To all the charterholders & candidates who are applying, applied, and went to b-school. From ur personal experiemce how has the CFA process help or hinder your admission process?
Chances are, when you tell adcoms and alumni that you are a CFA charter holder, they will ask. “What is the CFA?” Even if they have heard of it, they have no clue what it really is. And those that know what it is will likely be I-Bankers and Traders who don’t value it. At most schools, maybe 5-10% of grads go into AM, ER or investment consulting. So 90-95% go into fields that don’t give a $h1t about the CFA. If you explain it properly in your essays and interviews, it will help. The sad reality is this: For B-School purposes, we would have been better off doing 50 hours at a charity than 750 hours studying our life’s work. I guess Columbia and NYU would understand & value it, but they are the exception.
Why would columbia/nyu understand the cfa? Lots of alumni go to AM?
BiPolarBoyBoston. This topic has already been discussed. It may be a good idea to use the search function. As for why CBS / NYU, if it doesn’t jump off the page then there may be larger issues at hand.
i wouldnt hurt your chances
ValueAddict Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > BiPolarBoyBoston. This topic has already been > discussed. It may be a good idea to use the > search function. > > As for why CBS / NYU, if it doesn’t jump off the > page then there may be larger issues at hand. amen to that brother
Excuse me, aside from being bipolar I’m also a BOM. BOMs are not expected to know, they are just expected to be.
BiPolarBoyBoston Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Why would columbia/nyu understand the cfa? Lots of > alumni go to AM? Columbia: Former Columbia prof Ben Graham initially visualized the CFA. I’ve doing some Columbia research. They have a student CFA club for candidates or charterholders. NYU: I was looking at the NYU student investment club resumes. Most of those kids were candidates or charterholders. And yes, both schools put a lot of students into AM and finance in general. NYU had a far greater percetage of students going into finance than most of the top schools.
very helpful. If i am in the position of hiring one day I will make sure to never hire a columbia/nyu mba
BiPolarBoyBoston Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > very helpful. If i am in the position of hiring > one day I will make sure to never hire a > columbia/nyu mba You lost me there. Why?
BiPolarBoyBoston Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > very helpful. If i am in the position of hiring > one day I will make sure to never hire a > columbia/nyu mba Yea, guess what, you won’t be doing that anytime soon.
From what I heard, CFA means almost nothing since most admin won’t have a clue what it is. It is sad but deal with it. Just don’t stab your interviewer when he/she asks you “what is Certified Financial Advisor and why do you need it?” You could get lucky and have an interviewer who happens to appreciate CFA, but don’t count on it.
BOMs help out other BOMs out
I am assuming your reference to BOM means Back Office. Try not to make the assumption that others may have made with you. No sense judging a book by its cover. You are no better than those who have judged you in the past. A lot of AF’ers have started in back office / middle office roles and successfully transitioned into a front office role. One caveat here, I personally don’t subscribe to this master / slave hierarchy. A jobs and job. No one forces you to accept a job, nor are you bound to continue your employment. Yes, I realize the economy is terrible - my comments are more geared towards the long-term. You can only help yourself. And for the big if’s in the future… if you happen to be in a position to hire try to seek out candidates for what they are truly worth instead of how they appear on paper. If a candidate happens to have a BO background, and is qualified, passionate, and a good fit for the job - then by all means. If none of those conditions are met, you are shooting yourself in the foot. By the same token, there are many unskilled MBA graduates - so question the breadth and depth of their background, knowledge, and experience. So the guy at “NYU / CBS” that you dislike, may be a BO guy who pulled himself up and took what was his. I advise you to do the same. Seize your future. Otherwise quit whining and playing the game of the victim. If you want anything bad enough, it will happen.
^ You preach it, brother
dang relax i was just joking, i wanted to rattle people’s feathers. But i all honestly and holding everything else equal I would want to hire somebody HUNGRY for success that has the mental and technical abilities to perform.
BiPolarBoyBoston Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > dang relax i was just joking, i wanted to rattle > people’s feathers. > > But i all honestly and holding everything else > equal I would want to hire somebody HUNGRY for > success that has the mental and technical > abilities to perform. Holding all else equal, I would like to hire somebody that was born with a silver spoon, runs in the right circles and can bring higher level connections to the table. They cawork from home as long as they keep bringing in business. Just saying…
Top tier programs should recognize the CFA and the effort that it requires. It should send a message that you’re able to handle the academic rigors of a higher level and that you’re dedicated to this profession. If you want to concentrate in finance and the school doesn’t see the CFA as a plus (either the admissions office or your peer interviewers, at least somebody), then you shouldn’t be applying to that school. Period. I say this from personal experience, I’m currently attending a top 5 program in Chicago part time.
ChicagoPMA Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Top tier programs should recognize the CFA and the > effort that it requires. It should send a message > that you’re able to handle the academic rigors of > a higher level and that you’re dedicated to this > profession. If you want to concentrate in finance > and the school doesn’t see the CFA as a plus > (either the admissions office or your peer > interviewers, at least somebody), then you > shouldn’t be applying to that school. Period. > > I say this from personal experience, I’m currently > attending a top 5 program in Chicago part time. Could you talk more about your application experience? Are you a charterholder or a candidate? I am applying for the Booth PT program this year
I just completed Level 3, and I was a Level 2 candidate at the time of my application. I was in BO at the time, so I mentioned the CFA in both my interviews and essays as a discerning factor to show that I was dedicated to making the transition into actual asset management. Particularly for the part time program, I it’s notable that you’re ready to handle the additional work/education balance. I would say that you shouldn’t use the CFA as the centerpiece of your “sell,” but use it as another reason why an MBA is right for you. You’re prepared, you’re dedicated, you know how much work it takes, and you have and will put forth the effort.