Obtaining the charter has definitely helped me, in terms both of knowledge and career. However I am still in a Middle/Back office position, and am finding it difficult ( i think due to intense competition) to move to more of a front office role. Despite this I am still happy I pursued the charter.
Wow. I’m in the same boat! But I’m level 3 only and did illiquid assets. The sector I was in is completely gone. There’s absolutely nothing. So i moved out of ny, and decided to study biology. I was planning to do some kind of research in healthcare indu. So far I only got 2 interviews on healthcare indu. I didn’t get the jobs. 
I applied to countless positions, emailing directly to the guys in charge and what not. At this point, I see no hope in finance at all. I feel employers do discriminate when they see you’re unemployed for awhile and tend to reject immediately. One asked, “did you work the last 2years?” obviously my resume is up to date! So I said, “no, but I’ve been working on my life resume in this awesome economy. Would you like to see?” I’m so sick of this. To be honest, I’m actually quite proud of my life resume. Ive looked into starting my own consulting firm, restaurant biz, and some kind of crazy online gig, which ended up “stolen” from my partner. Im now getting into fitness field, looking to compete next year. So sad. No more finance paychecks at least I got a happy body. 
SkipE99 Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > 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 Sorry for the thread hijack, but I am desperate for some guidance Skipp I have a question for you that maybe you can help me with, how does a guy with analytical experience in a field outside of the capital markets (managerial accounting and reporting) get an entry level sales and service position in the capital markets with the hope of eventually moving to discretionary wealth management? if you told me i should take a pay cut and get a job as a teller I would do that.
SkipE99 Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > did you just use it as a noun? forgive please. > english is my fourth language. yes chumbawumba > Mudda! I was just kidding SkipE
bchadwick Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > 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. To the OP, bchadwick makes a great point about having a cup of coffee with someone to share ideas. Who do you know in the industry that you respect? People tend to like talking about themselves–ask about their career path. Ask what they would do if they were in your shoes. Maybe you could meet some new people at CFA events who do a job you are interested in? It seems to me that most asset managers would value the CFA in many roles, not just research. I know charterholders in sales and client service who make a nice living who would say the CFA helped them get ahead. Best of luck with your job search, hang in there!
newsuper Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > SkipE99 Wrote: > -------------------------------------------------- > ----- > > did you just use it as a noun? forgive please. > > english is my fourth language. yes chumbawumba > > Mudda! > > > I was just kidding SkipE so was I mate. cheers! bodhi…no real advice for you. everyone has so many different situations, backgrounds, and resources that what is best for one is likely not best for another. The easiest way to get in would be to tail a SVP home from the office one day and set up a situation where you save his life and then thus drop a subtle hint that you are seeking an analyst position. To do it the hard way, I am sure a Schwab, AXA, or Ed Jones may consider you for an entry level role, but most of the time in financial sales you make 100 calls to get 1 meeting and it is extremely time consuming and stressful. You are not the only one that would like to work in a DMM office. People with years of experience and skill would kill to have these jobs as would most people on this forum. Why do you want to be an analyst? What makes you think you could outperform other analysts and bring alpha to a portfolio? If you have a special skill, strategy, or trading idea, test it out and blog results publicly long term. Make yourself a commodity. I dont know man, Sorry I cant help out more on this, perhaps others can.
