CAIA Level II vs CFA Level III - My Take

I just started a new job on Aug. 29th and I definitely feel the knowledge gained from studying for the exam helped me get the job. My boss told me they phone screened 200 people for the position I have. I even whipped out my books in the interview and explained how what I learned would help me in the position and help the firm. That top 5, top 20 MBA nonsense I think is all BS. It may get you to the interview but most of “these” graduates that I know have subpar social and communication skills which is a necessary commodity. Maybe they live introverted lifestyles I don’t know. Of course a lot of firms are biased because maybe the MD went to Harvard or some other Ivy league school and only wants to hire “those” types. So be it, you can’t always win that fight.
 
nigelnyc Wrote:
——————————————————-
> I just started a new job on Aug. 29th and I
> definitely feel the knowledge gained from studying
> for the exam helped me get the job. My boss told
> me they phone screened 200 people for the position
> I have. I even whipped out my books in the
> interview and explained how what I learned would
> help me in the position and help the firm. That
> top 5, top 20 MBA nonsense I think is all BS. It
> may get you to the interview but most of “these”
> graduates that I know have subpar social and
> communication skills which is a necessary
> commodity. Maybe they live introverted lifestyles
> I don’t know. Of course a lot of firms are biased
> because maybe the MD went to Harvard or some other
> Ivy league school and only wants to hire “those”
> types. So be it, you can’t always win that fight.
I like where your head is on this, I agree with your sentiment.
 
BIG ML - But you already had exp of 15 years in the field so charter itself didn’t make you MD
 
pupdawg82 Wrote:
——————————————————-
> BIG ML - But you already had exp of 15 years in
> the field so charter itself didn’t make you MD
They generally don’t count the crap work I was doing in the beginning, like fund accounting and being an assistant PM, so let’s call it 11 years.
My point was these things mattered a lot less pre-financial crises.
 
fund accounting at state street big ML? assistant PM isnt a crap job if by PM you mean portfolio manager.
 
Azzii Wrote:
——————————————————-
> fund accounting at state street big ML? assistant
> PM isnt a crap job if by PM you mean portfolio
> manager.
Fund accounting at IBT. Worst job ever, btw! And the assistant portfolio manager job was sexier than it sounds as much of the responsibilites were operational in nature.
 
No comparison to the CFA exam. CFA is way harder to pass. There are plenty of odd questions but rungs are straight forward in CAIA unlike CFA which is dedicated to tricking and confusing you.
The material is more interesting in the CAIA exam overall, but the have a lot of common ground. My take is that anyone who can pass the CAIA could pass the CFA exam if they put in enough effort and give it enough tries.
I think the CFA exam is artificially difficult.
 
ChickenTikka Wrote:
——————————————————-
> No comparison to the CFA exam. CFA is way harder
> to pass. There are plenty of odd questions but
> rungs are straight forward in CAIA unlike CFA
> which is dedicated to tricking and confusing you.
>
>
> The material is more interesting in the CAIA exam
> overall, but the have a lot of common ground. My
> take is that anyone who can pass the CAIA could
> pass the CFA exam if they put in enough effort and
> give it enough tries.
>
> I think the CFA exam is artificially difficult.
It is always funny to me when CFAI representatives try and say they just want to make the exam “challenging”. No, you go out of your way to throw tricks and the only acceptable answers constitute regurgitating what you learned on page 192 of volume II exactly how it was written.
 
Not on the west coast. At Investors Bank and Trust in Boston. Still living here in Boston today.
 
I worked for a company that acquired IBT in 2007.
Big ML - Ready for big day?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top