I don’t like it when people say they’re a CPA as if it’s a job. What do you do? We’ll I’m a CPA. BFD, asshole.
Looks like you guys are quite obsessed with symbols. I think if they are not someone who is going to evaluate your work potentials, it is not their responsibility to know what CFA really is.
My boss doesn’t know jack $#%& about the CFA Program. However, he is pretty blown away by the work I produce as well as my overall knowledge. I guess that’s all that really matters.
Tmurf, how can your boss not know at all? he is a boss. even my bosses know what they’re and they’re not even in finance.
Maybe I exaggerated a bit. He knows of the designation but, on a relative basis, not a lot about it.
cfastudent Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > maybe you think holding the CFA designation is a > bigger deal than it really is…most people, > including those “at the top” probably couldn’t > give a sh*t. You make yourself look very lame by > being so concerned about how much recognition you > are given for passing the exams…No one at my > firm said two words about it when I finished, > which is fine b/c that is not why I did it in the > first place. Yes, this pretty much sums it up. I have begun to think that I overeacted. It just reflects deeper issues that I have with this guy.
I think when I have my own business someday my card will simply have my name (no , CFA) and phone number on a plain white card. No company name, no flashy titles, no slogans. It will make people think that I’m so important that they should just know who I am without having to be told my title and company name.
I had my own business once. My card had just my name on one side; the other said “Have gun, will travel”
Does anyone have any data or can cite studies to show pay differentials?
Fine I passed both CPA and CFA. All I got is being overquailified for my job. Still I find it gives a bit of credibility in the financial profession and that’s it. I figure no more excuses of doing exams instead of real proactive work and business in general.
WillyR Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Relax, my mother still tells her friends that I am > a “Chartered Accountant”. We’ve still got a long > way to go. > > Willy my grandfather emailed me and say “Congrats on passing the CPA exam!”… what do you do? He’s a retired MD that actually is decently financially savy for not being in the biz, I choose to correct him but not sure if I should have…(he has 2 daughters that are CPA’s too!)
jsuchowiejko Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Fine I passed both CPA and CFA. All I got is being > overquailified for my job. Still I find it gives a > bit of credibility in the financial profession and > that’s it. I figure no more excuses of doing exams > instead of real proactive work and business in > general. Hi, what’s your job position? I’m going for the CFA/CPA as well but with no qualifying work experience for the CPA (I’m going into finance). How was the CPA a leg up for you?
Also curious, how did your CFA/CPA studies over qualify you for the job?
stern, have you been applying to ibanking jobs? you’re right out of schol right? its the perfect time for you man.
sternwolf, the best suggestion i could give you is that if you are trying to break into finance, be scrappy, be creative, and be resourceful – find a way to exercise your connections to get into the industry. i think that with all your interests in the cfa/cpa and whatever other exam, you may be barking up the wrong tree. i don’t necessarily give this same advice to other people, but nyu is a decent enough school that you could easily start reaching out to alums and focus your efforts that way. remember that even if you get the CFA charter, all it shows up as is a single line on your resume, whereas an alum going to bat for you will potentially make a much bigger difference.
Well, coming from NYU stern, and it’s a target, I’ve realized that through our school careernet services and the connections that we have that I don’t have that big of a problem getting interviews for entry level finance positions from small and middle firms. Even after I graduate, I can still use the same nyu alum careernet and apply for jobs months or years later. The problem is getting good finance positions in IM, front office…the competition is pretty ridiculous. Basically the entire stern senior class fighting over a group of really good front office jobs, particularly M&A banking BB jobs. For me, my main weakness is my mediocre undergrad GPA. Its below the acceptable cutoff point for many good firms and good entry level positions (3.3 cutoff). In banking, most resumes will not even be looked at with a GPA below 3.4. Since they data mine the resumes, mine will be passed over so my chances are bad. So I don’t stand a chance for banking positions whatsoever at this point in time. I remember seeing the resume book for one of the analyst classes and the average GPA was a 3.6 from Ivy or top 5 undergrad B-school. A few months ago I got calls back to interview full time positions and I still have a semester to go…so I’m still a student. As for the academic pursuit of the CFA, CPA, it’s more in the terms that I want to really have a lot of knowledge and succeed in what I’m doing once I get the job I want. Since I’m still in study mode and taking the CPA courses it seems to make sense. It comes from the fact that when I did my hedge fund internship, I felt that I was lacking knowledge in accounting and was unable to sufficiently draw from my finance education during on the job situations.
right, and my point is that since you don’t think you can get a BB offer, you have to be scrappy and be willing to take what you can get. besides, who says you can’t have a great front office opportunity at a smaller shop? work experience is most valuable and i think you would be best served to be as resourceful as possible to get into your industry of choice. top banks are the way they are for a reason – they have access to the best candidates out there – and if you can’t get an offer while you’re in school, passing an exam in and of itself will not change the likelihood of your success. however, “settling” for a lesser shop doesn’t reflect badly on you either, because you have to figure that there are tons of people like you that are trying to get those positions too. the street is more competitive than you think and you gotta take what you can get.
well, numi, its interesting that you’ve brought up something that’s been going through my mind about the whole CFA/CPA/CAIA business…I know well enough that study and increased knowledge can’t replace lack of work experience (on a resume and especially during interviews) but ever since my last experience at my prior internship, it seemed so apparent to me that i was badly inferior in finance and accounting knowledge compared to the equity research analysts I was mirroring. It’s obvious to me that work experience essentially equals the application of one’s prior knowledge combined with innate talent and ability. But, After finishing up my finance major and having essentially 15 credit’s worth understanding of the fundamentals, after that internship experience I felt it was far from complete and found it rather empty and annoying to be impaired in such a manner. I mean, I learned a lot in the first month I was working there but soon I was relegated to menial stock research tasks that I could’ve done better if I had stronger finance and FSA skills. I thought a while about it and it seemed more reasonable to increase my knowledge for the time being until I can perform my best until my next assignment. I really want to equal or close to equal to those people I used to work under in terms of accounting and finance knowledge before I work again.
shoot Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Well, get this. During our monthly team meeting > this morning, my partner (my boss) put “shoot - > CFA” as a bullet point on the last slide of the > presentation along with all the other misc. items. > And then when he finally got there, he said, > shoot passed the level 3 of the CFA exam and now > shoot and xx (one of my colleague who just got a > CMA designation) will go down to the road of > certified financial analyst or something… > > OMG, I got so irritated about the fact that xx’s > CMA has turned into CFA and also he didn’t care > enough to know what CFA stands for. Anyway, I > didn’t feel acknowledged at all. I corrected him > about the two facts but I still feel mortified. > > BTW, he’s a CPA along with a bunch of people in > that room. as long as he didnt say BOM
sternwolf Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > well, numi, its interesting that you’ve brought up > something that’s been going through my mind about > the whole CFA/CPA/CAIA business…I know well > enough that study and increased knowledge can’t > replace lack of work experience (on a resume and > especially during interviews) but ever since my > last experience at my prior internship, it seemed > so apparent to me that i was badly inferior in > finance and accounting knowledge compared to the > equity research analysts I was mirroring. > did you figure this was because they had work experience and you didn’t? you can learn a lot of this stuff on the job…