lockheed10023:
^Peter Steele? As in Type-O Negative?
Sweet. I saw them once at Irving Plaza over a decade ago. RIP of course.
Here in in NYC… ‘spring won’t come…’ but it’s getting warmer.
Yep. The same. Tribute to the leader of the drab four. RIP.
Favorite band in the world. AIC is a close second.
itera:
The progression for candidates effectively looks like this:
Pre-CFA Level 1 - “I’m gonna pursue the CFA charter, and it will allow me to finally break into ______ (IB, AM, ER, PE) by setting me apart, and showing my dedication and abilities. the gold standard of finance man!”
Passed L1 - “Still psyched! That wasn’t too bad, feel good, learned a lot. Time to test the waters and apply everywhere”
Passed L2 - “I guess too many people have passed L1, so it didn’t get me anywhere. But L2 was so much more challenging, I’m sure it’ll get me somewhere now”
Passed L3 - “Got a few nods and some recognition, but it seems IB and PE shops literally don’t care about the CFA charter… and ER jobs all prefer people with experience or have the 4 series licenses which I don’t have… and buyside is even tougher to get into… and now I’m 3 years older with 3 more years of experience working in _______ (back office, unrelated finance role, etc), and that seems to be capping my switch opps.”
Awarded CFA charter (assuming work exp. had passed) - “Yea CFA is nice bec you learn stuff. Benefits are really best for people already working in AM or ER and moving up, it’s not designed as a break in tool, tons of people have already passed the exams, experience is everything. I probably should have done other things like heavy networking instead in combination with the tests, or simlpy went to a top MBA program.”
in my opinion.
Agree with the most part. CFA has done a great marketing job convincing people they need the charter. This can only last so long before people catch on. When everyone around you passed all 3 levels and still work in BO, there’s no marketing in the world that can convince these people of the virtues of the charter. Word of mouth goes very far.
itera
April 3, 2014, 12:28am
#23
I’m thinking one day looking back in history, there will be a clear peak in CFA candidates, and then it will wane and drop off.
Yeah I cannot believe so many people sign up for these exams. I did see that exam numbers were down this year compared to last year. I guess their marketing is paying off getting IT professionals and back office workers to sign up. People will catch on soon enough I hope.
it’s amazing how marketing/pr has come so far in the recent years.
talk about the real competitive private schools and summer camps.
now we have these professional designations.
but ironically the real players don’t go through these hoops