SkipE99 Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > newsuper Wrote: > -------------------------------------------------- > ----- > > SkipE99 Wrote: > > > -------------------------------------------------- > > > ----- > > > did you just use it as a noun? forgive > please. > > > english is my fourth language. yes > chumbawumba > > > Mudda! > > > > > > I was just kidding SkipE > > > so was I mate. cheers! > > bodhi…no real advice for you. everyone has so > many different situations, backgrounds, and > resources that what is best for one is likely not > best for another. The easiest way to get in would > be to tail a SVP home from the office one day and > set up a situation where you save his life and > then thus drop a subtle hint that you are seeking > an analyst position. > > To do it the hard way, I am sure a Schwab, AXA, or > Ed Jones may consider you for an entry level role, > but most of the time in financial sales you make > 100 calls to get 1 meeting and it is extremely > time consuming and stressful. > > You are not the only one that would like to work > in a DMM office. People with years of experience > and skill would kill to have these jobs as would > most people on this forum. Why do you want to be > an analyst? What makes you think you could > outperform other analysts and bring alpha to a > portfolio? If you have a special skill, strategy, > or trading idea, test it out and blog results > publicly long term. Make yourself a commodity. I > dont know man, Sorry I cant help out more on > this, perhaps others can. I don’t believe most managers can achieve consistent alpha within the constraints imposed on them by their clients. Also, I don’t want to be an analyst I envision myself in more of a relationship management role. Ideally, my focus would be on sales and client service or perhaps product management. I believe this would be the best fit for me because I enjoy building relationships, working with people and helping them to articulate and achieve their goals. In addition to enjoying the more client focused area of the business, I bring to the table exceptional communication and interpersonal skills. Prior to becoming a spreadsheet monkey I was a counselor at a non-profit where I continue to volunteer my time primarily in their business development/fundraising activities. I am just struggling to find out where the entry point for those types of roles lay. Thanks for your input either way.
bodhisattva Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > SkipE99 Wrote: > -------------------------------------------------- > ----- > > newsuper Wrote: > > > -------------------------------------------------- > > > ----- > > > SkipE99 Wrote: > > > > > > -------------------------------------------------- > > > > > > ----- > > > > did you just use it as a noun? forgive > > please. > > > > english is my fourth language. yes > > chumbawumba > > > > Mudda! > > > > > > > > > I was just kidding SkipE > > > > > > so was I mate. cheers! > > > > bodhi…no real advice for you. everyone has so > > many different situations, backgrounds, and > > resources that what is best for one is likely > not > > best for another. The easiest way to get in > would > > be to tail a SVP home from the office one day > and > > set up a situation where you save his life and > > then thus drop a subtle hint that you are > seeking > > an analyst position. > > > > To do it the hard way, I am sure a Schwab, AXA, > or > > Ed Jones may consider you for an entry level > role, > > but most of the time in financial sales you > make > > 100 calls to get 1 meeting and it is extremely > > time consuming and stressful. > > > > You are not the only one that would like to > work > > in a DMM office. People with years of > experience > > and skill would kill to have these jobs as > would > > most people on this forum. Why do you want to > be > > an analyst? What makes you think you could > > outperform other analysts and bring alpha to a > > portfolio? If you have a special skill, > strategy, > > or trading idea, test it out and blog results > > publicly long term. Make yourself a commodity. > I > > dont know man, Sorry I cant help out more on > > this, perhaps others can. > > > I don’t believe most managers can achieve > consistent alpha within the constraints imposed on > them by their clients. Also, I don’t want to be an > analyst I envision myself in more of a > relationship management role. Ideally, my focus > would be on sales and client service or perhaps > product management. > > I believe this would be the best fit for me > because I enjoy building relationships, working > with people and helping them to articulate and > achieve their goals. In addition to enjoying the > more client focused area of the business, I bring > to the table exceptional communication and > interpersonal skills. Prior to becoming a > spreadsheet monkey I was a counselor at a > non-profit where I continue to volunteer my time > primarily in their business > development/fundraising activities. > > I am just struggling to find out where the entry > point for those types of roles lay. Thanks for > your input either way. The asset management company I worked for had two traditional paths to Relationship Management (which is a great career in my opinion): The ‘back office’ of relationship management (there it was called ‘Client Service Advisor’) which at it’s worst was the RM’s b!tch and at it’s best you got some interactions with clients. The other route (typically) was from investment management, so being an Analyst on a sector. Don’t know if that helps but I’ve networked with quite a few of these guys (a couple closely) and they seem to enjoy the work, pretty analytical but also the sales component and good comp/prestige (sometimes their on boards and develop pretty deep/close relationships with their investors), feel free to email me with questions (cfahustler@gmail.com).
You won’t get your dream job because you have a CFA. But I don’t think you need to be unemployed or working at KFC either. Be a little more creative and I’m sure you can find something interesting to work on.