Careers,Job & Education - CFA/QFA/Masters etc Questions Go Here

Reillyman

I was just wondering if people on here would be willing to share their careers with leaving cert students in the leaving cert sub-forum. We are looking for people with all kinds of jobs relating to investments and markets, economics, finance, etc.

Any help would be appreciated, just start a new thread in the forum explaining about your job, pros and cons, etc. AFAIK there is a template in the forum charter for you to list information under.

Cheers in advance.

ixus

Great idea.

I'll sticky this for a while.

Ixus

Lexus1976

Reillyman wrote: »

I was just wondering if people on here would be willing to share their careers with leaving cert students in the leaving cert sub-forum. We are looking for people with all kinds of jobs relating to investments and markets, economics, finance, etc.

Any help would be appreciated, just start a new thread in the forum explaining about your job, pros and cons, etc. AFAIK there is a template in the forum charter for you to list information under.

Cheers in advance.

Done.

Nokem

Hi all,

Iv found the careers section on the trade2win.co.uk website quite educational for anyone interested in discovering the details involved in some finance jobs.

girvtheswerve

As someone with a degree and no experience in trading or investments are these worth doing to enhance job prospects? I have no experience as i say but i do have an interest in trading etc. Interested to see replies of traders etc thus why i posted in this forum. Cheers.

Jim2007

It might help if you told us what your degree is.......

girvtheswerve

BA in english and economics

day dreamer

Hi folks,

I couldnt find this on on the forum but I am sure it must be there somewhere.

I want to take a beginners course in investment so that I understand more about what my pension is doing and hopefully become more clued in as to where and what to invest in. I know from bitter experience that most advice is commission driven so I dont mind paying if it is impartial and worthwhile.

Not sure if I can post a name but have been recommended a course linked to a well known investment website, so will send a PM if anyone can help

Thanks in advance

UpAgainToday

girvtheswerve wrote: »

As someone with a degree and no experience in trading or investments are these worth doing to enhance job prospects? I have no experience as i say but i do have an interest in trading etc. Interested to see replies of traders etc thus why i posted in this forum. Cheers.

Since you have no experience what interests you about trading?

Cyrus

girvtheswerve wrote: »

As someone with a degree and no experience in trading or investments are these worth doing to enhance job prospects? I have no experience as i say but i do have an interest in trading etc. Interested to see replies of traders etc thus why i posted in this forum. Cheers.

im not being smart at all, and i hope it isnt taken that way,

but have you researched the exams etc, they are regarded as being some of the toughest professional exams out there, i wouldnt be taking them on lightly, especially if your primary degree gives you no background in finance

dunkamania

The qualification is most sought after in people applying for Research (ie equity analyst) or Asset managment jobs. I would say that it hasnt traditionally been a trader qualification, although the number of traders taking the exams is increasing, that i can see.

jenga-jen

I'm hoping someone can help me

I'm just wondering how to go about studying for the QFAs? Do I need to be working in banking or similar in order to get the qualification?

Background: I've a 1.1 in Software Engineering and 2 years IT Audit experience with one of the Big4 accountancy firms.

Thanks!

Cyrus

jenga-jen wrote: »

I'm hoping someone can help me

I'm just wondering how to go about studying for the QFAs? Do I need to be working in banking or similar in order to get the qualification?

Background: I've a 1.1 in Software Engineering and 2 years IT Audit experience with one of the Big4 accountancy firms.

Thanks!

surely your first port of call would the qfa website???

http://www.qfaboard.ie/qfa_detail.htm

ofjames

Anyone know of any good information sources regarding the exams that need to be completed to become an 'approved person' with the FSA?

I'm a chartered accountant and a level 3 CFA candidate for June 2011 and anticipate that I will be job searching in London soon after I do the exam.

If there was a degree of overlap in terms of the Securities & Deriviatives material for Level 3 I was thinking I might take the relevant regulatory papers around the same time?

Any advice/information will be much appreciated

jhn_nolan

Sorry to hijack but ofjames I would be very interested in hearing about the steps you went to get the CA and to level 3 - did you do a masters, did you do the CFA after the accounting etc. Am thinking about doing the CFA when I get my CA but seems to be a lot of study to do full time with no study leave.

Also what kind of position/benefits do you hope to gain with the CFA as opposed to just having the CA qualification?

Thanks in advance!

ofjames

Background is Degree then Masters in Accounting. Passed my FAE last Autumn then CFA level 1 in December and Level 2 in June just gone. Luckily my firm facilitated me with a mixture of unpaid and annual leave so that i had 4 weeks off to study for the 2 CFA's. Wouldnt have been doable without it.

