bio MS+CFA, any chance on breaking in the field?

Hello folks, I am in the biology research and am thinking about switching to finance related jobs. The main reason I want to switch is I dont see a future continuing bio research with a masters degree (PhD is not an option here, lack of passion and interests for basic research), and am only making 40K:-( the idea of finance came to me b/c I think I am ok with math (quantitative 800, analytical 790 for GRE back in year 2000) and I think (hope) switching to finance is practical: CFA is cheaper and I can maintain my day time job. I am posting here to get some insights from insiders: what are the chances for me on landing an analyst job after I pass CFA level II or III with my background? I am not talking about jobs making big money, anything better than my current is acceptable: of course the higher the better, will work hard to earn it, but I think the biggest challenge is to break in the field at this point. Thank you all very much! p.s I am a green card holder from China. Had a BS in bio from top university in China and MS in bio from top 30 US university, and am working as a research associate at top university in US.

i am replying to my post b/c it is sinking fast… any comment on my question is greatly appreciated!

you have a slim chance of breaking into the industry after passing level II and an even better chance after passing level III, but you still have to supplement this with a real-life understanding of markets and investing. still, you need to leverage your alumni network as much as you can, because there are many people with a science background trying to get into the business too. just to give you some perspective, at the sell-side investment bank that i used to work at, we were recently looking for another associate for the biotech research team. we were interviewing for one position and got over 50 applications from people with MD’s or PhD’s…and some of whom also already had experience in finance! just be resourceful, persistent, and do whatever you can to get in. don’t be discouraged by the competition…just do what you need to do and keep your fingers crossed. your chances right now are quite slim as there are many people with very similar backgrounds, but just don’t be discouraged

Too bad its been more than 5 years since you wrote your GRE. Alot of business schools let you use it now instead of a GMAT and you scored great!

numi, thanks and ur info is very helpful! i understand very well that many life science MS, PhDs are on the same boat as me: there are just too many of us and the job market (with a decent pay e.g. faculty and Sr. scientist ) is quite small. We have to work really hard to earn a better living. However I am optimistic at this point because I feel ready to fight for what I want. i gave birth to my daughter last year and my husband is very supportive about me focusing on my career for the years coming. I just need to find that stepping stone. As you said, I need to gain a real life understanding of market and investing, any action plans I can take on this? From a job? but even entry level jobs are requiring experience. or any other source to gain this? to me the CFA study part is not that difficult comparing to this, hehe. Thanks again!

congratulations on the birth of your daughter. sounds like you have the right family situation to support you on your search. for starters, you might consider reading financial publications daily – i can recommend new york times, wall street journal, or financial times. up to you which you like best, but i personally prefer wsj. also, at home, maybe watch cnbc just to get up to speed on some of the broader issues about the economy and markets. CFA is more theoretical and that’s important, but you also need to know what’s going on in the world so stay on top of the news so the best suggestions i can give you are (1) follow the news and (2) contact your alumni network. very tough to get a job otherwise. always helps to know the right people. at a minimum they can give you some tips…at best, they can be the ones to hook you up with a job. best of luck

hi storko, if the change of careers only ask for score, score, score, things will be much easier for me:-) going to B-school is not on my schedule since i have no money (as the first immigration, we just paid off our school loans) and as i said in the above post, we have a kid to raise. My questions now boiled down to one: where do I get the experience?

Great advice numi! Very practical!! and am on my way!

storko Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Too bad its been more than 5 years since you wrote > your GRE. > Alot of business schools let you use it now > instead of a GMAT and you scored great! I think thats total BS in my opinion. GMAT quant is much harder than that of the GRE. GMAT is a much better fit for biz schools. I just don’t like how the GRE is cutting into the market for MBA’s… owell

how are your business school apps going ?

CFABLACKBELT Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > storko Wrote: > -------------------------------------------------- > ----- > > Too bad its been more than 5 years since you > wrote > > your GRE. > > Alot of business schools let you use it now > > instead of a GMAT and you scored great! > > I think thats total BS in my opinion. GMAT quant > is much harder than that of the GRE. > > GMAT is a much better fit for biz schools. I just > don’t like how the GRE is cutting into the market > for MBA’s… owell I think thats total BS in my opinion. MFE quant is much harder than that of the GMAT. GRE is a much better fit for Finance schools. I just don’t like how the GMAT is cutting into the market for Finance… owell