Career Switch

Hi all, I am really p***ed off from my job and want to switch to a position which is more aligned to my skills and aspirations. Following are the details about my background. Academic: -B.Tech in Aerospace Engineering (June 2007) from one of the top Engineering Institutes in India. -CFA, Levl 1 - December 2007. -Appeared for Level 2 in June 2008. Professional -Business Analyst for a KPO based in India. Currently, I am involved in a project which requires supporting the technical ventures (Trading and Licensing Group, which focuses on Patent Acquisition and technology licensing) team of a major conglomerate firm in the US. However, the work involves research for technologies with negligible to nill focus on finance. It involves conducting research and preparing preliminary models for market forecast and licensing reevnue forecasts. Prior to this (may be last year) I was involved in three to four projects around insurance and islamic finance. -My performance here is good, I got a award for the first six months. The problem is that the work is more like a back office support and is very much dependent on the client and his requests, doen not involve much of my thoughts and thinking, also, it does not require much of the studies I did for CFA. Following the level 2 exam and after studying so much for it, I am not able to concentrate on my work and the feeling that my job is not doing a justification to my skills and knowledge (from CFA studies) is empowering my zeal towards work. However, I am a bit skeptical about applying now, as I want to wait for Level 2 results scheduled in August (long time) and also to wait for any recognition (in terms of salary or promotions) from the company (as currently evaluations are going on in my organization). The very reason I am posting my problem is that somehow my frustation has reached its limits, it has been enhanced by the fact (according to some of the posts in this regard) that its difficult to switch to a front office or a better job even after CFA. Please suggest some solutions to the problem. Also, please share your experiences in this regard. In addition to that please provide some insights about the requirements for a decent financial career (in terms of certifications, I was just researching about Finra exams and CAIA, however, I beleive its better to first concentrate on CFA, please let me know if its appropriate to take some short-term certifications, prior to level 2 results which can enhance my resume). Also, please share your e-mail address so that I can forward my resume for some feedback. May be am demanding a lot and may be this post will be just ignored. In hope of some good response. Thanks in advance.

gauravku Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > -B.Tech in Aerospace Engineering (June 2007) from > one of the top Engineering Institutes in India. IIT? > > The problem is that the work is more like a back > office support and is very much dependent on the > client and his requests, doen not involve much of > my thoughts and thinking, also, it does not > require much of the studies I did for CFA. same here > However, I am a bit skeptical about applying now, > as I want to wait for Level 2 results scheduled in > August (long time) and also to wait for any > recognition (in terms of salary or promotions) > from the company (as currently evaluations are > going on in my organization). Go ahead and apply, don’t wait.

@Kabhi -IIT? - Yes (you?, which batch?) Thanks for the suggestion. I have posted my resume (after level 1) on various portals (efinancial careers, robert walters etc.), but am a bit inactive for last 4 months, due to level 2 preparation. Hope, should make my resume active again. Which places are you trying? Any good websites? I already have information about some of the Indian recruiters, efinancialcareers, perecruit, VC jobs, robert walters (hong kong and singapore), but the problem is that they all seek good work experience in relevant fields (say PE) and this is a real paradox…they want experienced people and from where they think the non-experienced people to gain experience. Thanks

gauravku Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > @Kabhi -IIT? - Yes (you?, which batch?) > > Thanks for the suggestion. I have posted my resume > (after level 1) on various portals (efinancial > careers, robert walters etc.), but am a bit > inactive for last 4 months, due to level 2 > preparation. Hope, should make my resume active > again. > > Which places are you trying? > Any good websites? > I already have information about some of the > Indian recruiters, efinancialcareers, perecruit, > VC jobs, robert walters (hong kong and singapore), > but the problem is that they all seek good work > experience in relevant fields (say PE) and this is > a real paradox…they want experienced people > and from where they think the non-experienced > people to gain experience. > > Thanks Are you in Singapore or India? A simple answer to your problem would be to use your contacts. SG consultant don’t give lot of importance to (or don’ know about) IITs. For them work ex is the most imp. thing. So if you want to get a job in fin company then you will have to use your contacts.

Am currently in India. However, I have no restains on travelling and relocation. I agree with you that one needs contacts for getting into the industry, and unfortunately I don’t have much of them. I am in a real need of contacts, as the recruitment firms are not working well for me, even posting the resume on company websites doensn’t help, they don’t initiate correspondence. This is the reason why I have become a bit dormant and am waiting for L2 results (however, the chances of passing are 50:50). I tried to develop contacts via linkedin, but that has also not flaired well. Hope to build some good contacts here. Please help.

