The fact that I did so poorly in Undergrad was a major motivator for me to obtain the CFA charter.
I tired really hard to do bad in undergrad, but ended up with magna cum laude
That’s pretty awesome. It’s probably because your really smart and know computer science.
It’s funny how little employers care about your grades - I have only been in one or two situations where an employer has requested transcripts (and for junior, entry-level positions).
I can understand getting C’s if you just aren’t built for academics/school. But I cringe when I talk with someone who is clearly bright, but makes the decision to exert marginal effort to just pass classes through university. Just shows a person’s true character.
I was once asked in an interview: What would you rather be, hard working or smart.
You could only choose one. What would be your answer?
A lot of mis-information here.
I’ve actually done hiring before, and GPA will matter. Now obviously it depends on your experience level. For junior people: If it’s under 3.3 - 3.4 you’re done. If you don’t even bother listing it, it’s auto-assumed it sucks, and you’re still done.
For semi-experienced hires (a few years), it’s a red flag if it’s low, and could be used as a reason you get eliminated in a superday or interview semi-finals.
If we’re talking hiring a ~7yr+ experienced person, GPA won’t matter.
The fact is there are a TON of people to choose from these days. So, you really can’t afford any 1 bad stat, because there are just so many people out there that have the package.
The saying used to be, you must have 2 of these 3: good grades, good experience, good interview skills. Now it’s, you need 2 of 3 good, and the 3rd needs to be average at least.
^ And in your experience, people with strong GPAs made better employees?
I was a B student at a good school…o well…a lot of that came from not having a clear idea of what I wanted to do…and decided much later to switch to finance.
I never said that did I? I’m saying that it’s rare for poor GPA candidates to even get a chance.
I definitely see a correlation between academic performance and job performance. Small differences probably don’t matter - like if you have a 3.7 guy vs. a 3.5 guy from the same school. However, if you compare a high grade person from a good school to a middle person from a normal school, there is usually a vast difference in ability to understand concepts, work independently, use common sense, etc.
^ Depends what type of job. Anything to do with analysis, I agree. Anything to do with trading, entrepreneurship, sales, there is no correlation between grades and making $$$. These fields need people that can adapt very quickly when the environment changes.
The question to employers is, does having completed the the CFA program and/or a master’s program with good marks make up for sub-par performance in undergraduate?
No! Nor is it supposed to. Frankly just move on and focus on your next goal rather than worrying about whether something will make up for past failures.
I actually disagree with you. If someone came to me that graduated with honors from an MBA or MSF program as well as obtained the CFA charter, their undergraduate records wouldn’t even be a question.
Simple, I’d choose smart. You can bust your ass working 90 hr weeks, 52 weeks a year, but in the end you’re only as valuable as your results, and if you’re a dumbass your results will be wrong anyway. You know the saying, “work smart not hard”
okay
It depends on the job, but for something difficult, being smart is better. Attitude can change. With the proper motivation, almost any employee can become hardworking. It is up to you as a boss to provide the correct incentives. However, intelligence cannot change. If the person is ungifted, even the best effort might not make them as productive as the gifted person.
However, gifted people usually know that they are smart. Because of this, they tend to react poorly to micromanagement, and are more prone to burn out. So, if the job does not allow a lot of independence, you might be better off with the less gifted person.
Once you have grad school grades, people won’t care about undergrad. This is true
I’d choose hard working. I have yet to encounter anything in finance that I really felt was something I couldn’t teach a monkey. The people I see getting promoted on the fast track are go getters that volunteer take on projects beyond their job description.