Has the CFA helped you find a job?

someone should post this link in the L1 forum…maybe i should do it since i have that reputation now
 
I went to a pretty prestigious US college, rhymes with Bratwurst, and at such places they don’t really let you major in useful things. Even Econ, which would be the most “businessy” major isn’t really that useful. I majored in something slightly less useful than gay-transgender-african-american-homosexual-eskimo studies.
In any case, I find the CFA program has been useful for me somewhat in making the argument that I’m just not another snooty liberal arts grad that can’t deal with “hard science” or whatever it is you call it.
Still, I can say without a drop of doubt, that it has not been as useful as being able to put my school on my CV. But..
My school, has not been nearly as useful as me just being a decent reasonable person, not terrible looking, smart enough, and overall a pleasure to work with. For all you qualification hunters trying find a linear route into whatever field it is you are trying to break into, I would suggest working on those soft skills because odds are that is where you are lacking. This goes double for all you Asian math whizzes.
a) Join a Gym; go on a diet
b) Buy some decent clothes. Not flashy, but quality.
c) Read a few self help books on how to do deal with humans and most importantly how to at least pretend to empathize.
d) Learn how to charm the pants off of women.
e) Try reading and talking about something that will demonstrate that you are an interesting, intelligent, and thoughtful person. Perhaps take up an interesting hobby unrelated to World of Warcraft or anything involving magic. Don’t be just an automaton of quant.
At the end of the day we all need to take a good look at ourselves in the mirror and work on our weak points, which we all have.
 
Chicken Tikka, you are turning in to a Guru. See what a prolonged stay in India is doing to you?
 
ChickenTikka, that is funny. there is merit to some of the points you make. Thx for bringing some levity as we go thru this wait.
 
I’m in Toronto so the Ivey league thing doesn’t really apply here as much. I don’t understand how everyone assumes that if you can’t find a job in finance and are well educated you must be a social pariah. My observation has really been that its not what you know but who you know. So much for living in a meritocracy.
Being a CFA forum I created this thread so that the collective internet community can confirm what everybody knows and no one seems to really address (at least not with any amount of emphasis) which is:
Do not waste your time or money pursuing the CFA until you have an industry job. Otherwise 3 years, a few thousand dollars and around 1000 hours of study time later you’ll still find yourself 4 years away from possessing anything useful (academic curiosities aside).
 
i dont think you are the first one to come to that conclusion. all these discussions pretty much boil down to exactly what you said. I agree with you completely.
 
I don’t know if that’s necessarily true, for entry level guys, I think it helps them be taken more seriously. Maybe not for older folks.
 
mathlete Wrote:
——————————————————-
> I’m in Toronto so the Ivey league thing doesn’t
> really apply here as much. I don’t understand how
> everyone assumes that if you can’t find a job in
> finance and are well educated you must be a social
> pariah. My observation has really been that its
> not what you know but who you know. So much for
> living in a meritocracy.
>
> Being a CFA forum I created this thread so that
> the collective internet community can confirm what
> everybody knows and no one seems to really address
> (at least not with any amount of emphasis) which
> is:
>
> Do not waste your time or money pursuing the CFA
> until you have an industry job. Otherwise 3 years,
> a few thousand dollars and around 1000 hours of
> study time later you’ll still find yourself 4
> years away from possessing anything useful
> (academic curiosities aside).
If you are in the right school, with the right degree ,with the right GPA and the right work ethic and you STILL can’t land an entry level job out of school, then the likelihood is a) that there is something wrong with you far and b) you’re applying for positions that are not entry level positions. Those two reasons FAR outweigh the probability that nepotism is is present and you’re a victim. The people that claim the we got hired as a result of our “connections” are really just the sore losers that couldn’t make the cut (Sorry).
Now, on this “who you know” idea - if you’re doing everything right in school (which you seem to claim is the case), then you should be quite involved academically with clubs, social events and hopefully have a great relationship with your professors. That is a very valuable tool to meet industry people. In a job application you stand a much better chance to scoring that interview (and with your superior interview skills, land the job) when the guy who’s reading the resume goes “oh yes, Joe… I met him at the U of XX… nice guy…”
 
Bah… Extra post not required anymore ( I didn’t know which school rhymed with Bratwurst)
Can I delete posts??
Dope
This must mean I failed L3
 
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