Job Prospects after CFA Level I

Guy’s I am working in IT field (Web Development) for last 10 years, and hold Bachelor’s of Engg(Mechanical). I have been thinking about changing the career to finance field for last couple of years. After long thinking and considering different routes(MBa) I decided to take CFA root and enrolled for December CFA I exam. I would like to have your genuine input regards to job prospects after clearing Level I exam if any. Or Do i need to clear all levels to land a finance job. I am a very serious about it and very much commited and an active investor. Sincerely.

I call joke

Ditchdigger?!?

Guy’s I am working in Invetsment field (Equity Research) for last 10 years, and hold Bachelor’s of Business (Finance). I have been thinking about changing the career to Engineering field for last couple of years. After long thinking and considering different routes(MSC) I decided to take a course in C++. I would like to have your genuine input regards to job prospects after clearing a C++ course. Or Do i need to learn engineering to land a engineering job. I am a very serious about it and very much commited and an active enigineer. Sincerely.

Welcome to the program! First, you’ll need the tools of the trade. The TI BA II Plus Professional is needed for CFA exam. You can get one from this place in Delhi: Karan Sports And Stationers Shop No: 27 DDA Shopping Centre Ber Sarai (Ber Sarai Market) New Delhi-16 Phone: 26526163 Cost INR 3,600/- with bill.

I almost spewed my beer all over my computer monitor.

I’m going to be honest, you have virtually no chance of breaking into the field right now or in the next few years. The industry is awash in experienced finance professionals. Passing L1 won’t matter. Passing L3 won’t matter. You need experience. You start gaining that right out of college. Frankly, man, you’re probably too late. But I guess it can’t hurt to try, although you will probably waste an obscene number of hours trying to pass the tests and land a job.

none of you are funny, what if this guy is sreious? this forum is not going to grow at all if all newcomers are treated this way Is someone here such a loser that they can be bothered setting up a username just for one post? I certainly hope not

ok I’ll bite , why do you want to switch careers @ this point ? Have you taken a look at the CBOK to determine if any of the stuff actually interest you ? Can you elaborate what you mean by " very much commited and an active investor " . Oh and I concur with what kkent said above .

In the *current* job market, passing L1 will barely help someone who is already in the field much less a career changer. I do think that passing L2 would give you a slightly better chance at getting in front of people, but it’ll still be an uphill battle. I learned this when I was job hunting with L2 vs. L1 under my belt. I was taken more seriously, got better quality interviews, but passing any of these levels, even all 3, doesn’t make you a shoe-in. If finance is what you love (what is it that you want to do, anyway?) then start taking the tests. Who knows, by the time you pass all three maybe the job market will improve and you’ll have a shot at a junior analyst role and go from there. Are you signed up to take L1 this June?

Why are some you so pessimestic, I am not discouraged. If I don’t get a job that’s fine, the main reason I am doing CFA is to gain investment knowledge. This is the best way to get the tremondous information on finance in a cheaper way. I have been following this forum last 6 months, anyway interesting inputs. If you doing this just because of improving a career or getting a job. joke on you!!!.

CareerThruCFA Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Why are some you so pessimestic, I am not > discouraged. Because most of us know 5+ people who have been “affected” by the job market :slight_smile: I’d call it realistic. I’ll say it again, if you want to be in finance take the tests since it certainly can’t hurt your chances and as you said you’ll learn something.

CFA L1 is good for knowledge. I passed CFA L1 and I didn’t find it any useful towards finding finance jobs. NONE AT ALL. I’m gonna go the MBA route.

please don’t take this personal (it’s not… i don’t know you), but have you ever attributed your lack of success in finding a job to bad soft skills, a poorly written resume, or low professional confidence? instead of spending so much money on an MBA, i would really try to determine what’s keeping you from getting the job. if it happens to be technical skills or no brand names (school or company), then go for a good MBA.

CareerThruCFA Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > If you doing this just because of improving a > career or getting a job. joke on you!!!. Yep, jokes on me. Better wipe the egg yolk from my face. And to think, I thought learning the curriculum and earning the charter would turn me into a better investment professional. As a better investment professional I would thus expect to reap more $$$ and acheive more in my career. Silly me, I should be doing it just for the knowledge alone.

Just passing Level I almost gets you nowhere in today’s market. But it may boost your self confidence in “talking” about finance since it’s not been your field of study or work. Looks like you are new to the Forum. Assuming you are serious, don’t take it personally about some of the “jokes”. It’s pretty much a trade mark nature of this forum and more or less to the finance profession. They actually add a lot of fun colors to the forum. If you want to see a really boring forum. Go to www.flickr.com. Over there, everybody kisses everyone else’s a#$.

maddane Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > none of you are funny, what if this guy is > sreious? > > this forum is not going to grow at all if all > newcomers are treated this way > > Is someone here such a loser that they can be > bothered setting up a username just for one post? > I certainly hope not Why are some you so pessimestic, I am not discouraged. If I don’t get a joke that’s fine, the main reason I come here is to gain investment knowledge. This is the best way to get the tremondous information on finance in a cheaper way. I have been following this forum last 6 months, anyway interesting inputs. If you doing this just because of improving a career or getting a job. joke on you!!!.

The best part is his name and his quote: “If you doing this just because of improving a career or getting a job. joke on you!!!.”

brianr Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > The best part is his name and his quote: > > “If you doing this just because of improving a > career or getting a job. joke on you!!!.” Haha thought the same thing. As well as the title of this thread.

CareerThruCFA = Farva