My current job pays well and gets me a ton of responsibility to develop new business but I cannot enhance my analytical skills very much. So I am considering other opportunities. Given my background and interest I have often locked at the telcom industry. A boutique recently approached me for a consulting job for their telecom customers. I wonder how smart would it be to move into an industry specific consulting job and hope to land an analyst job in that industry in two or three years time once I complete the CFA program? Would the industry experience plus the CFA program knowledge do the trick? Anyone done this before? Also, what are the chances that such consulting work - strategic mandates, possibly some investment advice with regard to divestment and new markets - get accredited for the CFA designation? Any advice is greatly appreciated.
what exactly is an analyst job? there are many kinds, be more specific
I am hoping to move into a buy-side equity or credit analyst position at some point in my career and possibly into a portfolio manager role. I am favoring the telecom and IT sector, since I have some affinity to this industry already. Edit: Thanks for the advice so far. That MBA idea is good, but I just completed my phd, so I am holding off on more school for a while. And yes, if the job is interesting enough, I would be willing to trade some pay for excitement.
where are you working right now? what company, what position, for how long? If you have a certain exp, and could also proof some finance abilities, you could move right now. If not, CFA could help. But it is just a small, small brick in your cv and won’t catapult you into buy-side analyst position. markets are tough and a lot of very skilled, smart people are sitting on the street. If your current employer is one of the well know big ones and the consultants are rather unknown, I would probably stay with your current job in terms of chances landing a buy-side analyst job at some time in the future.
Whatever, If you like research, PM, etc. stuff, the CFA is a lot of fun beside all that awful pain. I really learnd a lot so far and it was great seeing my knowledge expanding. So if you have the time, go ahead, education somehow always pays off. Only in case you could use the time better, leave it. the return/effort ratio of the cfa for people w/o finance exp. might not be as high as people would like to. Did you already tried to apply directly to buy-side? What where your phd-studies about?
I am currently a senior consultant and project manager with a very local firm known for high quality work, rather focused on operating mandates. I moved here when my own company was no longer sustainable. I got somewhere between 3-4 years consulting experience and about a year or so entrepreneurial experience. My CV is a little mixed and my phd was related to IT sourcing. I did not apply for a buy-side position yet. I though that would be pointless without at least having passed the level 1 exam. Am I wrong? Since I do like research in general, I actually enjoy studying for these exams. I am regularly looking forward to each evening when I can get some more of the curriculum. I even started to write-up quick research reports to structure my believes about stocks I intend to buy. Crazy isn’t it?! 
I think, you should give it a try to apply directly. This might be an example: http://jobs.efinancialcareers.co.uk/job-4000000000502995.htm/keywordAny=telecom/ … We are interested in receiving applications from people who will have a background as follows: - equity research professionals from the buy or sell side with experience in the telecoms, equipment or IT sector - management consultants with experience in the area - business development or strategy professionals from relevant sector companies - outstanding academics … it may be worth a try, even though this position is for associate and may require more research exp. A similar analyst position might be worth to apply for. I think CFA LI pass won’t add more value than just you candidacy. LII passed might add more value. This is as of my exp, what I received in feedback you can also send me your cv, if you want to and I can have a look at it: tobias - m . schulz @ gmx . de
Vollkorntoast, those are excellent suggestions. Thank you. I have been casually browsing the job market, rather than actively searching. I hesitated to apply anywhere precisely because of the risk to embarrass myself without at least LI. Up until this opportunity emerged, I was thinking to just stay where I am until LII pass. After all, while my current job is rather dull, it pays and is fairly save. Anyhow I will probably go out and try one or two applications and see what happens. It might help if someone in a similar position would comment on my CV. That’s a great offer and I will be in touch later today.