Hey equity_research_nds, If you are trying for schools in India, the GMAT is valid only for ISB, otherwise its the CAT. So essentially you are asking whether you should start studding for the CAT? The exam is in November if I am not wrong and is held once a year. Go ahead and study for your CFA L3. After which begin your preparations for the CAT. If after 4 months you cannot crack the cat, 8 months would not be of greater help as it is more of an aptitude test than something you can prepare for. A lot of the premier BB firms do prefer candidates who are enrolled in the CFA program and it would help you in placements (summers and final). And yes from your age I presume you would have given the CAT a couple of tries already, so you would be a best judge of clearing it this time. Greater experience is positive and would enable you to clear the interviews. So concentrate on the CFA L3 and then plan on the CAT.
arakhanna…I havent taken CAT even once…but then realised i shuld take it this time…maybe…
Even if you have your charter…what do you have to offer the person hiring you if you have 2 years of work experience. An MBA will not allow you to get further work experience. And India is a big diploma mill, so I would advise you to take your CFA knowledge and apply it and create opportunities to excel. What would buying an MBA give you? You would still be viewed as naive/green and probably not a good fit. I hate to say this, but I will. And I will say this because of first hand experience from hiring candidates. And hopefully I can help you and anybody else looking for a job. A CFA is great. Hey, I’m busting my fat __ to get one, not because I need one, but I want one, and let’s be honest, it is the gold standard. I have passed that stage of needing qualifications to open doors, but we know the CFA gets more than your foot in the door when necessary. So the CFA in my rubbish opinion is the best benchmark and highest common denominator by which to measure candidates. I never hired a charterholder who was incompetent, maybe hired a bunch who were jerks, but all are/were smart. MBA’s on the other hand, most were from top tier schools. Knowledge of finance came from prior work experience. They were experts at delegating work and making things look nice. Lots of polish. Some were bright, some were the undergrad jocks who got good b-bracket jobs and then went to good b-schools but didnt’ learn anything there…good candidates on paper. But not bad people. The overqualified people from India that I interviewed would try very hard to impress me all their degrees and what they know. Work experience was definitely a problem. Hey, I want to hire talented, people with all the tools to get the job done, but what I learned that most people with multiple degrees in India, were very rigid in their thinking. Problem solving within boundaries was excellent, but when creativity and imagination was required, they were totally helpless. I discussed this with them during reviews and the explanation I got was that they were taught not to be creative. They had to think within the curriculum. They were penalized for thinking outside the box. Here in NYC, if you are looking for a job in fiance, you need to have the basic tools and you must be viewed as someone who can thinking on his/her feet. Someone who can thrive under pressure and not get bogged down by convention. Work experience…street cred is a must. Get it. If you are having a problem getting the job you want, think about updating some of your other skills. Are you a good speaker? Can you present to the board of directors? Can you be interviewed on TV and not say “you know, like, and ya” a hundred times? Do you wear white socks with your suit? MBA school is almost like finishing school. I doubt you have any deficiencies when it comes to mathematical/quantitative/accounting skills…but perhaps you can save yourself $150K fees and $300-$600k opportunity cost (hey if you’re earning more than a buck and go to B school you’re a moron). B-School now is increasingly used just for networking. There are some that churn out good thoughtful candidates like Tuck, but the rest seem to give us some generic vanilla eager beavers. I’d rather hire a hungry CFA from Staten Island than a prep school, Ivy League MBA. And that’s my two bits.
88fiveo… One of the best posts I have read here ! Thank you…
Thanks a ton!!! 88fiveo… would continue to concentrate on my L3 test this year… it was an extremely useful post providing some great insights… Everyone thanks a ton for taking out time and responding…
MBA looks good on paper and has many applications, but if you are talking quanitative finance, go with what Joe says. You need a strong math background (as in a whole slew of university level training) as well as computer programming, usually C++ (which in and of itself will take time to master) and a solid finance background. The CFA can definitely help with the latter, but an MBA would be of limited applications with a heavy quant guy (IMO), so I would bid my time.
Hey 88Fiveo, great post may I ask what is your background and job experience? Thanks
Kinda hard to get a student loan now anyway… so unless you can pay for this on your own… just go for the cheaper alternative… L3
Except for 88’s post, I’ve never seen so many false statements strung together. Kinda hard to get a student loan? 25 years old too young? MBA not useful? WTF?!?! Anyone interested in the CFA and or/MBA, read 88’s post and also check out gmatclub. http://gmatclub.com/forum/103 It’s a very friendly online forum. RG
ManVsCFA… My background…same as yours and everybody else here. Passed Level 1. Passed Level 2. Studying for Level 3. Must past Level 3. The rest is irrelevant. I’m no Bleron.
ryguy904 Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Except for 88’s post, I’ve never seen so many > false statements strung together. Kinda hard to > get a student loan? 25 years old too young? MBA > not useful? WTF!!! > > Anyone interested in the CFA and or/MBA, read 88’s > post and also check out gmatclub. > http://gmatclub.com/forum/103 > > It’s a very friendly online forum. > > RG 25 means just a few years of experience. That’s not enough for an elite American MBA. Some people enter the big programs at 25, but they will have something ridiculous on their app (780 GMAT, successful entrepreneur). Generally, 25 IS too young for a an elite (American) program.
