This is sort of a survey question but I think it benefits everyone around here and is a good discussion so… fire away. I notice a lot of people work towards both the FRM and the CFA. How do you think these designations help? Does it help in landing a job? Promoting from the current job? More recognition within your current company? Does it matter to have both the CFA and the FRM? If you only have the FRM without the CFA, or vice verse, where do employers put the values on? Finally, what kind of jobs are people who take the FRM looking for?
Both the FRM and CFA helped me by going through a structured program to acquire additional skills. No way I’d just voluntarily sit down after work or on the weekends and go through complicated material 10x without the pressure of an upcoming exam. And ultimately it’ll be those skills that will get you a good job, provided that you apply them well.
So is it more about the skills that you acquire, or the designations (on your resume) themselves?
They designations on the resume help of course. They prove to people who are aware of what the programs entail in a split second that you know your stuff. Definitely helps get your foot in the door.
Like Klarsolo mentioned , these designations definitely help to get your foot to the desired jobs and also it gives immense knowledge and understanding about complex instruments , which you may not use it entirely in your job but it helps to relate things better , atleast it has helped me in my equity research job , be it KMV model to value real options or understanding some currency forwards which you may need to know how to value especially for IT companies
they make us hardened fighters. beyond that i don’t know how these designations really help.
okay, let me express like this. all of candidates wish to get a find job, in some famous investment bank, etc. but we cannot make it right now either, we know these certificates cannot guarantee us a job however are there anything else we could do? so get these exams done first and learn and wait there. that’s all we can do.
Is there anyone working in a regulatory environment e.g. SEC, FSA who is either taking or have taken the FRM exam? If so, how useful has it proven or how useful do you think it can prove for individuals working in this area.
It would be very useful for positions at the Fed or at the FSA concerned with capitalization requirements. It is of less direct relevance to SEC positions. Note one of the PRM award winners from last year or the year before was at the FSA.