I’m planning on making a career move in the next year or so. I’m taking Level 1 in December. I hear that the finance / analyst job market is taking a hard hit right now. Does anyone have any thoughts on what the job market is like right now? How difficult will it be for someone to make a career change without any experience?
Depends where.
Career change without any experience could be difficult. You never know until you try though. The financial job market is definitely not what it was 2 or 3 years ago. 08’ graduates were unlucky.
read the NYtime article this morning
really bad. i’m at a BB bank and there are hiring freezes all over the place. its looking very bleak for the time being. im also taking L1 in December and hoping for a markable improvement going into next summer but who knows.
Chuckrox8 Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Career change without any experience could be > difficult. You never know until you try though. > The financial job market is definitely not what it > was 2 or 3 years ago. 08’ graduates were unlucky. 09 grads are unluckier…
Yeah, 08 grads had it pretty rough, but not that rough since the extent of the problems wasn’t really known in the fall when the 08s were being recruited. It’s the 09 grads that will have a heck of a time finding any decent work in finance.
Tough market in all areas of finance, not just PE/HF/IB areas… Good time to start your own business.
It may be time to make a move overseas if you have the cajones. I hear business is booming in Moscow, although I think most countries are feeling some pain from the US slowdown.
Brazil is strong in a lot of areas…
I guess its gloomy if not horrible at best. It definitely puts a damper on studying for the CFA given this economy. I’ll take everyone’s advice and sit tight.
I’d get the CFA asap so that a few years down the line (when or if you pass all 3 levels) you would be in a great shape to switch careers. No reason to wait on the CFA if I was in your shoes.
TraderJames Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > I’d get the CFA asap so that a few years down the > line (when or if you pass all 3 levels) you would > be in a great shape to switch careers. No reason > to wait on the CFA if I was in your shoes. My plan exactly. Hopefully by the time I receive my charter, ~3 yrs, Wall Street will be handing out those ridiculous bonuses again.
Chuckrox8 Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > TraderJames Wrote: > -------------------------------------------------- > ----- > > I’d get the CFA asap so that a few years down > the > > line (when or if you pass all 3 levels) you > would > > be in a great shape to switch careers. No > reason > > to wait on the CFA if I was in your shoes. > > > My plan exactly. Hopefully by the time I receive > my charter, ~3 yrs, Wall Street will be handing > out those ridiculous bonuses again. You dont get your charter just by passing the 3 exams. You also need 4 years of approved work experience. (I think its 4)
you know, everything says the market is bad right now, but there seems to be an uptick in interest. About four of my friends have gotten new gigs in the last few weeks, I have landed a few nice consulting opportunities and am getting mor interest than usual. Not sure what’s happening right now but things don’t look quite as gloomy as they did a few months back.
I talked to a recruiter few days ago, and he said that there is a very strong emphasis on risk management right now. If you remember, Citi, ML got hammered for excessive risk taking. At that end of the day, the bankers may not listen to their risk managers, but banks want to show that they have their i dotted and t crossed in the risk dept.
“Hopefully by the time I receive my charter, ~3 yrs, Wall Street will be handing out those ridiculous bonuses again.” No chance
cfa_gremlin Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > “Hopefully by the time I receive my charter, ~3 > yrs, Wall Street will be handing out those > ridiculous bonuses again.” > > No chance Actually, this seems pretty likely.
bromion Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > cfa_gremlin Wrote: > -------------------------------------------------- > ----- > > “Hopefully by the time I receive my charter, ~3 > > yrs, Wall Street will be handing out those > > ridiculous bonuses again.” > > > > No chance > > Actually, this seems pretty likely. I’m not so sure about that. Some people are questioning the ability for the big IBs to continue to exist in their current structure. I think that the business model is partially to blame - it’s hard to see beyond the present when half the revenue is paid out in bonuses in a good year. [see the earlier post with the Economist article, confessions of a risk manager] I would not hold my breath for that kind of bonus money, but then again I don’t work at one of said institutions.