The number of “CFA not relevant” posts have increased recently. I would like to share an incident which I hope would inspire some people. I went to Singapore to write level 3 and in my hall a pair of twins were also writing level 3. The twins probably had some kind of severe birth defect, they were less than three feet tall and couldn’t use their legs. They had to be pushed around in a wheel chair by their mom. I dont know whether those guys work in Finance or whether they work at all, but they still found the inspiration to progress to level 3. I hope some of you will think twice before dropping out of the course because of the market conditions prevailing now. Many of you have started the process so just go ahead and finish it.
can’t disagree more. if you’re still young, start looking for another career. you can always finish cfa 10 years from now when the market is different.
“can’t disagree more. if you’re still young, start looking for another career. you can always finish cfa 10 years from now when the market is different.” There is no reason why a person cannot do both if his/her hours are decent. We know that the utlity of the program when it comes to changing careers is not that great.Yet there are people on this forum working in unrelated fields who have completed all the three levels. I think its more about finishing what you have started and that is the reason I shared that story. if someone wants to complete the program after few years when the market conditions improves, he/she runs the risk of missing out on opportunities if the conditions improve unexpectedly.
we don’t want quitters anyway! if there’s doubt…there’s not doubt. go work at mcdonalds. they’re safe, and just released nice q4 numbers.
Danteshek Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > can’t disagree more. if you’re still young, start > looking for another career. you can always finish > cfa 10 years from now when the market is > different. Ridiculous comment. Start looking for another career?! Come on, plenty of people out there are still making more money in their late 20’s than the average person in another field ever makes.
Why do people care about those that say “The CFA is worthless I’m quitting”. Let them!! The less people the better. The CFA requires a ton of dedication and commitment and people will only pursue it unles they’re self-motivated. Three feet tall twins aren’t gonna motivate people to do it.
Plus money management is affected much less than other areas of finance. People still need to save. Yes, there is a lot less wealth to manage at the moment, but it’s still better than being an ibanker working in securitization…
Thank you for sharing such a depressing story with us. I think those twins should practice law and try to sue the shit out of big pharmaceuticals in class action.
It seems as if we are forgetting the concept of suitability of an investment. CFA is a good investment of time and energy for some people but not for all. Therefore, in my opinion it is meaningless to talk about whether CFA is worth purusing or not.
Danteshek Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > can’t disagree more. if you’re still young, start > looking for another career. you can always finish > cfa 10 years from now when the market is > different. Then why are you wasting your time posting on a cfa forum?
That is a pretty inspiring story. Given the downturn, I think that having a credential like CFA is more necessary than ever to separate yourself from the rest. I can also see danteshek’s side though - what’s the point of giving up a ton of your personal life in your early/mid 20s when the future of the industry is somewhat clouded? Investment management will obviously continue to exist, but the landscape has changed greatly and that may change the calculus of the decision for some people.
I think the downturn will flush out a lot of people who are in the field for the wrong reasons (to make a quick buck), but CFA is useful for others. That said, it’s likely to be a long hard haul for all of us, chartered or not.
bchadwick Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > I think the downturn will flush out a lot of > people who are in the field for the wrong reasons > (to make a quick buck), but CFA is useful for > others. That said, it’s likely to be a long hard > haul for all of us, chartered or not. Agree 100%. Just as only the best funds will survive, same with employees. This is the best time for one to set themselves up for the turnaround. I see this challenge as an opportunity both as far as investment and my career. It is when things get shuffled like this that those of us without an “automatic in” may get a shot. Risk is high= possibility of long term rewards. I take no issue with those who are not dedicated hitting the road.
Danteshek Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > can’t disagree more. if you’re still young, start > looking for another career. you can always finish > cfa 10 years from now when the market is > different. you wanna go to law school for 3years full-time then come out and try to find a job? Go for it. You wanna do CFA for 3(hopefully) years, go for it. Heck a CFA can always finish law school in 10 years too. This statement is just a comment by someone who is upset that he got screwed over trying to move to Russia for a job, and subsequently decided to hang it all up…hate to say it but you wouldnt have been looking for a career change 6 months ago when you were all hyped up over a new job…so dont try to act like changing careers is the wise thing to do now just cuz you got your balls busted…that isnt the answer for 99% of people
Danteshek Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > can’t disagree more. if you’re still young, start > looking for another career. you can always finish > cfa 10 years from now when the market is > different. This makes no sense.
batterinram Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > I think its more about finishing what you have started That’s it my friend, you have said it all in this one-liner. This is where it has come down to, for ME. I am not interested in it, but will continue just to see cross the finish line. Very inspiring story though.
nodes Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Be nice with Danteshek, remember the Russian > episode. > I hope ,you will come back one day Dante! Stupid ideas are stupid ideas no matter what good or bad things happen to good or bad people.
Danteshek: You have admitted that you were “never particularly passionate about markets”…and hence your move into Law when you got screwed over. That’s fair enough, but you can’t really advise someone who (I’m assuming) still has a passion for the markets to leave when the times get tough. To those of you who are uncertain about continuing the charter, ask yourself the following question: “if you knew you couldn’t fail, what would you try?” The answer is your passion, and the avenue you should follow…regardless of movements in the business cycle…
Freakshow Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Plus money management is affected much less than > other areas of finance. People still need to > save. Yes, there is a lot less wealth to manage > at the moment, but it’s still better than being an > ibanker working in securitization… I’m an ibanker working in securitization (non US) and I’m surely going to finish this thing for the same reason as dinesh.s
I love seeing the posts about quitting the CFA or “Is it still relevant”. The guys that quit when faced with adversity are exactly the type of people I do not want working next to me. If you cannot face the challenges the next few years will bring then go find something easier to do. Personally I think this is a great time to increase the knowledge I already have. Best of luck to those that stay and good riddance to the guy that decides it’s better to make me a sandwich.