Hmmmm…I’m not so sure I buy the “25 is too young” theme. Harvard, Stanford, and Penn have all made it clear that they intend to start bringing in younger candidates, although I agree that 4-6 years is still the average work experience for top U.S. b-schools. I liked 88fiveo’s post, but again I’m not sure if it’s bad to go to bschool even if the opportunity cost is 300-600k. This is what every ibanker and many other top candidates are pulling in. I can’t imagine anyone living in NYC with a decent job who would have a cost less than 300k (including tuition). On one hand it’s hard to give up all that salary and pay out a large amount if you don’t really “need” to. On the other, it’s hard to believe that having an MBA from a top 5 school wouldn’t pay for itself a few times over during one’s career. If you’re talking 2nd tier MBA, however, I’d say go PT or don’t go at all, and just stick with the CFA. Lastly, I’d agree that there are many mediocre/stupid MBA’s, but the majority of CFA’s seem to be pretty sharp. just my 1.5 cents.
i really don’t understand this obsession with getting both the CFA and MBA. At the end of the day, work experience is what counts most. I have my CFA now and I’m going to focus on learning my markets, building a track record and working towards managing my own portfolio. My boss would just look at me strangely if I said I wanted one day off a week to do an Executive MBA: “Why the hell do you want that? We’re snowed under with work! We need to remain focused and make money!” Also, from conversations I have with people in management positions, the majority would prefer some with experience than an over-qualified and under-experienced whipper-snapper who thinks he’s on the fast-track to senior mgmt. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not degrading the MBA or CFA as they are both excellent qualifications. I just think you need one and then you should focus directly on gaining experience and climbing the career ladder. Unless you have a legitamate reason such as a career change, your career is stuck in a rut or have recently been made unemployed, then no one needs both qualifications.
Anarchist - you’re making the false assumption that this is an “either or” type decision. No one wants to give up quality work exp. for certifications. However, quality work exp. combined with the MBA and CFA is always superior to just quality work exp. or just the certifications. Oftentimes you’ll only get the shot at the quality work if you have an MBA or the CFA or (better yet) both. Also, you don’t NEED both qualifications, but it will help. Just like you don’t NEED to work at Goldman to have a quality resume, but it will help. If you’re hiring, who do you take: Wharton MBA w/ CFA who worked on Wall St. for 5 years or somebody with neither who also worked in similar job for 5 years. It’s a no brainer. Knowledge is power. Get my drift?
I have a MBA from a top school…and also a Level III Candidate. I believe CFA will differentiate me with all my other MBA peers…and an MBA will differentiate me with all my other CFA peers. It always helps to be able to offer something extra… Work Exp - Everyone nowadays have it!
Faaltu Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > I have a MBA from a top school…and also a Level > III Candidate. > > I believe CFA will differentiate me with all my > other MBA peers…and an MBA will differentiate > me with all my other CFA peers. > > It always helps to be able to offer something > extra… > > Work Exp - Everyone nowadays have it! what abuot those with both huh? then u would need an MS too
MBAs and MSs don’t normally compete for similar level of jobs…
Of course if you have both an MBA & MS 
Work experience requirements for MBA programs is different depending on the institiution. There is no magic number that makes or breaks your app. Michigan specifically told me that you don’t need to have significant work experience to be taken seriously as an applicant. UCLA said the same thing. The bottom line is many schools are recognizing the demand of people wanting to get their MBAs after 1-3 years and have responded by having more flexible entry requirments. My friend just got into Ohio States MBA, another into Cals program, both with less than two years experience. Both did have a 700+ GMAT scores.
Hi Guys, I think I empathise with Equity … the situation is quite different in India. An Equity Research (ER) career in India, till the recent past, was one that only MBA’s from elite B-Schools (IIMs) or CA rank holders could think of. Its only in the present boom that companies who can’t afford to hire MBA’s are going for plain CFAs or commerce grads. (As it is, the way I look at it, ER is losing its sheen to consultancy in the elite B-Schools.) It can be quite frustrating for a non-MBA in India to work in a Finance (or any non- IT field) related field esp. in ER. You kinda find yourself in a catch 22 situation which is very difficult to break out of. It is frustrating because, 1. Your CV might not get screened since it does not carry a MBA degree 2. You might see mediocre MBAs getting better profiles without a corresponding work-ex 3. Your batch mates who preferred to go for an MBA without working would enter the Job-market at far better salaries than yours Yet I believe that the times are changing, and Indian cos are increasingly prefering experience over degree. I personally have benefitted quite significantly from the 2 levels of CFA. If ER is what you want to build your career on, I would rate CFA far higher than any non-elite MBA from India. I think it makes sense to get a good work experience (at least 3 yrs) and then go for a MBA from ISB or any good international B-schools. I am not so sure about other Indian B-schools because of the relative lack of importance they place on work ex (To get an interview call in IIM-A, you generally need more than 97-98 %ile.) Equity … I think I am in a similar position as you are, if you want to get in touch, mail me at cfadude@hotmail.com