This is a huge switch from planes to finance. Many US and European banks have started their offices in India so you should be OK. Good luck

I’m from an engineering background, right now in consulting at a top 10 firm. I’m looking for a switch too, sometime early next year. Hopefully L2 results will be favorable. I’m in a fix whether to go for an MBA which means working for another 2-3 years whilst jumping to finance or going for a Phd. Crazy as it may sound, studying for these exams has made me consider the prospect of a Phd in finance…!! On the job front, I’ve had a couple of interviews right down to the wire, eventually getting pipped because of lack of work ex. And i got to that level using a few contacts. I hope to now start applying again, and re live the whole process… So, I’m really at a loss, they say that all the i banks are up and running in India. But I don’t see them recruiting undergraduates…They seem to take the safer route and hire the IIM folks etc…which makes me grimace in pain for not taking CAT !!

The only surety you can get from the standpoint of switching is to go in for an MBA.MBA plus CFA will surely make you realise your dream job but I must be frank with you here CFA alone will make it very tough.

I am not sure I would agree. I think if you are already in IB. Even if you’re in technology department, you should be able to transfer with CFA. I have seen a few examples in my firm already. Of course, if you’re outside, it would be tough. So the first thing is probably to find a technology job in IB and transfer internally. Even if you want to find a finance job outside your (IB), it wouldn’t be hard. I’ve seen examples like that too.

If a great job comes along then you should apply. However, I think passing Level II would be a nice boost on your resume so I don’t think it’s a bad idea to hold off for 2 months until the results come back. In the meantime, get a book to help you work on interview skills, get a book or program that helps your financial modeling in excel, etc. Spend the next two months working on some skills that make you a better candidate, and when you find out you passed then it’ll be easier to get the job.

> -CFA, Levl 1 - December 2007. > -Appeared for Level 2 in June 2008. > You should write this in one line that says “CFA Level 2 Candidate”

i want to become a professor. i give it 10, maybe 15, years before i make the leap.

Thanks a lot for the suggestions. @mike - sorry for that, I did think about mentioning the CFA candidate status in that fashion, however, thought that writing a factual statement in that fashion should not make much of the voilation. @SanFranMatt - Thanks a lot for the advice. I was also thinking of doing the same, I did had a interview with a equity research firm (UK focus) but was not able to convert as they were looking for sector knowledge and since my current job doesn’t involve any sector focus, so I was not able to do well with that. @chaucy - Currently am not working in IB, and its difficult for me to switch to the technology department as my work experience (analyst in business research) and my btech qualification (Aerospace) are not in agreement with that profile. @addotwumk - I do have an intention to do MBA but 2, 3 years down the line as I want to go to one of the top B-shcools and currently am not having that much work ex. or resources to support my application to those schools. @cfaboston - I totally agree with you that its a huge switch. The reason for me going for a bachelors’ in engineering was that I (and my parents) dint’t had any clues about financial studies and at that time I was only aware of enginnering as a good career option. So, I appeared for the engineering entrance exam and got into IIT. Initially (in my bachelors program), I wanted to go for higher studies to one of the top global technical institutes, as a result started doing research in aerodynamics, I even have two international journal publications (under review) and one conference proceeding (ASME), but as I approached my final semester, I realized that not much of my research were of practical relevance and I had been working so hard for something which is not going to be used in aircrafts but which might went into one of the theoritical books, also, the returns were not that great and the work was very static and monotonous. I appeared for GRE, but finally I quit technical studies and took a job with my current firm as a analyst. In my final semester I came to know about CFA (also we had a number of workshops in our institute for derivatives) and started preparing for it, I started developing interest and got myself enrolled for level 1 (december 2007), also, the rewards for CFA charterholders made me more inclined towards this career. This is a long post again, sorry for that :-). Thanks a lot once again for your comments and suggestions.

you wouldnt be interested in stuff companies like fractalanlytics.com do?. founded by your alumni. . also, shouldnt you be working your alumni network?. try Helios Capital Management Singapore. many iitb guys working on derivatives down there. btw, if you do join it,forget CFAI style ethics -its run by the notorious sameer arora. and ,no i didnt go to an iit.

@Dsylexic - Thanks a lot for the information on two companies. I did try my alumni network on linkedin, but not with full devotion (may be due to level 2), however, the response was not very good, may be because they must be occupied with their work and because there are so many IITians looking out for opportunities. I believe that in this case supply of skilled force (in field of finance) has surpassed demand in a big way. Also, I am currently working in a KPO firm founded by one of IIT alumni. I shall research more around such companies. Thanks a lot once again.

I like the ‘appeared for June 2008 level 2 exam’ comment. That’s exactly how I feel about that exam.

why on earth do people think cfa is a better career track than high tech or engineering?! do you know how boring and low brow financial analysis is?!

Do you know how boring high tech or engineering can be? :slight_smile:

In that case you could consider becoming a professional sky diver