] The time value of time with kids, while high per hour, declines with their age - as years go by, it’s less important that you play with them as they develop their own interests and friends and life; so using TVM calculations with a negative discount rate, the NPV should be quite high.
