Curious if anyone is having any luck out there in terms of finding anything? While employed I got my charter in 2007; and while obviously correlated with the market tumble, the charter has meant zilch for me personally; has opened no doors…obviously in isolation nothing works but my broader point stands If you dont work in ER; the charter is a complete waste of time in my opinion…and it doesnt help that there is effectively no CFAI or NYSSA career services/job sites (the fact that NYSSA uses efinancialcareers is why I refuse to give the NYSSA a penny going forward)
What is your background? What do you currently do? How many applications? How many interviews? What jobs are you applying for?
the fact that you are looking through public forum postings for finance jobs is not a good sign. dont you have any old friends you used to work with or went to school with in the field? or maybe no one likes you perhaps? point is that people get finance jobs by graduating from an Ivy or by knowing someone. trying to get a good job by applying to posted jobs on a public website has an extremely low success ratio imho. good luck man. sorry to hear about your unemployment, i know its rough out there
Work in structured finance/credit risk - which has seen a 95% decline in issuance since 2007; yea, networking - surely networking is all one needs to do!! Have you tried networking recently - been successful? In NYC there has been a 25% drop in financial services employmenty since 2007…CFA or no CFA nothing can combat that
You didn’t answer my questions. How many apps? Any intvs?
dmnyc Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > If you dont work in ER; the charter is a complete > waste of time in my opinion…and it doesnt help > that there is effectively no CFAI or NYSSA career > services/job sites > In NYC there has been a 25% drop in financial > services employmenty since 2007…CFA or no CFA > nothing can combat that So… the CFA doesn’t help because nothing can help? The CFA isn’t a golden ticket and I don’t hear anyone saying it is. However, that doesn’t mean it’s without value. If you’re having trouble getting a job now then imagine how much more difficult that would be without a CFA.
dmnyc Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Work in structured finance/credit risk - which has > seen a 95% decline in issuance since 2007; yea, > networking - surely networking is all one needs to > do!! Have you tried networking recently - been > successful? > > In NYC there has been a 25% drop in financial > services employmenty since 2007…CFA or no CFA > nothing can combat that i agree a lot of jobs in financial services will never come back. at some point you have to cut your losses and look in another field. If it were me, i’d start a business.
I agree with those who have said that you have to evolve. I was in mortgage loan trading and realized fairly quickly after I was laid off in 2008 that it was fruitless to try to continue in a field where the number of jobs was severely reduced and I was competing with untold thousands of other newly laid off people with the same experience. That’s not to say you have to exit finance. There are plenty of finance positions that value the type of experience you have, you just have to be creative in selling yourself, and you have to be willing to adjust your career and adapt to the times.
I think that’s the key. Don’t expect people to try to do any kind of mental work figuring out how your skills are transferrable and where you’d fit elsewhere. You have to figure that out. With a bribe of coffee and a promise of not being pressured into offering you a job, some people will try to help you brainstorm, and that’s worth doing.
Monger - Was wondering if you are willing to chat offline regarding the mortgage industry. I currently have a job and am weighing some options and you seem like someone who would be good to bounce some ideas off of.
No prob. My email is my username at gmail.
Correct, my inability to find another gig is not the CFA’s fault…there are so many other factors at play…and yes obtaining the CFA was never meant to be a panacea for a career derailed…BUT I am disappointed that there really is no CFA NETWORK and that the CFA does not really seem to open doors to the extent I envisioned it would prior to getting the charter…I simply would tell those seeking the charter that the CFA should simply be seen as a personal milestone, nothing more…
Our discretionary team wont even consider you unless you have the charter. Also, the reasoning management gave us for hiring on an advisor at a higher scale was ,“well, it was because he was a CFA” In other words, I have seen the advantage it can bring and was also told by a senior vp in discretionary money management that the cfa is somewhat like “a secret handshake” I say move out of NYC into another big metropolitan area where you can be a bigger fish in a smaller pond and pay less tax. If I make it past L3 I will for sure look to hire a charterholder over a non-charterholder. Your NYC experience may skew your view. And stop being bitter. Sorry for grammar on iphone
Skip, stop spoiling the bitterness festival. 
Some of us sing the songs that remind us of the good times, others sing the song that reminds us of the bitter times.
I got my current job because I had the charter. I’m relatively young and already had the charter, whereas the other candidates they interviewed didn’t. It’s obviously not that simple, but my current boss has told me that it was a major factor in the decision. The credential meant a lot to the company for marketing purposes, and he was more comfortable knowing that he wouldn’t have to waste time explaining basic things to me (it was a junior level research role). I’ve worked for two asset management firms in my short career. The charter means a lot at my current firm and it meant nothing at my previous firm. How much an employer will value the charter will differ on a case by case basis, but I thought I’d give another perpective to the original poster. I also think it’s typically more valued at smaller firms who don’t always have access to “ivy league” type candidates.
FIresearch Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > I also think it’s typically more valued at > smaller firms who don’t always have access to “ivy > league” type candidates. +10. If you’re applying at BB firms or top-top-top-tier funds, etc, everyone’s gonna have a pretty much great resume. If you’re applying at a smaller firm, it’s a meaningful way to distinguish yourself from some of the other candidates who are in the pay bracket they’ve set out for the position.
You have as yet been unable to tell us despite two attempts at asking what your application & success rate is to determine whether the charter has entirely not helped you or you have not helped you. I think we have more of an insight into that now. SkipE99, isn’t that a line from a chumbawumba song?
SkipE99 Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Also, the reasoning > management gave us for hiring on an advisor at a > higher scale was ,“well, it was because he was a > CFA” I hope you reported him to the PCP goons for an ethics violation…it sickens me every time I see CFA used as noun.
did you just use it as a noun? forgive please. english is my fourth language. yes chumbawumba Mudda!