Advice Please

Hey guys, I’ve been reading these posts for quite a while now and I finally decided to join. I had a few questions and I figured this would be the best place to ask. I graduated this year (may) from a competitive university program in the boston area with a degree in Economics and am waiting for the results for the level I cfa exam. Right now my job is in operations and I want to get out of operations asap and perhaps work under an equity analyst/ pm as an associate and then work my way up. If you were in my position, how would you go about your job search etc. Any adivce? Does the CFA help a lot? Would passing level I help a lot? I know you guys have years of valuable experience so your imput would be greatly appreciated.