I finish my training contract next month. No specific investment role in mind, only prerequisites being better pay and more interesting then audit.

mono627

Trading Internship if anyone is interested (no affiliation)

http://www.tcd.ie/Careers/vacancies/job_details.php?vacancyID=9030&vacancySubTypeID=0&vacancyCategoryID=6&disciplineID=0&location=&keyword=&days=0&search=Search&pcs=0

seven-iron

of james i want to work in VC and private funding after i qualify. Could you explain how doing the cfa's could help me. Still fae's to do at the moment.

hoff1

Hi Im thinking about doing the qfas, I have a degree in accounting and was just wondering how many exams could you sit in one sitting

Goodluck2me

hoff1 wrote: »

Hi Im thinking about doing the qfas, I have a degree in accounting and was just wondering how many exams could you sit in one sitting

I reckon 3 qfas at a time are sittable. I'd say 5 qfa are similar to one cfa from my experience.

3&3QFA would be the quickest way to do it if you put the work in.

RoadKillTs

Lads any opinions on this course?

Was considering doing it next year. Would love to get trained in this area and thought this course would be a good one to start with.

Jowlsy

ofjames how difficult did you find the CFA level 1? I've read the recommendation is 250hrs study.

also did you purchase the Schweser study pack from Kaplan UK or another source?

whysomoody

Jowlsy wrote: »

ofjames how difficult did you find the CFA level 1? I've read the recommendation is 250hrs study.

also did you purchase the Schweser study pack from Kaplan UK or another source?

very tough in terms of workload the material is fine once you have done some sort fo finance before, it covers most of those types of questions.

300 hours is what most would recommend, and going through that it's hard to disagree. Do not underestimate how much volume is in the course.

ofjames

the syllabus is quite broad but the material isnt that difficult. for instance, i didnt see anything new in the quants or economics, corporate finance parts of the syllabus then what i'd covered as part of modules in my undergraduate degree. so if you have done a business or finance related degree you should have covered most of the syllabus before in some shape or form.

i'm not sure how many hrs i spent studying, i didnt count them. suffice to say it required considerable time and effort anyway. its not a walk in the park but it is certainly not impossible by any manner of means

littletony

studying for a degree in business with 59% average i want to either go into trading/investment banking or accountancy preferably big 4.

Would the professional diploma in stockbroking or the qfa diploma provided by the institute of bankers be of any use to me in getting into these industries ?

In a big 4 company or investment banks eg goldman sachs would it be looked very favourably upon to have these qualifications.

Is there any other qualifications which i could complete instead of these that would look better on my cv?
any advice for someone starting out in these careers
Any advice?

christeb

The Dip in stockbroking is pretty much useless I would imagine. Can't say mre than that. I have an ACCA DipFM which I found great (and very tough), not sure how good it is for industry though.

Shauny2010

Have a look at the masters in Computational Finance at The university of Limerick; Its a though enough course but so far theres been a 100% employment record from it. Most have got jobs in London even before they've graduated. One thing though you need to have a solid maths base for this course

Mr_Roger_Bongos

Get the head down and try to get the best degree mark possible. A 1st and a good cv will open most doors for an interview, the rest is up to you!

mono627

Networking could possibly be the best thing you can do in a job market like this. Actually knowing some-one in the business will go a long, long way.

Jobs are extremely competitive in the industries you have mentioned so you should always be on the look-out for that little advantage that could put you ahead of the next person applying for the same job.

Best of luck and don't forget to network like a ninja.

SBWife

TBH with grades like that I wouldn't give you a look in for either stockbroking or IB.

dunkamania

CFA for investments/trading

mono627

dunkamania wrote: »

CFA for investments/trading

Not particularly necessary for trading. Certainly won't work against you but by no means a pre-requisite.

SBWife

dunkamania wrote: »

CFA for investments/trading

Given you can't get a CFA without 4 years of work experience in investments the first thing you need to do is buckle down and improve your grades in the time you have remaining - in order to make your self more attractive to prospective employers. If you were a better student I'd encourage you to register with the CFA Institute and take advantage of the fact that you can take level 1 in your final year as an undergraduate, but given your lackluster GPA I think this would be a distraction.

Accountancy is a very different career path and it might make sense to to the postgrad in accountancy which would give you the maximum number of exceptions for whichever body you choose. A decent academic performance at this point could make you competitive for a top 10 training spot.

dunkamania

mono627 wrote: »

Not particularly necessary for trading. Certainly won't work against you but by no means a pre-requisite.

By no means a pre-requisite, but its hard to get your foot in the door without a fairly high academic record

mono627

dunkamania wrote: »

By no means a pre-requisite, but its hard to get your foot in the door without a fairly high academic record

Again, don't think I'd particularly agree. Academics aren't necessarily as important in trading. I think a passion for the markets and some method of showing discipline/hard work could be valued more than academics for applying for some trading jobs.

