Hail Mary!! need help with work experience write up!

Hi Everyone,

Can you please review my work experience and give me some feedback in terms of how I can make it fit the bill?

Work experience write up for CFA charter

(April 2007 – May 2008) (Investment Bank) (Investment Banking Analyst)

My work responsibilities included:

  • Utilizing relative valuation methods to value firms including comparable company analysis, trading comparables and comparable acquisition analysis; the output of which was used in advising clients in their investment decisions regarding M&A deals, divestitures and IPOs
  • Conceptualizing and preparing pitch books which included industry analysis, fundamental company analysis and benchmarking for potential buy-side/sell-side mandates
  • Conducting detailed credit analysis for debt syndication deals which included evaluating multiple tranches of debt to understand their purposes, sources, structures, covenants and their impact on overall risk for the issuer/investor
  • Conducting debt-based comparable company analysis to assess relative leverage multiples to assess the attractiveness of a debt issue for the investors
  • Performing due diligence on potential investment opportunities for institutional clients. For example, in a particular project it involved evaluating major private equity players on the basis of their strategies, preferred method of financing, industries of interests, assets under management and their exit strategies and multiples
  • Participation in financial and operational due diligence sessions to evaluate strategic investment alternatives for clients

(July 2008 – July 2011) (Management Consulting Firm) (Strategist)

My work responsibilities included:

  • Performing detailed industry analysis (financial markets industry) using a top down approach to identify opportunities for growth for investors and investment management firms

  • Preparing financial models to assess the relative attractiveness of asset classes (at a global level) such as hedge funds, private equity, commodities, derivatives, equities and fixed income (active and passive). This included time series analysis of historic returns and risk parameters and forecasting the future attractiveness based on qualitative and quantitative assumptions

  • Creating cluster analysis to segment investor groups according to their investment decision making behavior; the output of which was used to make recommendations to the investment managers thus adding value to the investment decision making process

  • Creating points of view on regulatory landscape globally and identifying and quantifying areas where it impacts investor’s decision making and investment firms’ business models

  • Preparing newsletters and research pieces for institutional asset owners and asset managers on relative attractiveness of asset classes and geographical segments

  • Conducting industry interviews to gauge industry participants’ (such as asset owners, asset managers, intermediaries and regulatory institutions) evaluation of key issues and pain points; the results of which helped in making recommendations to the industry thus adding value to the investment decision making process

(Investment Management Firm)(July 2011- till date) (Senior Researcher and AVP)

My work responsibilities include:

  • Developing the research agenda for each year; identifying key macro level themes which affect the future of the industry and at an investor level

  • Drafting research hypothesis and defining research streams within the scope of the research

  • Actively tracking global financial markets, macroeconomic scenarios and its impact on the investment management industry and preparing points of view for clients of my firm to help them in their investment decision making process

  • Analyzing the historic performance of all major global asset classes (equities, fixed income, hedge funds, private equity, exchange traded funds et cetera) and making model based projections to help investors (both retail and institutional) make strategic decisions about their investments

  • Creating points of view on regulatory landscape globally and identifying and quantifying areas where it impacts investor’s decision making and investment firms’ business models

  • Understanding investor behavior and identifying the biases they hold in their investment decision making process to aid investment managers develop appropriate products and solutions to meet investor needs

    • This includes mapping the results of investor surveys and drawing out time series correlations in asset allocations and investor views about investment decisions
    • Creating cluster analysis to segment investor groups according to their investment decision making behavior; the output of which was used to make recommendations to the investment managers thus adding value to the investment decision making process
  • Conducting primary research to analyze investor sentiment. This includes:

    • Designing and fielding questionnaires for 3,000 plus industry participants consisting of institutional asset owners, asset managers, retail investors (high net worth, mass affluent and mass basic populations)
    • Conducting face to face interviews with major industry participants including institutional asset owners, investment managers, regulatory institutions and academia aimed at understanding industry pain points and making relevant recommendations
  • Preparing newsletters and research pieces for institutional asset owners and asset managers on relative attractiveness of asset classes and geographical segments

  • Presenting the final research to industry participants (institutional asset owners, asset managers, intermediaries, retail investors) by way of published whitepapers and conferences

too much info.

cannot fit it into the space provided.

you are allowed only 1500 words tops.

way overkill. keep it only to stuff that “helps investment process”

i had a max of 10 sentences that fitted within the word limit guidelines - and it got approved.

so as iteracom says above - keep it short, simple and relevant to the investment process.

