Stuff Investment Bankers Don�t Like: The CFA, Your Activities, Your Ph.D., and More from Mergers & Inquisitions by M&I

[SMEKA23]

MO34,
Your conclusion is like, you need to born rich,and to right people and look for right time to get into IB. BTW have you read the book "Outlier".

Regards

 

[nirjraina]

I'd just like to add the perspective of a person who has worked in the Middle East the majority of his career. The CFA brand has a much more broad-based appeal in this region and most IB/PE roles require/prefer the CFA charter. Many job postings will even state "significant progress in the CFA Program required" in the description.

Most employers just want to be able to show off to clients and say "we have an X amount of charterholders working on your account". The issue with the MBA is that outside of 5-7 US schools and 4-5 European ones, none have much of a reputation over here. For example, your clients will likely not know what to think when you mention you have an MBA from Carnegie Mellon (a fine school).

But in the case of the US, I agree that the CFA charter has a much more narrow usage.

 

[DirtyZ]

OP missed a key point. Networking doesn't mean much unless you have something on your resume to talk about. Spending 250 hours cold calling people while you are a waiter at a state school is NOT going to get you any looks in IB.

However, add the CFA after your name and you have a lot more credibility and will get some call backs.

I agree with his point though that designations are virtually worthless AFTER you get 1 or 2 that matter (i.e. quality MBA, CFA, CPA)

Best option: get the CFA early, then network to your hearts content OR do both concurrently!

 

[numi]

DirtyZ Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> OP missed a key point. Networking doesn't mean
> much unless you have something on your resume to
> talk about. Spending 250 hours cold calling
> people while you are a waiter at a state school is
> NOT going to get you any looks in IB.
>

This is a good point, and one that I often overlook (and same for the author, I assume). Actually, the author is a good friend of mine in person, and while he does have some very broad perspectives since he's been able to deal with so many people from so many different backgrounds through his site, oftentimes it's still hard to imagine how tough it can be for the "average" person to network when that person doesn't hold too many bargaining chips.

 

[DirtyZ]

Numi - I agree. Once you have a top tier education (undergrad, MBA) and have worked in a good job, networking becomes easy. Your brand will almost sell itself. Assuming you are an outgoing person who is not a complete a-hole, networking becomes very easy.

For people trying to break into the club though, every little bit helps. The CFA, at the margin, may be the extra edge that someone needs to climb to the next rung, BUT it has low value add on a stand-alone basis in banking.