That's not to say that some places don't put emphasis on academics, completely depends on where you're applying to.

ixus

Mono and dunk are right on this.

The thing is though, trading, investing and accountancy are miles apart. You need to figure out which one you want to get into sonner rather than later. When you know which one, you then have to go after it.

To be honest, I don't hold the Big 4 in high esteem at all. Churn and burn staff. Fleece companies and really don't know sh!t about what they audit. As for their knowledge in finance.... You'd be better of doing CIMA. You'd fly through the CFA with that.

Oh, and this should be in the careers sticky. Moved.

SBWife

IXUS the CFA and CIMA are miles apart in terms of what they cover (there's potentially more overlap between ACCA and CFA) and I'd wager no one flies through the CFA.

ixus

SBWife wrote: »

IXUS the CFA and CIMA are miles apart in terms of what they cover (there's potentially more overlap between ACCA and CFA) and I'd wager no one flies through the CFA.

Apologies, I meant better of doing CIMA than other accountancy qualifications. I value it more personally. You're right, no one flies through CFA. I retract that.

pog it

By any chance does anyone know of any up-to-date booklet/career book with information on careers in the financial sector and with details of different positions available? And also about courses available in Ireland and UK?

Thanks!

Jannise

I have just finished ACCA (still waiting for final results) and joined CFA, to sit Level 1 in December 2011. Material is not very difficult, lots of overlaps, but is still every time consuming.
Currently working in investment company, but in finance department, so After Level 1 will try to move to more relevant position.

mono627

pog it wrote: »

By any chance does anyone know of any up-to-date booklet/career book with information on careers in the financial sector and with details of different positions available? And also about courses available in Ireland and UK?

Thanks!

The grad Ireland website is worth a look. Any college career/guidance counselor would have all the up-to-date booklets.

The Times (English) released a book recently with grad positions in the UK across all industries. Normally costs £16-£17 but you can get a free copy through college if you request it.

David900

Not sure this is in the right forum. I'm currently doing a Masters in Finance. I'm not sure what kind of result I will get at this stage but I think it might just be a pass. I already have a 2.1 in my degree. Will this greatly hinder me when I go for a job?

mono627

David900 wrote: »

Not sure this is in the right forum. I'm currently doing a Masters in Finance. I'm not sure what kind of result I will get at this stage but I think it might just be a pass. I already have a 2.1 in my degree. Will this greatly hinder me when I go for a job?

What kind of job are you trying to get?

David900

Something in the banking sector maybe - I'm willing to move away.
I'd take any job as long as the prospects are good.
Don't really want to get stuck in fund accounting from what I've heard though.

mono627

David900 wrote: »

Something in the banking sector maybe - I'm willing to move away.
I'd take any job as long as the prospects are good.
Don't really want to get stuck in fund accounting from what I've heard though.

AFAIK, most banking jobs will require a minimum of a 2.1. So in truth, yes, a pass may affect your chances of getting a position in one of the more competitive jobs. More competitive positions will obviously be given to people with better qualifications (provided they're not a tool).

Saying you want a job in the banking sector is a pretty broad statement, it might help if you narrow it down a bit.

London is probably your best bet for finance jobs.

Appleby123

Hey,

Not sure if im in the right forum/thread as im a new user!! So if not wud appreciate if anyone could redirect me.

I.m currently in my final year of a B.Comm degree and am hoping for a 1.1 (as this is what I've got over the last three years). Im going to be doing a Masters in Finance nexy year (starting Sep 2011) and am currently debating over which one to do: 1) Msc in Financial Economics (UCC), 2) Corporate Finance (UCC), 3/4) Msc in Finance (Trinity or UCD), 5)Msc in International Finance, (NUIG)

Smurfit and Trinity are by far more expensive to do and was wondering do ppl think it is worth the much larger investment to do a masters in one of these universities?? In other words are the job prospects that much better with these universities??

I'm also planning to do the CFA's at some stage after completing my Masters so was thinking that a Masters in somewhere like UCC as well as the CFA's would be as good on a CV as a Masters in Smurfit or TCD without the CFA.

Would really appreciate some feedback on this as have to be applying for the Masters fairly soon!!

Thanks in advance!!

ofjames

All those degree's would overlap hugely with the CFA. Doing both would not be a very worthwhile use of your time and money in my opinion. You would basically be paying for and studying the same thing twice.

The industry views the CFA as basically equivalent to a Masters in Finance or an MBA.