Just curious CPK123.

Earlier this year, you helped us all so much by answering so many questions on the level 3 forum.

But, your work experience statement got approved? This means you already have a CFA charter? Your profile says that you are a level 3 candidate?

Please solve the mystery for the rest of us.

P

*

all of you who are submitting work experience - try to enter what you are trying on the site.

you do have to do a submit to start the process.

there is a 1500 word limit out there for the work experience.

so all of the above needs to be shortened.

(Or maybe there is the option of sending an entire document to the CFAI support team and they load it for you). I wouldn’t know about this - since I did not use it.

to answer psriniva’s question - yes - I have completed the work experience requirements. Need to pass that final beast to get the charter.

Look at the examples CFAI gives on their website. Ultra short bullets.

If I was the person approving work exp. the longer the submission, the more skeptical I am that the person is trying to stretch their work experience to make it fit.

cpk123 - Thanks for your response.

I did not realize that one could submit the work experience before passing level 3.

That is the reason for my confusion.

P

For the past couple of years - to get started in the Level III process - you need to enter your Work Experience.

You can get it approved too - ask your sponsors to sign off on it, and then proceed with everything else.

once work exp. is approved - all you need is to wait for examination pass - or if you deem it fit - you can pay the dues and become a member as well - join the society and the cfa institute as an associate member, and upgrade to a regular member once the exam condition is met.

^ not entirely correct.

You can be a regular member if you meet the 48 months work experience, even if you have not yet passed the 3 exams.

Thank you both, cpk123 and iteracom, for your insights into this. I wish I had known this earlier. I was so focused only on passing the exam. Forgot the big picture.

Mere continuation of “Story of my life”. :slight_smile:

but you would be paying the higher fee structure …

You don’t get a choice, I’ve had my work experience approved and once I pay my dues I will be a full member of CFAI. I don’t have the option to go in as a associate member

Professional CVs are one page format.

Lets make it max two pages for old experienced people.

Straight from CFAI site…

Membership Application Tips

Things to Do:

  • Allow several weeks for your application to be reviewed and approved for membership.
  • Provide a detailed description of your daily responsibilities, including what types of clients you serve.
  • Tell us what types of products you recommend to clients.
  • Describe how your position adds value to the investment decision-making process.
  • Provide us with detailed information regarding any independent analysis you perform.
  • Use the same date to end one work experience position and start the next if the positions ran consecutively.
  • Ask your reference to describe how you are engaged in work that impacts the investment decision-making process.

Things Not to Do:

  • Describe the general activities of your company.
  • Rely on your job title as a substitute for describing your job duties.
  • Request professional references from someone who does not know the nature of your work.
  • Wait until after you pass Level III to complete your application. The volume of applications may slow the review process and delay the award of your charter.

Here the stress is on detailed info. ^guys are suggesting to be brief.

@CFA181283: The length of experience looks OKay to me for approval. Any other takers?

Thanks for your comments everyone!

I submitted my experience a couple of days back. Submitted the entire stuff i posted first with a few trimmings.

I was worried that my experience is not as direct as sell side research/PM so I took the pain to write details.

on a side note, CFA guys have a technical glitch in their system for my application - the experience submitted section does not calculate all the months I submitted. I called them and they said they have all the experience but somehow it is not displaying correctly.

I was hoping to get it approved before the results/renewal rush, but it seems unlikely to happen now :frowning:

Are there any members from CFA Seattle society here?

I guess I’m looking at atleast 6-8 weeks (if not more) to get my charter.