I failed level 3, But I don’t see the point in continueing. Where are the great paying CFA jobs. I type CFA on monster.com and get 16 jobs. I type in CPA and get 25 pages. I am being to think this whole thing was a waste of time. I did it for the big pay day, but where is it. I am a Vice president in Securities operations, but cannot even land an interview for an enrty level investment analyst position. I have over 10 years experience in the investment industry. Not to mention the pay cut I would have to take at least 50k. I need to stop being so stubborn and just let this thing go.
You sound just like your name, sour. When the good times come around and promotion is near, you’d wish you had finished off the CFA. Only then, you’d have to bust your arse twice as hard as age is catching up to you. 10 yrs in investment industry and such myopic vision. Because of investment professionals like you, the market needs a correction every other day.
I make over 150k a year and i don’t work in New York and this was without the CFA. It was all due to hard work. I did the CFA to get into the front office. PhBoom you sound like the typical young guy that thinks the CFA will change your life. Good luck.
i see both sides of the argument… you’re already at L3 and it might be advantageous to your current postion i would think… and i think front office/back office is blurring to a point… i do agree that there will be alot fewer $1 million+ positions (chose it arbitrarily) in the future.
I have no problem with what you do. Just think on this. CFA is nothing or all. If you have already invested so much time and effort then decide to quit, your salvage value from this experience is minuscule, especially given that your original motive was for the money, not knowledge. Investment blunder? I think so. Maybe the fail is making you sour right now. Come back in 6 months, you might reevaluate.
Quitters never win.
Mcleod81, What are you talking about? So I should continue and maybe get an 80k a year job when I am done. or should I just put in the extra time at work and maybe bump my pay to 200k by next year. I think the later is a better choice. I would doubt there are many out there that even make 100k that are not in New York. And what with the personal attacks. Did you pass? If so get a life and get the F@ckoff this forum
Another thing boys and girls. A representive from the CFA institute was in our office last week. He was doing a pretty hard sell on why we should hire CFA charter holders. It sounded a little desperate to me. That was one of the reasons I starting rethink this whole thing. He requested a meeting with all the managers and only 2 of use showed up, the rest could careless. The only 2 to show up were already in the program. Let me mention that I work for one of the largest financial institutions in the world.
lemon, i don’t know why you’re in attack mode… if you were starting at zero, i’d say don’t do it. but it seems like you’re on the cusp of level 3… and with your experience, aren’t there more interesting things you can do with your experience and coming CFA than investment banking or research assistant/associate (not totally sure how it works) is making $100K outside NYC (and surrounding area) quite rare? i would certain think so if you add boston/chicago/SF…
lemonlou1 Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Mcleod81, What are you talking about? So I should > continue and maybe get an 80k a year job when I am > done. or should I just put in the extra time at > work and maybe bump my pay to 200k by next year. I > think the later is a better choice. I would doubt > there are many out there that even make 100k that > are not in New York. And what with the personal > attacks. Did you pass? If so get a life and get > the F@ckoff this forum Sounds to me like you are quite bitter and taking this out on the forum. If you want to be in what you consider the “front office” and it’s worth the pay cut…then obvious choice. No one here knows your situation and what you are willing to trade for what you view as your idea position. If its all about the $$$, then by all means, go do something else. Don’t berate the forum because you think the CFA is now worthless. The CFA is still viewed as a (the?) top designation in the industry. No one will (or should) be spending time on it if they do not see the benefits.
If you are already making 150k, then you can probably afford the $600 registration fee without any problems. Assuming that you learned something on your first attempt at L3, why not just do 1-2 months of review and give it another shot next year? What’s the worst that can happen? It’s not like having the charter will detract from your career opportunities. Surely, you would at least be able to “land an interview for an enrty level investment analyst position” if you had the charter. But if the designation means nothing to you whatsoever, and you are only in it for the $$$ then why bother in the first place? Personally, if I had failed at any point, I would have taken it upon myself to pass no matter what. If nothing else, for personal satisfaction and so that the past two years weren’t a complete waste of time.
CPA… If you searched for pizza delivery courier aprt-time, you would have gotten get 100 pages:)
lemonlou1 Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Let me mention that I > work for one of the largest financial institutions > in the world. lemon - Lehman?:)))
no, the biggest financial institutions in the world are all chinese banks. The US/UK/European “banks” are either govt departments or sheltered worshops propped up by tax-payer subsidies, handouts or guarantees so “Ni hau” to the lemon…
lemonlou1 is obviously very bitter. Working in the back office is no fun and I don’t blame you for hating your career path. Your biggest problem isn’t your attitude or not passing level III. Your problem is spending the last 10 years in a back office role. Your right, the CFA isn’t an automatic ticket out of the back office. Since you make so much money (outside NYC no less) why not focus on your job and forget the CFA? $150K or whatever you make is plenty.
i agree. zai jian to you. the opportunities will re-emerge. the fact that you took the cfa for money shows me that you should stop this second. do you really want to do something for the rest of your life just for money. should you be spending half your days doing something you enjoy, rather then making money so you can sleep in a nice house? this is coming from a 23 yo who i think has a greater understanding of life than yourself. please get out of my program if you’re in it for money. stick to an top-tier mba. btw. you could be a stripper/prostitute and make over 150k a year. if you only work for money, i’d consider moving into that field.
btw. you could be a stripper/prostitute and make over 150k a year. if you only work for money, i’d consider moving into that field. - Not everybody can make money in that profession. You need “required skills” which OP lacks.
lemon. i am a stripper. it’s not that great. money is good but i’m always getting groped and propositioned for sex. take some time off to regroup. you will pass it next year. and when you pass it, i think you will be very glad you did. even if it doesn’t mean an instant 7 figure job. i totally understand how you’re feeling and i think some cooling off will help a ton in making your decision. good luck.
cfasf1 Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > lemon. > > i am a stripper. it’s not that great. money is > good but i’m always getting groped and > propositioned for sex. take some time off to > regroup. you will pass it next year. and when you > pass it, i think you will be very glad you did. > even if it doesn’t mean an instant 7 figure job. i > totally understand how you’re feeling and i think > some cooling off will help a ton in making your > decision. good luck. Does your card say - Candy Rose, CFA?
candi with an i.