is a CFA going to get you interviews at Goldman, KKR, Blackrock, PIMCO? No. A top MBA will give you a much better shot.
I guess you should read what I wrote again; if you are being interviewed by someone who has passed through cfa program and holds the charter then he will definitely appreciate cfa more. Plus getting into Goldman, KKR, Blackrock, etc… might be your goal, but compare someone someone with a top mba against someone with a cfa, working in the finance field inside goldman, KKR, etc… and let’s see who can outperform and handle stressful situations. Not to mention, not every successful person on earth has a top MBA and not every successful person on each worked at the companies you have mentioned before. If you measure success in life by getting interviews at goldman then that’s 1 unique opinion … however I want to ask you, what is the chance of getting an interview at the companies you have mentioned above if you get a top MBA? what if you dont?
starbuk Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > is a CFA going to get you interviews at Goldman, > KKR, Blackrock, PIMCO? No. A top MBA will give > you a much better shot. Bingo. A top MBA is valuable precisely because it gives you access to these firms. A person at wharton without a CFA can get interviews and face-time at PIMCO/blackrock/fidelity, etc., while a CFA holder will have a tough time getting that type of access. I think people on this board underestimate the value of a top MBA in this regard. It’s not about the education or coursework; it’s about having easy access to companies you want to work at.
I was talking to someone who holds a CFA charter and is currently a top ten MBA student, he explained it to me like this: - CFA charter is 1 mile wide and 3 miles deep, a top MBA is 3 miles wide and 1 mile deep.
ksc1940 Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > starbuk Wrote: > -------------------------------------------------- > ----- > > is a CFA going to get you interviews at > Goldman, > > KKR, Blackrock, PIMCO? No. A top MBA will > give > > you a much better shot. > > > Bingo. A top MBA is valuable precisely because it > gives you access to these firms. A person at > wharton without a CFA can get interviews and > face-time at PIMCO/blackrock/fidelity, etc., while > a CFA holder will have a tough time getting that > type of access. > > I think people on this board underestimate the > value of a top MBA in this regard. It’s not about > the education or coursework; it’s about having > easy access to companies you want to work at. Exactly. This has been the one thing that’s had me wondering whether I should pursue an MBA, but I feel like I’m getting a bit old now… arghhhh.
nirm41 Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > I was talking to someone who holds a CFA charter > and is currently a top ten MBA student, he > explained it to me like this: > > - CFA charter is 1 mile wide and 3 miles deep, a > top MBA is 3 miles wide and 1 mile deep. His name must be Captain Obvious.
Get a job first. If you don’t have a job, you can’t get into a top MBA program and can’t add the 3 letters after your name. For what its worth, I have only heard of MBAs pursuing the CFA charter, not CFA charterholders chasing the top MBA. The only CFA charterholders who are going back to school either suck at their job (therefore not compensated well by the job market) or are going back to leave finance entirely. To whoever that wants to call bullsh!t on someone rejecting Stanford or HBS because of debt, I can say you lose. I wouldn’t go back to any business school unless someone paid it entirely.
^ Thank You! finally, someone with their head on straight. Taking on massive MBA debt to get into finance is only worthwhile if you tried and can’t break into finance at all, don’t have connections, are at a dead-end job, and you’re getting too old for an entry level finance job. You will always see plenty of people with top MBA’s try to pursue the CFA. Successful people in finance with a CFA: never go back for an MBA.
Brute_Force_Method Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > nirm41 Wrote: > -------------------------------------------------- > ----- > > I was talking to someone who holds a CFA > charter > > and is currently a top ten MBA student, he > > explained it to me like this: > > > > - CFA charter is 1 mile wide and 3 miles deep, > a > > top MBA is 3 miles wide and 1 mile deep. > > > His name must be Captain Obvious. Lol, was thinking the same
Disagree. How do you explain so many guys from megafund PE and top hedge funds going off to HBS/Stanford each year? Their opportunity cost is pretty big, and yet they arrived at the conclusion that an MBA from a top school is well worth it. iteracom Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > ^ Thank You! finally, someone with their head on > straight. > > Taking on massive MBA debt to get into finance is > only worthwhile if you tried and can’t break into > finance at all, don’t have connections, are at a > dead-end job, and you’re getting too old for an > entry level finance job. > > You will always see plenty of people with top > MBA’s try to pursue the CFA. > > Successful people in finance with a CFA: never go > back for an MBA.
ksc1940 Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Disagree. How do you explain so many guys from > megafund PE and top hedge funds going off to > HBS/Stanford each year? Their opportunity cost is > pretty big, and yet they arrived at the conclusion > that an MBA from a top school is well worth it. > > 1) Most of those guys treat it as 2 years of vacation from the daily grind that they find a way to rationalize 2) Network
You do know that top PE/Hedge funds hire people called “pre-MBA Associates” with the intention of hiring them 2 years, then “implicitly” hinting for them to leave to get a MBA right? The select few who end up staying are the ones who are great at their jobs and not combed out. In addition, you’re comparing CFA vs MBA. PE/Banking DON’T CARE ABOUT THE CFA. Compare apples to apples. CFA is targeted at equity/fixed income research…and employees who are good in those roles who already has their CFA charters RARELY need to go back to get their MBAs. Please get a job, MBA, or at least pass a couple of exams before thinking that you know all the shiz about the industry.
