I just took level 1 for the first time and I plan to continue no matter what news I get tomorrow morning. If I fail, I have a great foundation of knowledge to build on so 3 more months of studying should be plenty. If I passed, then I plan to give a bunch of money to charity to make up for all the good luck that passing score required. Hopefully I’ll have a happy update for y’all tomorrow morning. Good luck to everyone!
LOL, Nana. You have never worked in the back office, have you?
Regardless, my take is, anyone who thinks he/she can make the jump from the BO to the FO via the CFA route is in for a reality check. Be it now, or be it five years from now.
I am not saying back office work is similiar to front office or whether it is easy to jump from BO to FO.
All i am saying is that, working in the back office is probably more related to finance than most other L1 candidate’s jobs especially knowing how many students are there who have ZERO work experience, and the rest are not even working in financial services at all!
Met a guy at my Dec Level I who was on his third try. He mentioned a lot of things about having a bitchy boss who seemed to go out of her way to stop him from attending classes or getting out of work to study.
No joke, the guy who was writing Dec13 exam and was on the next desk , didnt even know that pencil is required to mark the machine readable answersheet. He had all the pens!
Failing an exam once is no big deal. I failed Level 1 and Level 2 once.
When I failed Level 1, I didn’t take the test seriously, because I was still in school and wasn’t really able to focus on both. I took it again a couple years later and aced it.
When I failed Level 2, it was because I only had four months to study (started in late January after L1 results), and had a lot of stuff go on in those four months (moved to a new city, started a new job, bought a house, wife got pregnant, etc.). I took Level 2 the next year and aced it.
I understand that maybe you don’t take the test seriously the first time. Maybe life gets in the way. Maybe you get sick or something.
But if you fail twice, then you really need to re-examine your life and priorities. What is getting in your way of passing? And what are you going to do about it? Why would the third (or fourth or fifth) time be any different?
Scenario 3, I just found out I passed (still super elated!) but now my plans are to take the test in June. I currently work in PE for oil and gas industry and luckily because I’m still considered entry level, I haven’t been given an overloaded schedule so its likely that I will have enough time between now and June to take it. As for as prepping do the Schweser/Elan/etc course videos help alot in prepping? So far I’ve been using Schweser notes and Qbank for level 1, but I know level 2 is something else entirely. Thanks in advance!
I have passed L1 successfully, I would like to continue L2 but it seems that being already an experienced quantitative analyst, not many people are willing to hire somebody of my profile to do equity analysis.
Seems like most of recruiters and employers prefer to hire young blood rather than hiring people with experience that is not directly relevant.
I am pretty surprised they let you register a week before the exam. I guess there’s no reason not to since that’d be the easiest money they’ll ever make.
I think a lot of people keep taking this test because of peer pressure and also because their companies pay for it. If you’re paying for it out of your own pocket and taking 2+ attempts at each level, you probably won’t stick with it too long.
@Phallacy - see the thread “Advice for those who passed today”.
Short story–yes, it’s doable to pass L1 in December then pass L2 in June. But it’s hard. You better have no “surprises” in your life, and you better keep your nose to the grindstone.
Read your thread Greenman, good advice for sure. Fortunately, the circumstances you were faced with at the time, I don’t think I will have the same obstacles. My schedule is pretty open and my employer is aware of my current status in the CFA curriculum, so I’m not being inundated with work. Personal situation is also stable no surprises in the horizon. Definitely taking my study habits up many notches though as I know how people view the CFA level 1 vs level 2.
I am half of S2 and S3. I have a job in a commercial bank and sometimes I have opportunities to work with our investment department’s people. I have been reading level 2 materials but I find that being a 7am-8pm-er at work will wear me out if I sit for level 2 this June :(. So I leave it until next year…
Anyway, thanks Nana for your encouragement and valuable advice. I killed level 1 exam :).