What’s young? <35? <30? <25?
Young appears to be straight out of college, either trying to break in or just broken into finance. Preferably with awesome undergrad grades from awesome undergrad university. In other words someone who is already entry level material without the cfa, but who might benefit from the knowledge given in the program. E.G. An applied math major from Harvard who just got his first job at Goldman or something like that as a junior analyst.
I believe we are talking about two different scenarios.
If i read your post correctly, it sounds like your friend completed her masters, then was recruited by a consulting firm. So basically, her first job out of college was consulting. There was no “switching fields”. She’s in consulting. Similar to my brother-in-law. He graduated Political Science, but was hired out of school as a broker. He moved up to and is now a sales trader at a bank. His whole career was finance.
My scenario would be if she got her masters, then worked in a lab for 10 years as a practicing micro-biologist studying cells or diseases (or whatever micro-biologists do…) and then up and decided to switch to Finance.
No, she worked in the lab, after finishing her masters, for the university and then in a hospital for 2-3 years before she got recruited by a consulting firm. Of course, she was also “working” in the lab while studying her masters. And during the whole time she didn’t think about business/ finance at all. in fact, she was going to do her phd at some point but just wanted to take a break (and seek out a good school to do it).
So yes, she DID switch fields, however you try to manipulate it. The fact is, she didn’t go into microbiology IN HOPES OF going into equity research for pharmaceutical companies one day, if that answers your question.
And guess what, she’s more qualified and moved up a lot quicker than those business school grads with MBAs and what not, having a solid expertise in science. (she knows some chemists with similar career paths as well).
You think these are the only types of people who should be taking the CFA? Really? I’d argue the program is a bit broader than that.
^ no not only. But exactly the type of people who definitely should be in the program. I’m trying these types first. That way people who are in the program or thinking about it can be more informed.
There is so much wrong in this post.
What is a $ 2,00,000 salary?
“completes the CFA program is well equipped to handle money” haha that’s quite funny.
“he can generate good returns which a person without a charter may not be able to” this is a flat out ethics violation.
“each individual CFA program will surely add value” yea? tell that to the thousands of people who disagree with you
etc.etc.etc…
haha good one
I guess, but the point is a weak one. Those types of people can literally do almost anything they want, from business school to law school to medical school to finance and everything would make sense and be a viable option. Whether the CFA is worth it is only an interesting inquiry on the margins.
No need to get hostile with the “and guess what”, I-told-you-so verbiage. My original post said “if I understood you correctly”. Obviously I did not. I wasn’t trying to manipulate anyone’s opinion. Thank you for clarifying and I’m glad your friend found a satisfying career path, although I still feel her successful transition is the exception not the norm.
I was trying to add an honest opinion to how I understood your post. I don’t know why it got misconstrued as me attacking your fiends credibility. I said nothing of the sort.
My exact point. Sometimes benefits too are intangible.
"guessed that roughly 80 percent of CFA Candidates have no business in the program and are wasting their time hoping that getting the certification would result in them getting a job that they otherwise could not get before they passed all three levels."
Are you currently employed? What is the purpose of this post? what are you trying to accomplish ?The job market in Djibouti must be really bad !
In india that’s how people think. More alphabets against your name = well educated which means a better job compared to those who haven’t got that many alphabets. The CA ICWA CS combo for example was common some years ago. don’t how things are now. Some of my friends are CA s but work in fields unrelated to their qualifications.Only one of them is CFO at a large MNC bank. the others hold high paying jobs. they got a better break early in their career compared to those who didn’t have a professional qualification.point being
" professional qualifications will help you get in.Somewhere. Anywhere."
thats how people think. can’t blame them because for most of middle class india, Education is the only ticket to a better life.thats why you have the IIT-IIM duo.
A colleague of mine is a CA in addition to ICWA and FRM. He is currently waiting for Level III results on Aug 6th. He is also thinking of doing PRM and CFP. He is a veteran in Risk but wants to get into teaching.above all he likes to study.
so people have different motivations for doing what they do.
^ Completely agree.
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I think TRH is experiencing multiple orgasms from threads like ‘CFA is a big waste of time’
vicky_cool
There was this commercial several years ago, it was promoting chewing gum and it said exactly this: ‘sometimes it’s better to chew, than to talk’
You guys suck at this. This is not about me or any one of us. This is about the candidate body as a whole.