CFA worth it?

pcworldisajoke

Hi folks, looking for advice, and would really appreciate anyone taking the time.

I'm 31, I came to finance work a fair few years after college. I have 3.5 years finance (mostly funds ) experience,( 1.5 years direct dealing for an offshore life platform (equities, funds, deposits etc. -not gordon gecko dealing, but lower key, but alot of pressure and responsibility), 1.5 years middle office operations for a British Hedge fund. And 6 months of miscellaneous finance/fund stuff.)
I've been in sales for the past year or so, and havent done finance for 2 years nearly. I have a 2.1 degree in business studies majoring in FInance.

I have alot of time on my hands being part time with sales, and im thinking about doing the CFA exams. I know theyre extremely hard, but i think i can get them with hard work.
I can also 'expand' my work experience to make it 4 years if you know what i mean, for the cfa qualification.

So what i'm asking is, would I be better off just reentering financial services on average money now, in similar positions as above, or would it be worth it financially in the end attempting and getting the CFA. At my age, ill be 33/34 when i finish, would that stand against me in any way? How hard would it be to go ino a job interview and say- 'I have a CFA, I can be a financial analyst'

TO be perfectly honest, i ve been looking at jobs around london and here, and some of the money for financial analysts or CFA qualified people is alot more than id ever earn in middle office or funds in general. One thing i will say is, i havent much accounting bar the basic business degree stuff.

THanks for any opinions from expeience,
kind regards.

bridgepeople

My advice is to get a job in finance first. There is no point in passing the CFA exams if you are working in an unrelated field.

Getting the charter won't guarantee you a good job by the way. It is equivalent to a masters in finance from a top university. It looks good on the CV and will help you get interviews, but a lot of other factors will come in to play with the main one being your work experience.

There's no harm in signing up for December's level 1 exam at this stage. You can put it on your CV (as a minor point!) that you have signed up just to indicate that you are interested in pursuing the designation. Just remember, nothing trumps work experience when it comes to landing a senior position.

Good luck in the job hunt!

pcworldisajoke

bridgepeople wrote: »

My advice is to get a job in finance first. There is no point in passing the CFA exams if you are working in an unrelated field.

Getting the charter won't guarantee you a good job by the way. It is equivalent to a masters in finance from a top university. It looks good on the CV and will help you get interviews, but a lot of other factors will come in to play with the main one being your work experience.

There's no harm in signing up for December's level 1 exam at this stage. You can put it on your CV (as a minor point!) that you have signed up just to indicate that you are interested in pursuing the designation. Just remember, nothing trumps work experience when it comes to landing a senior position.

Good luck in the job hunt!

hi bridge, thanks for replying.

As i was saying, i already have 3 odd years finance experience, just not lately (not in the last 2 years) as described in the opening post. The experience is run of the mill operations stuff really, some dealing, but nothing as in depth as you'd be studying in the CFA.

Do you think that would experience would stand to me with a CFA in an optimistic two years, if i got the CFA and then went looking for CFA jobs (being out of finance work for possibly 4 years by then).

Have you done the CFA yourself btw?

Thanks again

whysomoody

bridgepeople wrote: »

My advice is to get a job in finance first. There is no point in passing the CFA exams if you are working in an unrelated field.

Getting the charter won't guarantee you a good job by the way. It is equivalent to a masters in finance from a top university. It looks good on the CV and will help you get interviews, but a lot of other factors will come in to play with the main one being your work experience.

I agree completely agree with the first comment, but the second is wide of the mark. Level 1 alone is like a masters, the whole 3 is a cut-apart.

There are only 208 or so CFA charter-holders in Ireland there are hundreds of masters students in Ireland every year - huge difference. Simply supply-demand.

pcworldisajoke wrote: »

hi bridge, thanks for replying.

As i was saying, i already have 3 odd years finance experience, just not lately (not in the last 2 years) as described in the opening post. The experience is run of the mill operations stuff really, some dealing, but nothing as in depth as you'd be studying in the CFA.

Do you think that would experience would stand to me with a CFA in an optimistic two years, if i got the CFA and then went looking for CFA jobs (being out of finance work for possibly 4 years by then).

Have you done the CFA yourself btw?

Thanks again

I would say you could perhaps to level 1 of the CFA, but you would be better to get a decent FO job before you continue with it.

I don't think you can even do level 2 & 3 unless you are in full time employment which is relevant to front office finance work. You will need 4 years of portfolio management or research related work in order to obtain the charter anyway. The CFA is designed to separate the best analysts from the rest, it is not designed to show you could be an analyst.

Tricky1979

Do it if you want to get established and progress in Front Office or a Risk Management role. In the current climate employers have their pick of the crop and a CFA would set you apart.

CFA's are professional exams and you will need relevant work experience to assist your studies (i'm not sure of the required experience to obtain the charter).

I'm doing a different set of professional exams (also in my early 30's) and they are a big step up from college exams. I know the same applies to the CFA's.

You are only in your early 30's and will likely be working for 35 years or more so they will pay dividends in the long term!!

razorblunt

Sat CFA level 1 last December,didn't pass but wasn't too far away. Not as difficult as it's made out to be but it's the sheer volume of material.

I'll probably resit it as my company pay for your first attempt, but being in a non financial role I'd find it hard to get motivated and probably understand the 2nd and 3rd level material.

whysomoody

razorblunt wrote: »

Sat CFA level 1 last December,didn't pass but wasn't too far away. Not as difficult as it's made out to be but it's the sheer volume of material.

I'll probably resit it as my company pay for your first attempt, but being in a non financial role I'd find it hard to get motivated and probably understand the 2nd and 3rd level material.

2nd Level is a ridiculous step up, 3rd Level similar to Level 1.

soddy1979

whysomoody wrote: »

2nd Level is a ridiculous step up, 3rd Level similar to Level 1.

You are on 3 aren't you? Do you really think it is similar to 1? I thought it was much harder than 2. Not so much the material, more the way it is examined.

SBWife

Back in the olden days when I did it there was a significant step up from level to level with both the material and the level of understanding required to pass at level 3 being significantly higher than level 2.