CFA to make move into I.T?

M

MustardAndFries

New member
Joined
Jun 18, 2026
Messages
0
Reaction score
0
Hi guys,
I need your advice. I am currently working in a front office doing equity research, and really want to make a transition to IT. I’m wondering if the CFA charter will help me do this? I did my MBA at Wharton and did a couple of internships at MS and Goldman, but need a change. I am finding it very difficult to make the transition into IT. Any advice would be greatly appreciated!
Thanks,
Mustard
 
Have you thought about becoming an engineer?
Make sure you network
 
We’re afraid your intelligence cannot handle the complexities of IT work.
 
Writing CFA to swtich into IT?? I think you are already on the wrong path.
 
MustardAndFries wrote:
Hi guys,
I need your advice. I am currently working in a front office doing equity research, and really want to make a transition to IT. I’m wondering if the CFA charter will help me do this? I did my MBA at Wharton and did a couple of internships at MS and Goldman, but need a change. I am finding it very difficult to make the transition into IT. Any advice would be greatly appreciated!
Thanks,
Mustard
Click to expand...
Only BSDs can switch to IT.
Wharton is home to the moron prof who shaved his head and then found a correlation between perception of power and bald head. Just saying.
 
You know, I do know somebody who started off working on manager due diligence for a FoF and then worked his way into IT after starting the CFA program…..out of choice.
 
You can make a pretty good living out of IT, I’d be willing to bet you can make more than most of the shitkicking jobs in finance.
In the financial sector, a developer with 5 years experience can easily be making $150-$300K a year.
 
Let me pull my thread from 10 years ago with exactly same title.
Youngesters need to have some respect for seniors on this forum
 
300k is pushsing it, for 300k with 5 year experience you either need to be very lucky to make into management or need to have very solid math background (MFE from top 5 minimum)
 
comp_sci_kid wrote:
300k is pushsing it, for 300k with 5 year experience you either need to be very lucky to make into management or need to have very solid math background (MFE from top 5 minimum)
Click to expand...
I’d agree with your statement if you are only talking about permanent roles (i.e. it’s a small percentile of developers who can break $200K a year as a permy). But if you’re a contractor and have a combination of decent IT skills and something that makes you niche (i.e. knowledge of certain systems or products), you can easily make $200 - 300K a year, and even more with certain skills. A guy I worked with was a Java developer with experience in implementing Calypso systems for banks (trade and risk management system), he was making $2K a day as a contractor there for the 2 years he was there. That’s an outlier, but you do hear about it these kind of salaries being paid to people in IT.
I’m not familiar with the NYC market, but I have experience with the London and Sydney market. Contracting rates in IT in London (in the finance sector) are between 375 and 700 pound sterling per day (that’s like $160 - $300K a year). I’d say that range covers the 25th to 95th percentile for contract roles.
Have a look for yourself. Type in “VBA Banking”, “C# Banking”, ”Java Calypso” as keywords and have a look at the rates on offer. These aren’t quant or management jobs.
http://www.technojobs.co.uk
http://www.technojobs.co.uk/job.phtml/1074976
Here’s even a job in New York which requires VBA and SQL and pays $320K a year.
http://www.technojobs.co.uk/job.phtml/1071034
 
One other thing to add also is that working as an IT contractor you can also get away with paying a lot less tax (so $300K ends up looking like $400K when you compare it on an after tax basis). Setting yourself up off-shore (Isle of Man, Luxemburg, etc), paying “company” dividends to your wife, and heaps more tricks can all act as very effective and completely legal tax shields that you couldn’t do as a permy.
 
What’s the contracting market like in NYC these days L3Crucifier? My wife and I are thinking of doing a stint in NYC at some point (she wants to study creative writing at Columbia while I pay the bills). I was a RAD developer in the derivatives space for a number of years so was thinking I could contract for 18 months or so if we did quick stint there. The London market looked like there were loads of jobs so hoping it’s the same or better in NYC.
 
cleverCFA wrote:
What’s the contracting market like in NYC these days L3Crucifier? My wife and I are thinking of doing a stint in NYC at some point (she wants to study creative writing at Columbia while I pay the bills). I was a RAD developer in the derivatives space for a number of years so was thinking I could contract for 18 months or so if we did quick stint there. The London market looked like there were loads of jobs so hoping it’s the same or better in NYC.
Click to expand...
There aren’t many jobs here. I would avoid unless abosutely necessary.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top