Black Swan Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > bchadwick Wrote: > -------------------------------------------------- > ----- > > I passed L2 while not officially in the > business. > > So it can be done. > > > ^ Don’t listen to this newbie, I’ve never seen him > before. No one has ever passed LII without > working in the industry. Ever. I know it seems > statistically improbable, but you have to trust me > on this. Besides, if it wasn’t true would I be > able to just post it on the internet? No. > > CFA > MBA +10
I’m loosely in the business and passed it. It doesn’t hurt to be in the business if you are an equity research analyst that plays with ratios and fundamentals on financial statements, otherwise you are better off not being in the industry and having more free time to spend studying for it.
DiehardValueInvestor Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > As most of you know, the difference between Level > II and Level I is like night and day. > > I know that many people (including myself) have > passed Level I without working in the financial > industry. > > How rare is it for people to pass the Level II > exam without working in the financial industry? I > get the impression that this almost never happens > given that even people working in the industry > have a substantial advantage over those who do > not, yet STILL find Level II difficult. The > advantages that the people in the industry have > over those who do not are: > 1. The support of their bosses and colleagues: > The rest of us, for obvious reasons, must keep our > financial career aspirations secret. Thus, we > don’t get the support of our bosses and > colleagues. > 2. They eat, sleep, and breathe finance: The rest > of us can’t when we have that other career to work > on. > > Have there been any studies comparing groups of > CFA candidates? I suspect that the Level I > candidate pool has a much higher proportion of > financial industry outsiders than the Level II and > III candidate pools. I’d expect the pass rate of > the financial industry outsiders is somewhat lower > than the pass rate of those already working in the > industry. > > I’m guessing that for Level II, the financial > industry outsiders are a much smaller percentage > of the candidate pool. I expect the difference in > the pass rate of the two groups of candidates to > be wildly different - fairly good for the group > working in the financial industry and remotely > tiny for the group not in the industry. > > I’m guessing that for Level III, the candidate > pool consists nearly entirely of people in the > industry. Of course you can pass level 2 and 3 without working in the industry. People that have a business/finance/accounting/economics undergrad are probably at an advantage to those that never studied this material before. Working in the industry probably means that you have some educational background in the above, otherwise, I don’t think there’s much of an advantage. The material is so vast, you’ll be lucky if your job has prepared you for 2% of the material (to the point where you don’t really have to study it). In terms of support from bosses and colleagues, the CFA is a lonely road. A pat on the back from the boss or some encouraging words from colleagues is not going to give you an advantage come test time. Maybe you’re referring to paying fees or giving some study days but again, this doesn’t mean you’re more likely to pass. Also, don’t forget about the pressure that comes with everyone at the office knowing you’re sitting for these exams.
I passed Level II without being employed in finance. I finally got in the door after that. Of course it can be done. Even if you work in the industry, you still have to work like an ox to make sure you have gazillions of pages of material down cold. Is it easier? Depending on the background you have, absolutely. But you can make up for some of that by just studying harder. The initial question sounded like “Please give me a reason why I shouldn’t even try”. With that attitude maybe you should look for another career anyway.
Is it easier working in finance, as opposed to some other job? Yeah a little bit. But the trade off is that finance jobs require a lot more hours than normal jobs, and so less time for studying. As far as it ranks unemployed>>>>>>>>>> working in finance>> not working in finance. If you are unemployed and can’t pass level II then you have bigger problems.
Miss Cleo, who has it easier in lassing L2 Fake Jamaican with now defunct 1-900 company or Funnance professional?
Dude just study hard. The CFA is really only challenging mainly due to the sheer amount of material. You really don’t need any prior knowledge.
I passed level two while working construction and as an addictions counselor for a non-profit outreach agency. Also my major in undergrad was sociology, I think that makes me an outlier though. All it really takes is a bit of intelligence and a lot of dedication.
Somehow I see both Wendy’s point relevant especially the second one. If you are in a proper finance job, you don’t have the freedom to schedule your studies. Take investment consulting for example, you have a pretty decent 9 to 6 working hours but when client project comes, you are required to stay back till 9, 10. That eats into your study time. Let alone IB etc. Also to shed some different colour, I worked in the industry when I was doing Level II and II i.e. proper investment job (whatever that means…). I found it difficult to study because CFAI wants CFAI answer, not PIMCO answer. You get what I mean? You actually get confused by working in the field. Oh…and there are TONS of people passing the whole exam without working in the field. Anyway, just my 2 cent.
I’m pretty sure that if you’re reasonably intelligent and can put in 250 hours or so, you will probably pass. I agree that lots of the CFA stuff is bullsh*t/made up stuff, but it’s not hard to memorize the stuff, even if you don’t believe in it.
impossible