passed all three & still unemployed or underemployed?

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gk11

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Hi everyone,
I just wanted to find out how tough is out there, I mean I know it’s VERY hard but i am curious specifically about the people who passed all three exams, how many of you guys passed all three exams and still can’t find a decent job or a job that at least pays enough to pay for rent, food, cloth, maybe even a little vacation :0 haha…
Anyways, let me know what you guys think because I am not really sure if i should pursue this thing. I passed level 1 in 2010, I bought stalla books for 2011 level 2 but things happened and couldn’t register this year.
In order to make something out of my life, I think I only have two options. One of them is pursuing CFA and when I pass all three exams hopefully I can get entry level finance job and just go with it or entrepreneurial side that a friend of mine is trying to start, it’s marketing related but i dont know how realistic it is, it’s very well planned out but we just need a little more money lol… to finish the websites. So, I want to keep my options open with CFA.
I would really appreciate if you guys shared some inside, advise and let me know how things are working out for you.
Thank you in advance.
 
doing the CFa wont hurt. you get to learn alot of interesting stuff. the challening nature of the material is quite fun too if you like studying as much as I do. I passed the CFA level 2 exam this year, and even though the experience is daunting, its also motivating. it is akin to climbing a mountain or winning a triathlon etc.
with regards as to whether your employment prospects will turn around by passing all or some of the CFA levels, my personal experience is that the CFA wont be of much use. This is simpy because finance field has basically died, or is in a death spiral since 2008. Ironically i graduated at the peek of the crisis in 2008 and have yet to find any job in the field, whether locally or internationally for that matter.
I too believed that passing these exams will catapult me to a decent job, but the harsh truth is finally starting to settle in. I have already reached an age where i am starting to think “WTF is going on?”, and it is especially demoralizing when you see many of your collegues from other fields who have moved on and made spectacular careers.
Right now, i kind of feel duped, and with all honesty( even though i know this is irrational) i sort of despise the CFA. its been a tough two years, and i have yet to be rewarded for all this effort.
Im not really sure what ill be doing next, I watch alot of movies, read alot of books, try and stay fit, and try and be chill, but as to what the future holds, i frankly have no idea. absurdity rules at the end.
good luck with your endeavours.
 
mr_moose Wrote:
——————————————————-
> doing the CFa wont hurt. you get to learn alot of
> interesting stuff. the challening nature of the
> material is quite fun too if you like studying as
> much as I do. I passed the CFA level 2 exam this
> year, and even though the experience is daunting,
> its also motivating. it is akin to climbing a
> mountain or winning a triathlon etc.
>
> with regards as to whether your employment
> prospects will turn around by passing all or some
> of the CFA levels, my personal experience is that
> the CFA wont be of much use. This is simpy because
> finance field has basically died, or is in a
> death spiral since 2008. Ironically i graduated at
> the peek of the crisis in 2008 and have yet to
> find any job in the field, whether locally or
> internationally for that matter.
>
> I too believed that passing these exams will
> catapult me to a decent job, but the harsh truth
> is finally starting to settle in. I have already
> reached an age where i am starting to think “WTF
> is going on?”, and it is especially demoralizing
> when you see many of your collegues from other
> fields who have moved on and made spectacular
> careers.
>
> Right now, i kind of feel duped, and with all
> honesty( even though i know this is irrational) i
> sort of despise the CFA. its been a tough two
> years, and i have yet to be rewarded for all this
> effort.
>
> Im not really sure what ill be doing next, I watch
> alot of movies, read alot of books, try and stay
> fit, and try and be chill, but as to what the
> future holds, i frankly have no idea. absurdity
> rules at the end.
>
> good luck with your endeavours.
Same here. Passed level 2 but still unemployed. Submitted resume lots of times but not even one interview. Perhaps poor networking got me stuck here. Wish I could get out of this hole soon.
 
count me in this club..passed L2 ..graduated november 2009 and jobless…my hair is almost all gone too…in about 2 months time it will be 2 years since graduation on the dot.and every year the graduate office of my uni phones alumnis to see how they do to boost uni ratings (presumably)…i dread that conversation already if i do dare to pick up the phone at all to remind me of my life..
 
