IT + CFA?

Dear Fellows, Is there anyone graduated from IT backgrond, and working on CFA? Is there any good point (in regards to job) of combining IT background with CFA? especially anyone working for middle office of investment bank, is VBA still very useful nowadays and what is the future of VBA in finance? Thanks for your concern.

No. Thanks for your concern and posting multiple times.

Wow - IT and finance; now that’s different… It’s not like every technocrat and engineer is attempting to work in finance these days…oh wait , they are…check out the wilmott forum and you’ll see tons of posts with the same question. I hope your skills go beyond VBA…it’s so ‘basic’ and not highly paid in finance. Better get your C++ or C# skills up to par!

If you do a search for IT and CFA you’ll find plenty of posts like this. Haven’t seen the accounting + CFA question for a while though. Then again, it’s busy season…

Shuan: In my experience, depending on what firm you’re at, having the CFA combined with a tech background can be a very powerful combination. I’m sure there are a lot of opinions out there, but I know it can be a very lucrative path. If you have access to the articles on the CFA website, there was a good article a few months ago (with an awful pun in its name) called “Tech My Advice”. Here is the link, but you will have to log in to read it: http://www.cfapubs.org/doi/pdf/10.2469/cfm.v22.n1.4

I see you mentioned BASIC Keys, is that useful in finance these day?

uh - no; only if you wanna work for an analytics shop that’s based on MSFT .NET platform or an Excel spreadsheet monkey…

LukeBBC251 Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Shuan: > > In my experience, depending on what firm you’re > at, having the CFA combined with a tech background > can be a very powerful combination. I’m sure > there are a lot of opinions out there, but I know > it can be a very lucrative path. > > If you have access to the articles on the CFA > website, there was a good article a few months ago > (with an awful pun in its name) called “Tech My > Advice”. Here is the link, but you will have to > log in to read it: > > http://www.cfapubs.org/doi/pdf/10.2469/cfm.v22.n1. > 4 Thanks Luke! I believe it is very powerful combination as well but just dont know where and how to combine them. Unfortunately, I have no access to that article and not able to google it as well~~~

Shuan: post your email addy if you can and I’ll send it. I just want to check with CFAI first because I don’t want to get dinged if it’s copyrighted. That would be kind of ironic to get dinged for sending a CFA article that could possibly bring them in new business, but I’m sure stranger things have happened…

shuan, ur a fukin idiot you latch on to the one person who probably is more oblivious than you are. the majority of the people say you dont have a chance. the MAJORITY ask luke what he does for work. He probably has his CFA, FRM, CAIA designations, but working in IT at some bank still hoping to make the jump.

PS Shuan if ur so good at IT, why didnt you use the SEARCH Button Youre too retarded to even do your job. FIX MY INTERNET WHILE I MAKE THE MONEY YOU FUKKIN COST CENTER

SuperiorReturn Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > PS Shuan > if ur so good at IT, why didnt you use the SEARCH > Button > Youre too retarded to even do your job. > FIX MY INTERNET WHILE I MAKE THE MONEY YOU FUKKIN > COST CENTER Ouch, looks like someone has an inferiority complex.

LukeBBC251 Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > SuperiorReturn Wrote: > -------------------------------------------------- > ----- > > PS Shuan > > if ur so good at IT, why didnt you use the > SEARCH > > Button > > Youre too retarded to even do your job. > > FIX MY INTERNET WHILE I MAKE THE MONEY YOU > FUKKIN > > COST CENTER > > > Ouch, looks like someone has an inferiority > complex. by the looks of it ur a tool. are you in finance or still in IT?

SuperiorReturn Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > LukeBBC251 Wrote: > -------------------------------------------------- > ----- > > SuperiorReturn Wrote: > > > -------------------------------------------------- > > > ----- > > > PS Shuan > > > if ur so good at IT, why didnt you use the > > SEARCH > > > Button > > > Youre too retarded to even do your job. > > > FIX MY INTERNET WHILE I MAKE THE MONEY YOU > > FUKKIN > > > COST CENTER > > > > > > Ouch, looks like someone has an inferiority > > complex. > > > by the looks of it ur a tool. > are you in finance or still in IT? It sounds like you are a very mature person, but if you need to know, the reason why I responded to the OP is because I actually do combine both finance and investment technology. I build analysis tools for PMs and research analysts for a large money manager. I got my charter a few years ago and actually looked for and landed a job to do exactly what I’m doing now. When I initially started the CFA program, I did envision becoming an analyst at some point, but I found more happiness building things and it has proven to be a huge value add to the firm. I am also making a great living and have an awesome work/life balance, so I can’t complain. You’ll probably read this as my not being able to “make the jump”, but in reality I chose this path while I was still going through the CFA program and couldn’t be happier. I lurk on this board a lot, and the amount of people who really have no idea what they are talking about is unreal.

