"Did you pass the CFA on the first try?"

Anyone ever get asked this before in interviews? I realize this is a violation of ethics (I think?) but it’s always a non-charterholder or HR drone who’s asking. Really, really agitates me as I don’t think it’s an insight into anything, really.

The only violation is your use ‘cfa’ as a noun. It can be asked. It can’t be implied or stated this is superior to failing. I haven’t failed (hope I can stay that in 2 months), but if anything I believe failing and coming back and passing says more about someone than straight passing.

not a violation if they ask you and you state a fact

I would feel tempted to decline to answer. I went three for three, but it is such an ignorant question. I know some extremely smart individuals that have failed levels for various reasons.

Yea the person asking that question is either way too arrogant or ignorant of what the exams are actually like.

How are they going to check if you say yes?

ask for your score records

…turn it around and ask them if they passed it on their first try?

I think it’s a valid question in the sense that they’re certainly allowed to ask…but it honestly reveals a heck of a lot more about the interviewer and firm than it does the interviewee. My girlfriend’s in law school. She’s always been a really strong student, but a firm that interviewed her for a summer associate position wanted to know things like her SAT scores, AP exam scores, LSAT scores, etc. Again, they’re certainly allowed to ask stuff like that, but she decided based on the questions she got from them (which contributed to a generally terrible vibe from the employees she spoke with) that these really weren’t the kind of people she’d be excited to share office space with. So yeah…they can ask, but if THAT’S what they want to know about your CFA exam experience, then they sound like either jerks or idiots.

SSF, totally agree, hit the nail on the head…always thought it was funny to see some of the ridiculous questions asked during the interview process.

^ That’s funny, because it brings back memories of one company I interviewed with a couple years ago. They wanted my SAT scores from 13 years ago. Asking for SAT scores says to me that the interviewer is desperately clinging to the past, as he/she probably did stellar on them, and judges everyone by that standard, putting themself at the top. Sad.

supersadface Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > I think it’s a valid question in the sense that > they’re certainly allowed to ask…but it honestly > reveals a heck of a lot more about the interviewer > and firm than it does the interviewee. > > My girlfriend’s in law school. She’s always been > a really strong student, but a firm that > interviewed her for a summer associate position > wanted to know things like her SAT scores, AP exam > scores, LSAT scores, etc. Again, they’re > certainly allowed to ask stuff like that, but she > decided based on the questions she got from them > (which contributed to a generally terrible vibe > from the employees she spoke with) that these > really weren’t the kind of people she’d be excited > to share office space with. > > So yeah…they can ask, but if THAT’S what they > want to know about your CFA exam experience, then > they sound like either jerks or idiots. See I feel the opposite on this. Passing the CFA exams on the first try means next to nothing to me. Passing them at all is impressive as it is. Seeing that there are no scores released, knowing if you failed once is next to useless. But I can totally understand how SAT/ACT/LSAT scores could be relevant when getting to know a candidate. It’s another piece of the puzzle basically. They probably only pay attention to them if they’re extremely low or high.

It’s not just HR. Prior to holding my current position I was at a fairly prestigious bank and upon interviewing, my manager- to- be asked that question. I didn’t care too much back then but looking back retrospectively it agrees with his miserable managerial skills. Having worked with him and his team was thus far my worst professional experience.

jcole21 Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > The only violation is your use ‘cfa’ as a noun. > > It can be asked. It can’t be implied or stated > this is superior to failing. > > I haven’t failed (hope I can stay that in 2 > months), but if anything I believe failing and > coming back and passing says more about someone > than straight passing. I don’t use “CFA” as a noun (which, incidentally, is probably my second biggest gripe when it comes to non-charterholders or candidates interviewing charterholders or candidates). I was quoting someone else. I think the reason anyone would ask is to imply that they’d rather hire someone who passed each exam on the first try rather than hire someone who may have had to repeat a level. I do agree 100% with your last sentence. My feeling is that it’s hard for someone who hasn’t gone through the program to appreciate it for what it is.

> I haven’t failed (hope I can stay that in 2 > months), but if anything I believe failing and > coming back and passing says more about someone > than straight passing. I’d still rather hire someone who didn’t fail. If you’re hiring a bodyguard, you should hire someone whose clients didn’t die, rather than someone whose clients died, but he learned from the experience.

Ruby527 Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > It’s not just HR. Prior to holding my current > position I was at a fairly prestigious bank and > upon interviewing, my manager- to- be asked that > question. I didn’t care too much back then but > looking back retrospectively it agrees with his > miserable managerial skills. Having worked with > him and his team was thus far my worst > professional experience. This confirms my thoughts on the matter and what ssf and the rest said. I got such a bad vibe from a company I was interviewing with that I just flatlined for the rest of the day and basically decided I couldnt be bothered trying any more. There were a whole catalogue of gems from this miserable shower of sht. Most amusingly the HR woman rang me after to tell me I was dinged and to give me feedback. Said that my body language wasn’t very positive. I pssed myself laughing but bit my tongue - thought there was nothing to gain and unprofessional to say what I really thought. I’m glad I dodged that bullet.

Dude_CFA Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Ruby527 Wrote: > -------------------------------------------------- > ----- > > It’s not just HR. Prior to holding my current > > position I was at a fairly prestigious bank and > > upon interviewing, my manager- to- be asked > that > > question. I didn’t care too much back then but > > looking back retrospectively it agrees with his > > miserable managerial skills. Having worked with > > him and his team was thus far my worst > > professional experience. > > > There were a whole catalogue of gems from this > miserable shower of sht. Share some of these gems!!

iteracom Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > ^ That’s funny, because it brings back memories of > one company I interviewed with a couple years ago. > They wanted my SAT scores from 13 years ago. > > Asking for SAT scores says to me that the > interviewer is desperately clinging to the past, > as he/she probably did stellar on them, and judges > everyone by that standard, putting themself at the > top. Sad. probably DE Shaw and they use it because they likely correlate strong SAT scores with associate performance which is why they look for it perfectly acceptable question to ask IMO

Just remember not to read *too* much into it. Some people may ask this question just to be conversational. They may not even care that much about the answer.

Seems like a legitimate question to me. Also a fairly common one, at least from my experience.