I am a techie confused as to whether pursue a weekend MBA from a top university or CFA… Given I have zero experience in Finance (or for that matter any commerce related area), how hard/easy is it to get a job in the case of post CFA compared to post Weekend MBA? P.S. I have a Masters and Bachelors in Computers. One more Masters doesn’t seem to be exciting to me (all the projects, etc), as I am already juggling between family and full time job. Any advice is appreciated!
http://www.analystforum.com/phorums/read.php?12,1225170 If you can get into a top MBA I say go for it. Compared to an MBA, fitting the CFA into your life is easier. You lock yourself in a room and study. If later in life you have many kids, a demanding job, I think fitting the MBA would be more difficult. But I wonder how much value does a second masters add to you. If I was recruiting in finance I would take a masters in computer science over an MBA anyday. I did a computer science minor and finance major and I know finance is a joke compared to computer science. So from that perspective, maybe the CFA is better for you? But I tell you if your brain can handle recursion that is taught in your first programming class. You will find nothing hard in the CFA other the volume.
ps, there are tens more threads on AF that discuss what you are looking for. I am not one of those guys that get crazy when someone does not make proper use of the search function… But use it, you will be able to see what 1000 people have to say, rather than the 10 people who will reply to this specific thread.
I tried the search already. The Top MBA in itself is tough to get into, and even if I did, I have to travel over weekends, etc. After reading your advice and other threads on here, I am a bit inclined to pursue CFA. Thanks again!
I was in a similar situation few weeks back. Finally last week I registered for December level 1. I don’t have any financial background and I don’t know how hard/easy switching from computers to finance will be so at the moment I am keeping my expectations low and just trying to focus on how I can improve basic financial awareness and I am hoping CFA would at least give me that if not more. For MBA vs CFA I would say analyze few things like 1)What you want at the end ? I mean what is the motive behind you going after MBA/CFA? 2) How much you will have to invest in terms of time and money? If the designation/goal you are seeking can be achieved by CFA as compare to MBA I would pick CFA as you don’t have to put in lot of money. So worst case if you are not able to make that switchover to finance from tech you wouldn’t lose a lot and still be financially sound enough to make better investment decisions for yourself. Let us know what you decide. Amar