The problem with Masters programmes is that there are literally thousands of similar degrees worldwide. Similar, but not the same. In terms of employment, the strength of a particular degree and the perception of the graduates that come from it is largely dependent on the standing and reputation of the relevant University. Accordingly, if you have a Masters of finance from a top international school like London Business School, Harvard, Oxford, Cambridge etc... then you would be in high demand with the best employers in places like London and New York. If the degree is from a school they don't recognise however, they wont value it nearly as highly.

The attractiveness of the CFA for employers is its global footprint. No matter where you sit the exam in the world the curriculum and the test are the same. Also employers know it is of sufficient difficulty and rigour to have confidence that anyone who negotiates the 3 exams successfully has reached the level of competency they expect. In short, you could view the CFA as a really good Masters of Finance.

If you look at the Financial Times rankings of business schools and masters programmes you will see that the UCD Smurfit School is the only Irish university whose courses are regularly included in the top 100 (and they tend to be near the bottom). Trinity's courses have also made it inside the top 100 periodically. In general, the better the reputation of a university the more they charge for their programmes. In effect, you pay for what you get.

Therefore, my advice would be as follows. If you are determined to pursue the CFA then dont bother doing a general Masters in Finance. If you really want to do a Masters in the finance area than maybe do one that will focus on a niche area that does not significantly overlap with the CFA syllabus. A friend of mine did the Masters in Quantitative Finance in UCD and it is a very good course. If you have a good mathematical brain maybe looking into a course like that could be an idea.

Otherwise, with a 1st you would have a good chance of getting admitted into a top school abroad for a Masters of Finance. It will cost significantly more but it is likely you will see a return on the investment in yourself.

Appleby123

Cheers for that advice!!

Im really set on doing a Masters alright though as I prefer this type of learning environment and also don't have a job and researching a bit it sounds like a lot of ppl who do the CFA are working professionals and also it can only be fully completed if u have 4 yrs relevant work experience in the sector under your belt.

It's just I'm really wondering if the much larger investment in doing a Masters in UCD/Trinity (where the courses are CFA accredited) compared to one in UCC (Msc in Financial Economics/Msc in Corporate - which are not accredited with the CFA) is really worth it down the line when it comes to getting a good job in inv banking, venture capital, trading ect....

I am also looking at a Masters in the Erasmus Uni of Rotterdam. Their Msc in Finance & Inv is also CFA accredited and only cost a fraction of the other courses (less than 2000euro for EU students) even though the living costs would naturally be higher.

Are you sure that the industry sees a Masters in Finance as an equivalent of doing the CFA as the uni's that are accredited with this qualification seem to say that their Masters is a steeping stone in becoming a CFA and some even offer scholarships to the best students to complete it after the Masters??

Thanks again for your good advice!!

ixus

I did an MSc in Financial Services in UL. It's a decent course but, I'd highly recommend the Computational Finance course in UL if you have the maths.

I don't think you should pay over the odds for a college name from Ireland. It's just not worth it IMHO.

If I was doing it over again, I'd go abroad. Many European countries have grants for EU nationals as you mentioned. Check out the Toulouse School of economics. Go abroad, and don't look back.

You're set on the Masters, so do it. I really don't know what the accreditation offers. Can you pass/get exemptions from exams with it? If not, it means nothing. Really, it doesn't.

SBWife

There are no exemptions to any CFA exams.

It's probably considered more than a Masters (Internationally at least - it's still relatively new to Ireland so perhaps doesn't has as high a reputation here) because it's normally achieved while working full time so it demonstrates an ability to time manage and handle pressure in excess of that needed to complete a full time Masters.

mono627

Appleby123 wrote: »

Hey,

Not sure if im in the right forum/thread as im a new user!! So if not wud appreciate if anyone could redirect me.

I.m currently in my final year of a B.Comm degree and am hoping for a 1.1 (as this is what I've got over the last three years). Im going to be doing a Masters in Finance nexy year (starting Sep 2011) and am currently debating over which one to do: 1) Msc in Financial Economics (UCC), 2) Corporate Finance (UCC), 3/4) Msc in Finance (Trinity or UCD), 5)Msc in International Finance, (NUIG)

Smurfit and Trinity are by far more expensive to do and was wondering do ppl think it is worth the much larger investment to do a masters in one of these universities?? In other words are the job prospects that much better with these universities??

I'm also planning to do the CFA's at some stage after completing my Masters so was thinking that a Masters in somewhere like UCC as well as the CFA's would be as good on a CV as a Masters in Smurfit or TCD without the CFA.

Would really appreciate some feedback on this as have to be applying for the Masters fairly soon!!

Thanks in advance!!

If you're looking at applying to IB's the best thing you can do is apply for their Summer internship programmes. Having an IB on your CV is worth more than any Master's course IMHO.

Doing the Trinity MSc at the moment, so if you have any specific questions fire ahead.