I signed up for the December exam. I have had to work long hours the last 3 months and ended up sacrificing precious study time. Right now I am still a little shell-shocked at the fact that I was laid off from my job this afternoon. With all long hours I put in, I didnt think it would happen to me. So much for working for a big bank. My head is spinning with all the cost-cutting measures I’ve got to do at home and with the family I only have 24 days left for the exam…is it too late? I’ve probably covered only about 10% of the matieral so far. Would 9-10 hours a day be enough to pull this off? If I could pass the Level I, I think I might stand a better chance in finding a job. Any thoughts would be appreciated. Thanks
sorry about that…you have nothing to loose. You are already registered, paid the fees (which you will not get back), have the materials. Might aswell give it your best shot.
hey man one thing i found out is that 1 in 4 people don’t even come to the exam. just don’t be one of them. you might not have the best chances but for sure you can give it your best try… the worst it can happen is that you will nail it in June. I would say give it a shot. you can go through a book in 2-3 days and do exams for the last week. Schweser or Stalla would really help you as there is no time to read the cfa.I myself haven’t read the cfa books cause they are too in depth and don’t have the time
Keemtaptain, my condolences with you. With all this subprime mortgage financial crisis, I don’t find it comfortable either and I work for a big bank too. Just give in your best shot buddy… you might be able to make it with 10*25 hrs and you have nothing to lose now… - Dinesh S
if you can put about 10 hours/day you could make it. remember that motivation plays a big role. just concentrate and do your best. you will get a lot of help here
Thank you all for your encouraging words.
Sorry about your lay-off. Your bank probably did appreciate all the long hours and you demonstrated good character by doing it. In the end, someone just had to save money and they made a bunch of painful decisions, including laying off many valuable employees like you. I don’t agree with the other posters though about the Dec exam. You have two much more important things to do than spend 10 hours a day studying for this exam: a) Get your head together from an unexpected lay-off and protect your family (they are worried too) b) Look for a new job. This exam will be offered again in June when you should be nicely situated in a new, maybe better, job.
Second that. CFA level 1 won’t help you in this situation. You’ve got experience but - more importantly - a family to take care of. Put them first, try and find a job that suits you and make sure your financial and personal situation is stable. Good luck!
First of all, my condolences to you. I think Joey and Mcpass’s view on this one are quite practical; however, if you received a good severance package that you could use to survive for 3-4 months without a job, studying for the next one month day and night might not be a bad idea. Not to mention, if you find a new job that also requires you to put a lot of time in it, then you might not be able to take the exam in June and you will be further delayed. You have got all the advice/suggestions, now you can set your own priorities since none of us know better about your unique situation than yourself. Good luck!
if you received a good severance package - that’s the key. If you have some money stashed up, then go for the Dec. exam. Given your work ethic, I strongly believe that you can pull Level 1 off.
highparkcfa Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > if you received a good severance package - that’s > the key. If you have some money stashed up, then > go for the Dec. exam. Given your work ethic, I > strongly believe that you can pull Level 1 off. I agree w/ the severance package thing- if you have enough dinero for you and your family to be COMFORTABLE then go study for Level 1. After that it’ll give you an advantage in finding a better job. Yes, I know passing level 1 isn’t an astronomical accomplishment but it still sets you apart from “the other guy.”
I wouldnt bother with the dec exam rather start early for june exam. Start your preparation while you try to secure another job. The curricullum is too big to cover in 25 days and to be honest, its too late.
I think witjh enough experience this time will be enougn just only for a half of curriculum
Keemtaptain - If you have a good severance package, go for it. You have plenty of time left. Most people don’t have the luxury to study 10 hours a day for 24 days. If you put in this much time (240+ hours), you will have an excellent chance of passing. I also personally believe that studying the material all at once allows you to retain it easier. I tend to forget LOS I have read more than a month ago. Good luck!
Keemtaptain, I am in the same boat with you with respect to the Dec exam…I’ve just started studying after a very high-pressure summer and fall. I will have a lot of time over the next three weeks to work, a few work obligations-presentations, but lots of unstructured time, and I can well imagine putting in 8 hours a day on most days, perhaps 10-12 on some. What I am doing now is just focusing on the Schweser notes, which I find to be very well-written, with excellent explanations. I am doing FSA 7-10 right now, to start off, and I am going to try to crank through the whole curriculum over the next week and a half-2 weeks (looking at CFAI materials ONLY if I have extra time), and then just take practice exams nonstop that last week…I think you will feel good about yourself just immersing yourself in this process and giving it 150% of your energy. I know I am really enjoying the material and learning a great deal. I certainly don’t know about your financial situation, and you must be the final arbiter on that…but I agree with leveltwo, I have great short-term memory and forget stuff from a long time ago. I think us late starters have going for us an intensity of focus that will likely make the materials all come together more lucidly in our minds. So let’s keep pacing each other! I would be glad myself to hear from anyone with supportive comments, tips, etc.
Keemtaptain, sorry to hear about your situation. My advice - realize that November is a good month for for looking for a new job but if you miss the November window, December and early january are effectively dead for recruiting as everyone is on holidays. If I were you, I’d put “enrolled for CFA Level 1” on my resume and start looking. You can always ease off over the holidays.
FourCastles Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Keemtaptain, > > sorry to hear about your situation. My advice > - realize that November is a good month for for > looking for a new job but if you miss the November > window, December and early january are effectively > dead for recruiting as everyone is on holidays. > > If I were you, I’d put “enrolled for CFA > Level 1” on my resume and start looking. You can > always ease off over the holidays. Good point! Anyway, being laid off can happen to anyone, and often at the most inconvenient point in time. The good thing about the exam is that it’s by no means more expensive than you can enroll the program and pay for it yourself, without the support of some employer. If you miss the December exam (my odds from reading your post is that you probably will) then take it as a test run and make another shot at it in June. Take some time to watch Kramer vs. Kramer the movie, and let yourself be inspired by the job search where Mr. Kramer (Dustin Hoffman) has just lost his job and really has to get another one right away, making extensive use of the telephone. Maybe you could simply aim at some temporary stop-gap position, to ease those cost-cutting measures of yours, and work from there. That worked for me when I lost my job in 2005, I found another job within two weeks of being laid off, albeit a temporary one.