What's the more challenging part of CFA charter: All 3 exams or 4 years of work experience?

Water Cooler
#1

Completing all 3 levels - or doing 4 years of work experience [which counts towards CFA] - what is harder?

Money aside…would you study for CFA for 3 years, or do 3 years of work experience instead [if they were both optional!]

Also… What is the usual bump up in pay from your first to your second job (% or $ wise)?

#2

“Remember there are no stupid questions, just stupid people.”

#MrGarrison #SouthPark

#3

I don’t understand how you are smart enough to pass L3, but weigh questions like this in your mind. There are stupid questions.

#4

I realize these are or could be perceived as stupid q’s (or I’m stupid). But I’m just curious as I’m new to the workforce (just a couple months in this industry) so I don’t know what it’s like to work for years. I can imagine, for example, that it must be tough to work 10-12 hours at a rigorous place like Goldman Sachs 6 days incl. Saturday for 4 years. Particularly tough if you have to pay 3k/4k NY rents, have children to support etc, student loan to pay off, mortgage etc. You might be working very hard because you know that if your performance dips, that could affect the position. If you’re working at that sort of place, I would think it might well be hard for the worker.

Also - a very smart book learner who can take tests may well find the CFA program levels easier than a job they unexpectedly find hard.

Just curious!

#5

ACE, which is harder - swallowing a live gerbil or painting a realistic replica of “Starry Night Over the Rhone”? I know they are not exactly the same but I wanted to ask. This question weighs in my mind and kept me awake until 3AM yesterday. Tanks.

#6

CFA Exams only take ~900 hours to study for. 48 months work experience takes ~10,000 hours. So by my calculations the work experiences is around 11 times harder.

#7

If a picture paints a thousand words Then why can’t I paint you? The words will never show The you I’ve come to know

for some weird reason i thought of the wrong song, the accurate song is this:

https://genius.com/Don-mclean-vincent-starry-starry-night-lyrics

Starry, starry nightPaint your palette blue and greyLook out on a summer’s day With eyes that know the darkness in my soul Shadows on the hills Sketch the trees and the daffodilsCatch the breeze and the winter chills In colors on the snowy linen land

#8

Who keeps downvoting Nerdy? I think posting those lyrics is harder than swallowing a replica of starry night

#9

I don’t downvote nerdy cause he’s my homie, but often it’s hard for me to differentiate between his thoughtful narrative in response to a topic and his pasted lyrics from some clubby pop song. He manages to blend them seamlessly

#10

I’m curious to know the answer to this also. I’m also a little envious, all of my favorite posters on here all have negative karma, and I’m stuck here positive standing out in the crowd like bird shit on a black shoe.

#11

I usually upvote Nery, so the negative is net of my positive contribution.

#12

sometimes when i look at my karma points it hurts me, but most of the time, i dont really give a fuck. lol. im just dredding the day i get a burn notice from stl, telling my i’ve been blacklisted, banned, blue balled, and that im chopped liver. finito mussolini. arrivederci. ciao. see you later alligator but not a while crocodile!

I’m the one and only, you can’t clone me

Got a lot of haters and a lot of homies, some friends and some phonyBack then hoes didn’t want me, now I’m hot hoes all on me

#13

I think mine starting going negative after I started posting less political related content, since correlation = causation, I’ll make sure to post more, tanks

#14

Work experience: 8,000 hours on AF and AF related research, 1,000 hours taking care of personal stuff, 1,000 hours of actual work. AF is by far the most difficult endeavor on which most of us will ever embark.