Is the only goal in life to go to a “top PE” or “top HF” or “megafund”, and the only metric that certifications must be judged by? I also wish you’d realize that CFA is not applicable to PE…why are you even bringing it up?
Of course a CFA is not necessary for banking or PE. You’re attacking a straw man here. I was merely responding to iteracom’s assertion that an MBA for finance is only worth it if you can’t get in otherwise, have a dead end job, or don’t have the connections. I know plenty of CFA holders who already have great jobs at places like MFS/t rowe price/PIMCO, etc., who go back to b-school because it will open even more doors for them professionally. One guy I know did MFS before Booth and is heading to citadel global equities. He said, “I would not have gotten an offer from citadel if it wasn’t for Booth.”
Would a CFA or MBA be better for successfully obtaining a role in IT?
ksc1940 Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Of course a CFA is not necessary for banking or > PE. You’re attacking a straw man here. > > I was merely responding to iteracom’s assertion > that an MBA for finance is only worth it if you > can’t get in otherwise, have a dead end job, or > don’t have the connections. I know plenty of CFA > holders who already have great jobs at places like > MFS/t rowe price/PIMCO, etc., who go back to > b-school because it will open even more doors for > them professionally. One guy I know did MFS before > Booth and is heading to citadel global equities. > He said, “I would not have gotten an offer from > citadel if it wasn’t for Booth.” Does this guy have a CFA charter? Did he have a good job at MFS before Booth? If this guy had a job w/ Citadel already, would he have gone back to get his MBA? Maybe he really likes Citadel more than he did MFS, or maybe he made the decision at a different time. If we’re talking about currently, I don’t think you will see too many CFA charterholders with great front office positions give up $400,000 in compensation + pay $100,000 tuition + waste 2 years of their lives just so they can be in the recruiting grind fighting w/ class mates for a job that more or less pays the same.
KSC1940, you have no MBA, you have not passed any CFA exams. And yet in a MBA vs CFA debate, you keep claiming the MBA is the all-powerful far more valuable than a CFA. Quite a few people have already told you they lead to different end goals. Why do you still try to emphasize that successful CFA chartersholders working in finance should quit their successful job, shell out +$300k, give up 2 years, for a chance at a job at graduation? As Palantir said, PE or a megafund isn’t “the” finish line in finance. But people with a CFA go back if they get stuck or to move to another industry. No one with a CFA will go back for an MBA if they are comfortably on their way to their goal.
Even if you go the MBA route, recruiting for PE/IB jobs tends to favor people who already had that experience prior to MBA…
kevin0118 Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > ksc1940 Wrote: > -------------------------------------------------- > ----- > > Of course a CFA is not necessary for banking or > > PE. You’re attacking a straw man here. > > > > I was merely responding to iteracom’s assertion > > that an MBA for finance is only worth it if you > > can’t get in otherwise, have a dead end job, or > > don’t have the connections. I know plenty of > CFA > > holders who already have great jobs at places > like > > MFS/t rowe price/PIMCO, etc., who go back to > > b-school because it will open even more doors > for > > them professionally. One guy I know did MFS > before > > Booth and is heading to citadel global > equities. > > He said, “I would not have gotten an offer from > > citadel if it wasn’t for Booth.” > > Does this guy have a CFA charter? Did he have a > good job at MFS before Booth? If this guy had a > job w/ Citadel already, would he have gone back to > get his MBA? > > Maybe he really likes Citadel more than he did > MFS, or maybe he made the decision at a different > time. If we’re talking about currently, I don’t > think you will see too many CFA charterholders > with great front office positions give up $400,000 > in compensation + pay $100,000 tuition + waste 2 > years of their lives just so they can be in the > recruiting grind fighting w/ class mates for a job > that more or less pays the same. He was a research analyst at MFS and earned the CFA charter before b-school. He said in his own words, “I would not have even gotten interviews at places like citadel, fidelity, capital group, if it wasn’t for booth.” I then asked him if he tried getting interviews at those spots while he was at MFS, and he said, “yeah i tried, but it’s really tough. at booth these firms come to you during recruiting, and it’s very easy to get interviews.”
I find it odd that a research analyst, CFA charterholder with 4 years of front office experience would go back to business school. His compensation should be at least the same level if not higher than fresh MBA grads from Booth. His career trajectory, should he chooses to stay in finance, would be just the same. He also made a decision to leave a job that many Booth MBAs would fight to get, just to compete with the same group of people for other jobs. Maybe he has a fetish with hedge funds and finds mutual funds to be unsexy, but definitely the outlier and not the norm.