Job opportunities for CFA L1??

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puneet_singal20

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I from India and I am interested to do job/work experience in the field of Private Equity and Venture Capital or as a Financial Analyst in Singapore or HongKong which has better work opportunities and global exposure
Cleared Level 1 in Dec, 2011 and registered for Level 2 in June, 2012
Can anyone guide me regarding the job opportunities in Singapore or HongKong (Does CFA help in getting good jobs)?
I have a work experience of about 10 months.
Please please people provide me guidance on this matter.. Extremely important for me..
 
Congratulations on passing level 1. You are probably the 20th Indian person asking if passing level 1 will get you a great job somewhere. The answer is no, level 1 is not enough
 
For private equity or venture capital, passing all three levels isn’t enough, let alone passing level 1.
 
Family member who is in a senior role at PE or VC Firm > Friend who is in a senior role at PE or VC Firm > Existing PE or VC experience > MBA from Top-tier b-school > CFA chartholder > Passing Level 1 of CFA Exam.
 
Oh and in HK, you need Mandarin, Cantonese, and English. In Singapore you just need Mandarin and English. Those are often the prereqs for finance jobs in general.
 
Hot girl with stellar rack > well educated average looking guy from top school > passed level 1 CFA
 
CFA is better than no CFA, but not really all that helpful for PE and VC, as I understand it. Those guys want either equity research experience (which is in the CFA curriculum, but there’s lots of other stuff too that is not so relevant to PE), or they want a large list of connections and deal-making experience.
 
bchadwick wrote:
CFA is better than no CFA, but not really all that helpful for PE and VC, as I understand it. Those guys want either equity research experience (which is in the CFA curriculum, but there’s lots of other stuff too that is not so relevant to PE), or they want a large list of connections and deal-making experience.
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In that sense, anything is better than nothing. A BA in music is better than not having one, but the relevancy is just not there for PE/VC.
Is equity research really the preferred route? I would have guessed i-banking for all the valuation work you do.
 
Suppose I clear Level 2 in June, 2012, then wat are my chances for Job opportunity in Singapore or HongKong??
Basically a finance profile like Financial Analyst, not necessarily in Private Equity or Venture Capital Firm
 
I know more about HK than SIngapore, so I’ll tell you what I know and hopefully help you decide.
Assuming you pass level 2, and you are just looking for a financial anlayst role, your chances are a lot better than PE/VC. Would it be easy? Probably not. If it were a few years back, I would say your chances are pretty good. But the financial job market in HK has been flooded with applicants, and it’s nowhere near as easy nowadays to get a job. In HK, you typically need to speak both Mandarin, Cantonese, and English to get the best jobs. They target English speaking countries, and mainland China.
I would imagine passing level 2 means signifcantly more than passing level 1, but you have to remember it’s Asia. Those kids study for exams like their lives depended on it (I would know since I lived there and researched there during undergrad).
It’s a pretty daunting challenge to take to just fly there and hope someone would offer you a job and visa. There pay is also very low (at least compared to similar jobs in the US, I don’t know the equivalent in India), and they’ll work you to death. I have a friend at MS in HK working up to 120 hours a week.
Another thing, their views on education is US > Europe > HK, China, TW > rest of the world. I don’t know where you did your schooling, but that’s something to keep in mind.
 
120 hours a week?!?! That’s not humane! I agree about the low pay over there and the required languages
 
I like bchadwick’s and Frank’s responses. The former is more constructive and complete and the latter is short and not so sweet but I agree with both.
Anyways, I think passing level I means very little to any employers or HRs. But it should be better than nothing even if it’s marginal. Good luck!
 
^ I believe that’s called confirmation bias. You’ll get to that at level 3
Seriously, CFASac answered in far more detail directly related to the question OP was asking from direct experience working in Asia. What’s so special about “Yes CFA is better than No CFA” really? and “you get to take L2 for passing L1” again really? I’m not putting these 2 guys down, those are just fine answers, but it seems you’re disregarding anything negative. What’s so great about misleading OP and giving him false high hopes??
There have been quite a few people who only take in what they want to take in (the positive comments), and realize they’ve passed L3 and still nothing. Then they come back to AF and complain how they wasted their life and how useless it was.
 
Ah, the CFA jaded. They put such high hopes in allure of the CFA program to only be left jilted by a cold mistress.
 
It’s not about giving false high hopes iteracom. Just saying that it is hard or the odds are stacked against you but it is doable and giving the OP advice on how to give him a better chance is far better than… oh you won’t do it.
To the OP, this is probably not the best source to consult about your career or how to get there. Contact from your alumni or a mentor figure and that person will give you guidance and insights to increase your chances instead of half jokes such as girls with nice racks > avg guy with stellar MBA blah blah blah…. It’s funny and is true in come cases but I don’t think you were looking for jokes or laughs.
 
infinitybenzo wrote:
It’s not about giving false high hopes iteracom. Just saying that it is hard or the odds are stacked against you but it is doable and giving the OP advice on how to give him a better chance is far better than… oh you won’t do it.
To the OP, this is probably not the best source to consult about your career or how to get there. Contact from your alumni or a mentor figure and that person will give you guidance and insights to increase your chances instead of half jokes such as girls with nice racks > avg guy with stellar MBA blah blah blah…. It’s funny and is true in come cases but I don’t think you were looking for jokes or laughs.
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I gave my honest opinion not to hurt OP’s feelings or ruin his hopes. On the contrary, I respect him as a person, so I’ll give him the most honest answer I know. If you think what I said was mean or rude, the finance career would give him a rude awakening.
What I stated was my opinion, so take it for what it’s worth. However I am involved with one of the finance programs at a large university in California. I deal with many exchange students on a regular basis who are trying to find finance jobs in the US. And the issue is none can get the sponsorship necessary to start a career here. The supply way outnumbers demand, and OP’s resume just doesn’t provide any incentive for a company to sponsor his visa as opposed to hiring many equally (or more) deserving first years.
My advice to OP: try to get a position at an internationally recognized company in India, and start there. If nothing comes up that way, try going back to school. If you were at LSE, you should have done your networking while you were there.
 
I am sorry if I sounded critical…. I am just saying that staying positive is key. Even if it’s an inflated hope, I believe it is essential.
Just look at the definition of hope on Iteracom’s profile.
 
infinitybenzo wrote:
I am sorry if I sounded critical…. I am just saying that staying positive is key. Even if it’s an inflated hope, I believe it is essential.
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No problem, no offense taken.
 
After reading all the answers it seems like CFA isn’t a big deal, so could anyone guide me regarding how to get a good financial job in HongKong or Singapore??
 
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