Just checked my membership app status and 39 months were approved, but my first job (19 months) denied. Crap. I’m sure this has been posted before, but there are about a thousand membership threads floating around, so I’m having trouble finding if there is one…where do I go from here to re-submit my first job? I thought I’d get an email to reply to or something. The worst thing is I used nearly verbatim a description my friend used last year, which had been accepted. Thanks.
hey ng. what was their reason for denial?
hey man. “job does not qualify”. my category was portfolio administrator.
i had the same reject reason -i emailed them and they told me that i had been too brief in my description of duties - and to reply to the email with more detail - so i dropped 4 paragraphs on their punk a$$es and it did the trick could be the same with you - more detail.
they seem to be pickier these days… i would rewrite the experience and try to link it to the material/los. (it may take some creativity). it probably will seem like you’re over-doing it, but that might be what it takes. then if they reject it again, i’d call them and try to plead the case… i actually called them and they changed it. but it was pretty clear that my job qualified. i don’t think the process is as objective as it should be, so i think you’ll be able to have a little input on the decision.
and im not sure how you described your duties - a simple list wont’ do - they want to know how what you do " adds value to the investment decision process " so when i replied the second time i actually laid it out for them " this role adds value to the investment process by…etc etc etc" - i threw that in there a few times to be honest - like cfasf1 says - they’re super stingy this year - it seems - you literally have to spell it out for them…
Thanks guys. Did you just send your follow up email to the general CFAI membership address below? cmservices@cfainstitute.org
that address should do the trick
and here’s the possibly painful part. have you already been accepted by your local society as an affiliate member? this can take a while, which is frustrating.
no, the accepted/denied results were only viewable under the main CFAI header. My status for the Philly charter is still blank, or should I say “Under review”. I submitted on 6/17. I remember seeing you had to put up a fight…was that w/ local or national?
well. the fight about the work experience was at the cfai level… but that was the second time around. so i think this is what you have to do: wait til the local society approves you as an “affiliate” member. (they can take 45 days to do this but you might be able to call and convince them to do it sooner) once they have accepted you as an affiliate member (which means your work experience was insufficient), you apply for an upgrade to “regular”. this is when you would update your work experience, making changes and tying them to the los/curriculum. if the cfai decides to accept your new description and you have the sufficient hours, they send it to the society again with a recommendation for “regular” membership. the society then has another 45 days to accept you. as far as accepting work experience, i think the society basically goes with whatever the cfai decides. that’s at least how they do it at my society. i don’t think you will be approved at the cfai level then the local level rejects you. the 45 days is just a matter of the local society getting around to your application.
Ok, I think I gotcha. And by the way, thanks for taking the time to write all that out. I’ll try to call Philly tomorrow to get them to make the decision, so that I can get on the CFAI to accept my rebuttal. Does anyone have any good info on which LOSs are particularly applicable to portfolio admistrator/back office type roles? I’m being lazy here I know, but the wife and I are moving to NYC in less than two weeks and locating anything in the disaster area that is our apartment is a nightmare. I’ll do some digging in AF to see if anything pops up.
ng, http://www.cfainstitute.org/cfaprog/resources/pdf/Level_III_combined.pdf Here is a summary of all the LOSs in one PDF on the CFAI site. You can scroll through it pretty quickly to find what is applicable. That is what I did.
mw to the rescue yet again! thank you sir. the link is frozen now, but i did see the doc was 47 pages long. makes you feel like you accomplished something when the index is nearly book length. were you initially rejected as well? sorry, i know you posted but my mind is all over the place these days.
I had a small piece rejected, but the main part (65 months) was accepted the first time.
oh, so you were already far in the money and just looking to pad your stats. i see. i’m panicking…having a hard time relating any of this to back office type work. sad thing is my description was closely modeled after a friend whose work experience was approved for all 48 months just recently (passed last year).
I didn’t care about the small piece. I used the LOSs as guides for the 65 month stint. Not looking to pad the stats, just get the required hours and get the hell out of the CFA program!
making sure everything you write adresses how that activity " adds value to the investment process" is the key - not sure exactly what you do in the back office - but it supports some front office function - obviously - so how does your role assist whomever you support in that specific way ? if your role didnt exist what part of that process breaks down ? or becomes less efficient/effective/ more costly etc etc… they are being impossible this year - an explosion in new candidates the last couple of years might have them being tougher in what qualifies im an equity trader on an algo desk - seems obvious to me how it adds value - best execution all that crap - and i had to write 4 paragraphs - i felt like i was answering an exam question. if all else fails - call them - put your mean face on - and give them the straight goods ( respectfully, of course ) - that’s worked for some i know.
A suggestion for y’all to save lots of time: I was initially rejected on 123 months of experience for “too short of a description.” You don’t have to wait for the affiliate membership review to wrap up. Call the CFAI and have them cancel your application so you can immediately resubmit your updated work experience. Your sponsor forms stand and they approved my 123 months in a day or two.
Thanks sterling. Called and emailed, and email response from CFAI also gave me the option of an immediate local society rejection, as to speed up my appeal.