This is a depressing thread….
FYI gk11 : not everyone is unemployed/underemployed….finance is very competitive, but trust me, if you keep up the hard work it will pay off….I quit my job a month ago to move and find another position, and I received several interviews shortly after applying to job postings (with no connections at all… i.e., brand new to the city)… I accepted an offer last week and am surprised how easy the job market is as long as you are willing to accept an entry level job. The great jobs will come in time…
Having a good resume is obviously important though….
I wouldn’t recommend waiting to try and get an entry level job after passing level 3…most firms will see you as over-qualified…they might think you will just take the role for a few months and leave when you receive a better offer
not sure if any of this makes sense….but just don’t get let down by all the depressing comments…keep up the hard work, take any job you can get related to finance, and network/work hard
 
^but lots of competition as well, I think.
To the OP, I don’t think the CFA really improves your prospects. It’s good for people who already are in finance, but it will probably only make a small difference for entry level positions. I’d just search very aggressively and accept just about any job that pays decently (as you said).
 
I wouldn’t go directly for any job that pays well…
I would go for a job that will give you possible networking, and will be valuable work experience that could help out in the future…taking a job that pays highly, yet unrelated to finance, won’t help you at all - except for the bills.
Being in Toronto, NYC, London et cetera obviously helps your chances…. I find Toronto job market competitive, but very easy to get entry level jobs…If you’re in a small city, I would suggest taking a big risk and moving to a larger area…of course if you have commitments like a family, mortage, or great friends etc this will be challenging…
 
I appreciate all of ur thoughts on this. (To Mr. Moose) it’s pretty much what i am thinking but still wanted to ask ppl around abt this. I have this retarded job( it takes a brain of a five yr old to do it), which pays $16 an hour and work like 3 or 4 days a week but the checks come like 3 month later and it could end at any time. At that job I meet a lot of ppl who have like huge mega student loans over 100k and cant find a job. So, i dont have to go too far to know how bad it is and that i am not the only one stuck in this hole.
Yesterday. I read an article and it talked abt not only abt the unemployed but also ppl who have part time jobs. If the economy pickes up employers can just increase hours for the part time employees and make them full time and that would be equivalent to 950,000 new employes, only after that they will start hiring new ppl. I also think the real unemployment rate is significantly higher than 9.1% suggests if you include ppl who just gave up looking, went on disability bc they cant find work, part time employes, significantly underemployed etc.
I graduated in 2007 with finance degree and abt 8 month later i landed a small entry level job in accounting in garment district in new york. At that time it was already hard to find a job, so i was glad i found something that i could build on, no matter how entry level the job was..I worked there for abt a year and then god laid off bc there was no work for me.. few of our clients that were in business for over 20 yrs went bankrupt.
All the students that graduated from 2007 all the way up to 2013 at least r pretty much royally f@#!… well not all of them but way more than at any other time. In 50s and 60s kids fresh out of high school could ve gotten a job in factory or what have u with $20 an hour (inflation adjusted) and buy house and have family.. just shows how things have changed. The middle class is eroding.
The last few months I’ve been slipping into a vegetative state and just numb my brains out and not think abt reality, by just wasting time of watching youtube, playing chess, chatting etc… in order for me to have a fighting chance to pass the remaining 2 exams i have to believe that CFA will improve my chances greatly, otherwise i wont have that drive that is required to pass those exams… also, being a slave to the ppl who actually created this mess is not very appealing either haha… but i am just trying to survive, I have a good friend who works at reuters maybe he can help me to find a job after i pass 2nd and 3rd and the fact that i am in new york is also helpful.
Anyways, i probably rambled enough. Thanks again for all the posts and keep them coming ;)
 
It may or may not help you find a job, but it won’t really hurt, and it’s probably the best time to do it, considering the free time you have. When you’re unemployed you get depressed and you don’t feel like applying for jobs, and you stay depressed, it’s an awful circle to be in. What you need to start doing is getting out there and start meeting people, apart from just sending in apps online. You might be embarassed to do so, but you have to get over that. Remember, underemployed is better than unemployed, so use your time wisely and really hit the pavement hard.
Have you also looked for jobs in other fields outside of finance?
 