The problem with this sort of post is that they tend to not have enough detail for anyone to make a decent evaluation. “IT background” could have many meanings - for instance: 1) I graduated from MIT in Computer Science with a 4.0 GPA. I then spent 5 years writing algorithms to guide rockets to land on Mars. I am deciding between going into finance and becoming a PhD student at Harvard. Or 2) I just got an IT degree from Devry’s 2-year program. I have no work experience but am now qualified to debug Outlook and set up your Windows password. So, even the most well-intentioned person would have a hard time being helpful in these sorts of threads. Also, SuperiorReturn is an assclown. You should just ignore him.

LukeBBC251 Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > SuperiorReturn Wrote: > -------------------------------------------------- > ----- > > LukeBBC251 Wrote: > > > -------------------------------------------------- > > > ----- > > > SuperiorReturn Wrote: > > > > > > -------------------------------------------------- > > > > > > ----- > > > > PS Shuan > > > > if ur so good at IT, why didnt you use the > > > SEARCH > > > > Button > > > > Youre too retarded to even do your job. > > > > FIX MY INTERNET WHILE I MAKE THE MONEY YOU > > > FUKKIN > > > > COST CENTER > > > > > > > > > Ouch, looks like someone has an inferiority > > > complex. > > > > > > by the looks of it ur a tool. > > are you in finance or still in IT? > > > It sounds like you are a very mature person, but > if you need to know, the reason why I responded to > the OP is because I actually do combine both > finance and investment technology. > > I build analysis tools for PMs and research > analysts for a large money manager. I got my > charter a few years ago and actually looked for > and landed a job to do exactly what I’m doing now. > When I initially started the CFA program, I did > envision becoming an analyst at some point, but I > found more happiness building things and it has > proven to be a huge value add to the firm. I am > also making a great living and have an awesome > work/life balance, so I can’t complain. > > You’ll probably read this as my not being able to > “make the jump”, but in reality I chose this path > while I was still going through the CFA program > and couldn’t be happier. > > I lurk on this board a lot, and the amount of > people who really have no idea what they are > talking about is unreal. Way to justify your failed attempt with the ol work/life balance PS: for all u IT people, Khakis isnt dressing up. end of thread

ohai Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > The problem with this sort of post is that they > tend to not have enough detail for anyone to make > a decent evaluation. “IT background” could have > many meanings - for instance: > > 1) I graduated from MIT in Computer Science with a > 4.0 GPA. I then spent 5 years writing algorithms > to guide rockets to land on Mars. I am deciding > between going into finance and becoming a PhD > student at Harvard. > > Or > > 2) I just got an IT degree from Devry’s 2-year > program. I have no work experience but am now > qualified to debug Outlook and set up your Windows > password. > Yea I agree. IT + CFA may or may-not work mostly depends on what type of “IT” you’re talking about.

LukeBBC251 Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Shuan: post your email addy if you can and I’ll > send it. > > I just want to check with CFAI first because I > don’t want to get dinged if it’s copyrighted. > > That would be kind of ironic to get dinged for > sending a CFA article that could possibly bring > them in new business, but I’m sure stranger things > have happened… Hi Luke, I am glad you would like to help. my email is shuan322@hotmail.com Yes. May be my post was too ambiguous. so I think should make myself clear. I graduated from Business Information System from a top Uni, that major focus on business requirement analysis and process analysis, and business intelligence and database management. It also taught me some basic programming skills though, like VBA and fundamental C++. But I am pretty sure I can not be a pure coding guy, and due to the interest of finance, I enrolled and passed CFA level I at the last year of my study. After that, fortunately, I got an intern chance later customer service role in a small forign exchange company, I learnt knowledge and skills in analysing the forex market and CFD trading products. but one year later(i.e. 4 months ago), the company wasn’t running well and the salary payment became unstable so I quit the company without hesitation. Then I have tried to find job related to my forex experience for the all past 4 months but not able to make it, and then I think I would also try some IT jobs, and already got 3 interviews for the last two weeks. So my situation is difficult to find another finance job based on my background, and it could be easier find one in IT, and I do want to combine them together… What’s your opinions now?