Would Prob learn more in CFA PROG than masters

So, here’s my dilemma and I’m sure other people on this site are faced with the same problem, so please chime in. I graduated in may with a degree in finance and cant find a job, what else is new right? I just sat for level 1 of the cfa a week ago and have already begun studying for level 2, because I feel pretty confident that I passed. At the same time I am getting restless and starting to think I should do a masters in finance or else I will never find a job. The only problem with this route is that it seems like a huge waste of money. Why should i spend 20,30, or $40k dollars, when I could probably learn more completing the cfa program. On top of that I have absolutely no interest in doing a masters right now, because I want to get out there and work for a while. I just spent the last 18 years of my life in school and the last thing I want to do i go back right now. My plan was originally to work for a few years and get an mba, but my parents are pushing me to get a masters, seeing that I cant even land an interview, let alone a job. (BTW I graduated with a 3.5 GPA, from a decent business school in NYC (not NYU), so its not like I messed up in undergrad. Should I try to clear level 2 in June (assuming I passed level 1) and then hopefully find a job, or should I start studying for the GMAT?

What sorts of jobs are you applying for? If I was in your situation, I would apply to jobs that I would not otherwise have considered. For instance, jobs at non-profit organizations or other places that are not related to finance. This at least might be a decent set up for eventually applying to MBA programs: “I helped poor kids for a couple of years”. Plus, it might even be a good experience. Getting a Master’s degree might help you a bit when you graduate, particularly if the economy improves. However, if you don’t have the attitude right now to do well at school, then you should probably do something else. That’s what I think anyway. Good luck.

I would concentrate on finding a job first and in your spare time continue to study for the CFA to keep you sharp. Are you mobile? Can you move cities? You should be able to get interviews with your background so the fact that you are not suggests you may need to revamp your resume and/or work on your job seeking/networking skills. If your parents will pay for your MSF, that may be an option but I would not go into debt to do it.

Ballin’ as long as you from BK you golden paatnah.

@NYC Gorilla Haha if only that were the case… I am completely mobile, I can move to Siberia, if someone offers me a job there, although I prefer someplace warm

stay in NYC brother if you want finance and you want to work hard. apply to Bloomberg, Thomson Reuters, etc., any of these companies. Something will come up.

pace is the problem

@builders pace? I didn’t graduate from Pace and how is that relevant? Are you suggesting I go back and time and attend a different school?

Are you applying to only the tough to get jobs like equity research or ibanking? Try to turn it down to middle or back office to get some experience. Then again, if you’re already doing that, try going to even corporate analyst at a fortune 500 or something.

I have been mostly applying for tough to get jobs, but not BB like JP Morgan, mostly small boutique firms, unpaid research positions, asset management. I don’t know where to look for corporate finance jobs. Monster and Careerbuilder are crap, efinancialcareers I am underqualified for most, Craigslist has too many scams and perhaps 5 legit job postings per week, so are there any other sites you guys suggest?

Go to the company’s own website, the career section. Nearly all of them have a direct application there

Try something else. Doubling down on more “finance” education isn’t really going to broaden your horizons.

I take this as rule of thumb: “If you graduate in recession, you’ll have to go back to school once again”

well you said it yourself that you have absolutely no interest in getting a master, so why even think about it? It’s unlikely that the master will boost your prospect in this kind of job market. It certainly isn’t going to be better than passing Level 2. So if I were you I would study hard to pass Level 2 and keep searching at the same time.

builders Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > pace is the problem haha.

Pace is a pathetic excuse for a school. I have no idea why anyone would pay money or waste their life to go there.

it’s in FIDI kiddo and spoiled rich kids can say they live and went to school in NYC

Well fortunately I didn’t go to pace, I went to baruch. I would think that baruch is at least somewhat respected in nyc.the quality of education is definately good, but it doesn’t have the name recognition or alumni network of other schools. Hereks something else for you guys, I know someone that graduated from community college and now works in finace,

But that was in 2006 which was a very different time.

Anyway, it doesn’t really matter which school you went to. However, it matters that you are not having success with your current job search. So either you have to be more aggressive with your job search, or you need to consider other productive things, like going back to school. That’s about it… Edit: By “more aggressive”, I mean less selective. Also, have you had someone critique your resume? I recently found some old resumes from when I was just graduating, and was pretty shocked at what I thought was good at the time.