I graduated from McGill back in the early 90’s and the job market sucked back then too. wanted to work for a bank and nobody was hiring. I got no interviews for 2 years too. Underemployed for almost 2 years doign crap menial jobs. I got an offer to work for a national financial planning org on straight commission. said to myself what do I have to lose. Almost 18 years later it was the best move I ever made. I have an established clientele and make very good $. I have more job security than anybody. The job market left me no option then too. I don’t buy this crap that I can’t find a job because I said the same thing then. There are lots of sales jobs out there for the picking. Fact is you think that because you got a degreee and the CFA people will give you job with a salary. Welcome to the real world people. Sharpen your business skills because it is competitive. But at least take a chance on yourself. Stop waiting for others to call you. What do you have to lose.
 
Dude sitting on your as* and studying for the CFA three years is a poor, poor plan.
Try to get some an internship, work for free, make tea, post mail, anything …from there you can find a better role in a company. Two of the guys I work with in the investment research dept started out as back-office temps, doing seriously menial tasks. If you are in NYC, surely you can find something??
and darlia is right - there are sales job out there. You can make some serious dollars with the right company and product. I get pitched daily by sales guys, nice guys, who know less about the markets and funds than me, but earn at least double my salalry. Analysts quit their jobs to move to sales. And I only know one out of a hundred or so sales contacts of mine with the CFA.
Don’t want to be rude, but if you do nothing for two years except study for the CFA, it might actually do as much harm as good in finding a job, if I was hiring, I would be wary as….
 
Yeah… I agree that you should look for something that you can do without a CFA charter. Even if the CFA does make a difference, it will take 3 years for you to finish the program. By then, you will be seven years out of school and past your prime when compared to other people who are looking for entry level finance work.
 
mpreskett Wrote:
——————————————————-
> Don’t want to be rude, but if you do nothing for
> two years except study for the CFA, it might
> actually do as much harm as good in finding a job,
> if I was hiring, I would be wary as….
He’s right. A lot of us who got through the passage of the CFA exams know the difficulty comes from working and studying. Many of us in the firm including myself see through individuals that don’t work and just study away 8 hrs a day to pass the exam. Those candidates usually don’t get the job at the end as studying is the only thing there’s to talk about.
The CFA charter is a compliment to your job experience and other education, it shouldnt be the vocal point of your resume; after all, the interviewer will just ask you if you have completed the exams, then where will the interview take you. You will need more experiences to show employers and talk them through about your skills.
Getting a job requires a lot of other skills that employer look for, knowledge is just one aspect.
 
Also, to give you a little bit of info.
I started out in backoffice as my GPA wasn’t high enough and I wasn’t prepared in the final year of university like my peers.
I worked in backoffice for like a year and a half before I could make the jump to FO. I didn’t sit around like some other people who were picking at the job opportunities. I just took whatever came my way and used that as the platform to show other employers the transferable skills.
Work as a Fund Accountant Back Office.
 
whystudy Wrote:
——————————————————-
> Also, to give you a little bit of info.
>
> I started out in backoffice as my GPA wasn’t high
> enough and I wasn’t prepared in the final year of
> university like my peers.
>
> I worked in backoffice for like a year and a half
> before I could make the jump to FO. I didn’t sit
> around like some other people who were picking at
> the job opportunities. I just took whatever came
> my way and used that as the platform to show other
> employers the transferable skills.
>
> Work as a Fund Accountant Back Office.
I’m in a similar route at a big 4 in the auditing practice. Haven’t made the switch out of public yet to a fund accounting role yet (and I hope I won’t need to), but I understand I need to pay my dues before any FO positions come along.
whystudy, just curious, what position do you have at the FO now?
 
Work at a Investment Management firm now, we do fund of funds and external managers investing.
Deal mostly with portfolio constructions, asset allocations for DB plans (matching liabilities) and a lot of pension plan de-risking solutions; also deal with some portfolio analysis for our total portfolio aggregating all of sub-advisors for each fund.
Not particularly analysis securities or investment banking but I enjoy this a lot more. The ideal goal would be to head over to a pension plan/plan sponsor and work within their external portfolio managers group.
 
Passed all 3 levels here. I can’t even get an interview at a small investment firm. DB (www.db.com) has all their management program accepting mostly MBAs as can be seen from their career site. It’s not too late to abandon CFA, now that you have only passed level 1. Let go of your pride thinking that beating CFA is the only way to prove yourself. Take the easy road you have the money get an MBA, getting CFA simply doesn’t pay.
 
Betting on the CFA to land a job without: a top school, experience or experience, is a highly risky, and far from a sure bet.
The CFA pays multiples for those already with a good job.
 
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