Hi, I am taking Level 2 this June. I am not working at the moment because I have a small child. I was wondering if it was possible to take Level 3 as well without relevant job experience. Is it possible to understand the material without having practical experience? Would appreciate your thoughts. Many thanks
Same here. I am taking Level III, this June. I have no relevant work experience. First two levels were my first encounter with finance. Managed to pass at first try (though with considerable effort and time). In the light of the cirriculum alone (exam is another story), LIII seems more challenging for me. Practioners might have an advantage. Still, I am hopeful. Afterall, I have more time to prepare then I had for LI and LII.
just bite the bullet and take level 3!
This posting comes around regularly. Many people without experience have conquered the CFA exams, including myself. I have an interview tomorrow, I’m keeping my fingers crossed. The local CFA chapter allowed me to become an affiliate member without experience even though their website says I need a years experience.
JonnyDee: I am also in the same boat having passed all the three levels. What kind of job are you interviewing for? And does it help to join local CFA society as an affiliate member (in the form of getting job leads)?
The interview was for an analyst position. As a candidate I had been getting emails from the local society telling me about their monthly luncheon. In November the CFAI sent the local chapter an updated list and because I wasn’t a candidate or an affiliate member I wasn’t included on the list. As an affiliate member I get the member discount to the luncheons at the expense of paying the CFAI membership dues. Fair trade off, probably not. I’ve found the CFA society luncheons to be a great place to network. I’ve made several contacts through them.
JonnyDee and swp2cfa - Get a room. Or more to the point, don’t thread-hijack. Start your own topic so that people who open this thread based on its title/subject don’t have to scroll thru all of the off topic chatter you generate. It’s considered very rude. aniri - if you get by L2 which is very tough (lots of formulas, etc) L3 is cake. yes, there is a lot of conceptual material, but very little is technical (more like laundry lists of processes and rules, with some analyses based on fairly simple calcs if you know the concepts.)
Super I Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > JonnyDee and swp2cfa - > > aniri - > > if you get by L2 which is very tough (lots of > formulas, etc) L3 is cake. yes, there is a lot > of conceptual material, but very little is > technical (more like laundry lists of processes > and rules, with some analyses based on fairly > simple calcs if you know the concepts.) Demn, i was hoping for some heavy math stuff 
comp_sci_kid Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Super I Wrote: > -------------------------------------------------- > ----- > > JonnyDee and swp2cfa - > > > > aniri - > > > > if you get by L2 which is very tough (lots of > > formulas, etc) L3 is cake. yes, there is a > lot > > of conceptual material, but very little is > > technical (more like laundry lists of > processes > > and rules, with some analyses based on fairly > > simple calcs if you know the concepts.) > > > Demn, i was hoping for some heavy math stuff arf arf LIII redefines the notion of “fluff” welcome and good luck
Super I Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > JonnyDee and swp2cfa - > > Get a room. Or more to the point, don’t > thread-hijack. Start your own topic so that > people who open this thread based on its > title/subject don’t have to scroll thru all of > the off topic chatter you generate. It’s > considered very rude. > > aniri - > > if you get by L2 which is very tough (lots of > formulas, etc) L3 is cake. yes, there is a lot > of conceptual material, but very little is > technical (more like laundry lists of processes > and rules, with some analyses based on fairly > simple calcs if you know the concepts.) Can you elaborate on why L II is harder than L III? Is it just that L II is heavy math?
Super I Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > JonnyDee and swp2cfa - > > Get a room. Or more to the point, don’t > thread-hijack. Start your own topic so that > people who open this thread based on its > title/subject don’t have to scroll thru all of > the off topic chatter you generate. It’s > considered very rude. > > aniri - > > if you get by L2 which is very tough (lots of > formulas, etc) L3 is cake. yes, there is a lot > of conceptual material, but very little is > technical (more like laundry lists of processes > and rules, with some analyses based on fairly > simple calcs if you know the concepts.) I have to disagree that L2 was harder than L3. I found L3 the toughest.
I too disagree about L2 being harder than L3. Things change and an exam that was generally accepted as ‘easy’ one year may not be so the following year – just look at the drastic drop in L3 pass rates from last to this year. Indeed there are *other* factors involved, but it is silly to assume any level will be “easy” just because a lot of people have thought it to be in the past. Do not study less based on something you read on this forum.
El-3 Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Do not study less based on something > you read on this forum. personally i’d rather study 50% more than i had to, pass and be done with this, rather than take the chance of having to do this one more year.
aniri Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Hi, I am taking Level 2 this June. I am not > working at the moment because I have a small > child. I was wondering if it was possible to take > Level 3 as well without relevant job experience. > Is it possible to understand the material without > having practical experience? > Would appreciate your thoughts. > > Many thanks I am taking Level III this June. I have very little relevant work expeience. I’m not working at the moment - I just received my work permit. Frankly, I found level II to be a lot more difficult than level I. Just beginning to study for Level III. I’m sure relevant experience would help but you can still do it!! Keep the faith and put in your best!
What is experience? We start life with no experience, but still manage to live, some of us pretty well. Anyway, stop being total w_nkers. If you passed so far, good. Why the doubt. Just take the exams and learn as you go. In the end this is all experience…I think. Maybe? Is it? As for L3, I’m having a tougher time with this exam. Tough to know if you know anything. Sort of an epistemological crisis.
88fiveo, I strongly agree with what you reckon but also upset more or less by reality. Taking my personal experinces, after passed level 2 exam I started to seek job swithcing to get financial experinces. Sadly here in Australia, the CFA certificate is not well recognized at all. And even local society asks for at least 12 months ‘financial industry experince’ in order to apply the affliate membership. Right after graduate I invested my time on getting the chart but now whenever I walk into the interview room, I have to prepare full list of CFAI information for the interviewers to understand why I am spending time and money on this rather than some sort of local broker licences. So I guess the case is of course you could and you should working on passing the exams regardless with experinces or not, since down to the end, it’s a worthwhile thing to develop your skill and sharpen your view if you are interested in this business. But in reality, or maybe only to me, please don’t over expect that participation in CFA exam can bring any advantages to get the foot into the door.