Hypothetical example: You feel that you are not going to be prepared enough to pass the exam in December due to the high workload and stressful working environment. And there is no way to play around it (taking a month-long unpaid vocation, medical leave, etc.) Would anyone leave his (her) current position to fully prepare for the test? Thank you in advance for sharing your thoughts.
If you really want to pass the exam and have a job you don’t like (for various reason) and can find a way to support yourself and expect to land another job afterwards, why not? People do leave perfectly good jobs to pursue other career opportunities all the time.
"Would anyone leave his (her) current position to fully prepare for the test? " No, but I would leave my job b/c I did not like it.
Leaving one’s job to take the LI exam seems like an enormous risk to me. So say it works, and you actually pass. Passing LI likely doesn’t make you substantially more marketable as you seek new employment. Moreover, if you stay in the program and enroll for LII, would you have to quit your next job too? Would your prospective next employer be concerned that if they hire you (and invest in your training) that you’ll walk away in a few months? Maybe you could negotiate some flexibility with your prospective next employer, but I still think the downside from quitting one’s job outweighs the reward of passing LI (which isn’t assured). This of course doesn’t account for one’s financial means or general marketability, which among other things would factor into a decision like this.
funny, because I did just that. this is my last week of work! However, its a little different for me because I’m currently in discount brokerage so theres no real potential or additional benefit in having me stay any longer. I’m really serious about the cfa exam so the cost of leaving is worth it to me. And I have plenty of funds to support myself for several months 
how far along are you in studying?
Personally, I am switching from accounting and would like to get in-depth knowledge of the most subjects, required for Level 1 exam. I am pretty far in my studying but I feel that I need much more time to understand the concepts (I spent 6 hours yesterday just going through the correlation and regression concepts in Quant section).
I would never leave a job just to take the first level of the CFA. Passing level 1 doesn’t help too much…now add the fact that you havnt been working for a few months. Siberian golfer, what exactly are you doing for your job right now? If its that hard and stressful - so much so that you ahve 0 time to study outside of work, it must be somewhat respectable?
dude, I didn’t know they played golf in Siberia…Anyway, on a serious note, I would not do it for level 1 unless you’re absolutely hate what’re doing right now work wise.
yeah, if its a “respectable” job then I would seriously weigh the cost/benefit of leaving. if you decide to leave and you can financially support yourself , i dont see the harm in not working for a few months to prepare for the exam. i think employers would understand and possibly admire your dedication to studies, especially if quitting was due to lack of time. had i registered and started preparing for the exam much sooner, quitting wouldn’t have crossed my mind. And assuming i pass, i’ll register and prep for L2 much sooner so the need for study time wont be an issue next time around.
It is a quite respectable position, BUT I expected to have 40-45 hour weeks and in order to pull all of the responsibilities (especially with the end of the year getting closer) more like 55-60 needed, which eats up the study time considerably. And it has a very weak correlation with finance. So I wanted to move into finance anyway, and it is just a matter of time. And I can get by with not working for a few months.
alright, so the decision is made. good luck and happy studying! where are you btw, if you dont mind me asking? i’m in orange county, ca
If I understand correctly, you are currently working 55-60 hour weeks…this should still leave plenty of time to study if you had started at or before september.
jalmy8, maybe my time management skills and material learning skills are not quite up to par, but I do want to pass this exam in December 2007 no matter what. Maybe I am also taking a long shot by incorporating financial modeling into my studying which does take extra time but allows better understanding of material. Wisdom, I am in Chicago, il
Siberian_Golfer, you seemed pretty well prepared at the Stalla problem-solving workshop last week. You did Ethics, Economics and FSA questions better than most people there. I think you are on track.
You guys are crazy, quit your job to study for level 1, I could understand maybe level 3 but 1. And no, don’t think a potential employee would admire your dedication, they would just say, couldn’t hack it. If I was a hiring manager, I would hire the guy who was able to juggle his work and studies, that shows what they are made off.
If you were a hiring manager, would it matter for you whether a candidate has 1.5 vs 2 years of irrelevant accounting experience? Also I am going to network, volunteer and polish my interviewing skills. And my gut feeling advises me on preferring choosing L1 exam over my job (taking into consideration higher risks of not passing due to working). And my gut has been significantly correct about making choices. AND why the passing rate is just 40% percent??? Some people from this forum took L1 exam two or even three times. If everybody is so smart why the passing rate is so low. I might be crazy but I want to pass.
Dont leave the job. You need to accumulate the required amount of work experience as well so what is the rush? Passing Level 1 is NOT going to land you a job
Well, I’m with Siberian on this one (obviously) but I completely understand your view primus. However, because of the time factor and the willingness to possibly complete L1 in december and then being able to take L2 in june, I feel its worth it to POSSIBLY take both in a years time. I’m 25 and not getting any younger! Plus, my current position (broker for discount firm, 2.5 years) is probably not highly regarded amongst buy side firms anyways so it really makes little difference if future employers see that I’m not working here while studying for the exam. In other words, its a BS job at this point so I’d rather focus on doing well on the exam
wizdom Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > possibly complete L1 in december > and then being able to take L2 in june, Well, if you do leave your job, ensure you enjoy the free time between exams because the overall process of sitting for a December LI exam followed by a June LII exam is exhausting. http://www.analystforum.com/phorums/read.php?12,574738,page=1 Good luck this December.