See the articles in my signature for some thoughts
Absolutely enroll for the CFA. Besides the obvious “resume tune up”, you will get very valuable knowledge. Someone said bankers don’t like the CFA -that’s just plain wrong, even more so if your intent is to jump to the buy side. The CFA will give you very strong grounds on a wide array of topics, which modern hyper-specialized bankers simply don’t have. A banker in a Real estate IB group might only do REIT valuations 24/7, therefore having immense gaps in other areas of finance (derivatives, portfolio management, etc.) I’m not saying getting the CFA will make you Myron Scholes in options, but it will definitely put you ahead of the pack -again, even more so in the buy side.
As a side note, I’m an analyst at a U.S. BB and I’m busting my behind to get through the CFA. I’d say I put in practice 40% of the curriculum every day (FRA, Equity, FI, CorpFin).
@PrivateMoney - I’m happy to do the CFA and have enrolled. The problem is I’m struggling to get even first round telephone interviews with my current CV and I’m unsure doing the CFA will help. I need more finance experience but can’t get any if no one will interview me… do you know what I mean? Lateralling to corp dev/financial analyst role is not possible unless you have banking experience. 
Registering to do L1 means you have $800 and the ability to press buttons on a website. you have accomplished nothing.
Once you pass L1, I know you know the very basics of finance, have some idea of the basic terms we throw around, and you are somewhat on par with an undergrad in finance from an ok school. That’s basically your start. But keep in mind, it’s the easiest of 3 exams and a ton of people have passed it already.
Once you get past L2, I now know you are serious
Good start but you missed one
Sad but true.
so true…
well played. I agree. though I do know you are willing to suffer through hardship for your career. unless you were unemployed and studying full time, then that negates the whole thing
Forgotten is a strong word. I would say archived. If someone asked me about something I studied at level 2 that I had archived, I could figure out the answer very quickly even if I didn’t know it off the top of my head.
Take any existing charterholder, make him retake L2 no studying, and I’d bet the pass rate would be 5% (on a standard MPS, no special curve)
You may be right, but my point is that someone who has learned the material before and passed the test would pick up a theory/concept from L2 50x faster than someone who has not been exposed to it. So, it’s not like all of that knowledge is forgotten/wasted.
Sorry to bump an old thread. I made a decision to lateral within the same tech firm and landed a ‘better’ job.
My job now is a mix of management, analyst duties and product management with a strong data focus (ie I’m involved in everything quantitative from ‘high level’ analysis to budgeting). The role sounded awesome but a few weeks in I realised I could just build a tool that does 90% of my job - and did. There was also a recent internal structural change meaning my team is more operational now vs strategic which sucks.
I am now nothing more than a funnel/monkey (taking ad hoc requests from the team and making tweaks to the tool). I really need more of a challenge and only have not quit because the team are genuinely nice and the salary helps me live very comfortably.
I tried again for IBD/M&A with no luck. I’m ineligible for internships now (and its also very risky for me to leave a full time job for an internship) but full time roles are filled by interns so I’m stuck. There are indeed other tech firms but having spoken to people in industry I reckon I’m at the fastest pace one - I guess I just work at a very fast pace and find quicker ways of dealing with a tonne of work because I’m lazy (if there is a way to work hard for a few weeks and deliver something which will save work/time for me long term, I’ll take that option).
I’m guessing jumping to the buy side pre MBA is not an option either. Also my salary is not still that great although I save way more (base) than my banker/consulting friends.
I’m unsure what to do… any advice?
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I would agree with you that it’s too risky to move even for an IBD internship at this point in time.
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It sounds like you’re lacking stimulation. At my first job out of college, I was in the same boat, so I studied for the CFA L1 and L2 exams. I think I would recommend studying (if you think that could help) for L1 and see how it goes. I would not recommend telling your coworkers. If you want to get into the research/investment management side especially, it is a good investment of your time. CFA is only really valuable for IB in Canada from what I hear. In the US, it is a “we dont care” attitude.
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I would also study for the GMAT if you’re set on finance and use an MBA to transition into finance. You could also go for a masters of science in finance or financial engineering. A MSF is a less established transition degree than an MBA, though anecdotally I hear it is getting more traction. Financial engineering is more quantitative in nature. Only top 10-15 schools will help with a front office finance transition.
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Opportunity cost for an MBA is larger than masters in finance/financial engineering, which are 2 years and 1 year respectively.
Thanks for the reply!
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Doesn’t an MBA mean I have to do banking first and then try to break into the buyside? Which I believe is much more difficult than an analyst lateral…?
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Given I’m not pulling any traction from banks despite having gains good grades from a target already perhaps there are other factors at play here blocking me from breaking in - I’m basically unsure an MBA will help me. Typically I see ‘non targets’ use it as a way to break in or ‘targets’ use it to leave banking.
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GMAT/CFA is fine. Although these are more paper qualifications that I don’t think are needed for IBD (at least in the UK). I see the ACA asked or more often but at this point going down the accounting path seems too late.
Looking forward to your thoughts!
From what I have seen, recruiters/recruitng like the ‘cookie cutter’ background instead of ‘anyone different’ therefore my best bet is to get into banking asap and then move into the buyside. The issue I’m facing is in the US you can network/tell your story/try to move over, but in Europe, everything is done online and no one really cares about your application unless you are luckily chosen (and your chances of being chosen are really slim even with a cookie-cutter background). Unsure how to get around this problem given applying online just is not panning out for me over several years.
Top tech or not no one wants to give me a shot but I’m unsure what more I can do to prove myself. I’m completely bored and not interested in the current role I am in and am growing more and more dissatisfied and feeling ‘pigeon-holed’ which is kind of depressing. How do i get out of this endless circle of applications and rejections? I fear waiting for MBA level will demotivate me more.
I feel your pain. I’m in the same boat.
What about a middle office or even back office role, with a smaller firm, where you can study for the gmat or designations, and then try to move into the FO in a year or two? It’s worth a shot at least and you’ll feel like you are doing something to put your life on a better path.
Thanks for the reply!
I did consider MO/BO but the issue is that GMAT/CFA will not help me get into FO (from what my friends in industry tell me). I need FO experience to get a FO job but if I can’t get FO experience then what do I do? It also means I take a pay cut (and from this thread it seems like remaining in top tech pre-MBA is a safer move).
Also I really don’t like working in smaller firms, especially this early in my career, hence I went to top tech (worked in smaller banking firms before) as I couldn’t get into a bigger bank.
Sigh… why is it so tough
Any thoughts from anyone please?
I started in a MO role at a smaller firm and got promoted to FO after working there 6 years and getting the CFA designation. It’s about building relationships with people in the FO and proving yourself to be reliable, hard working and value add. I was handed the job without interviewing and they never considered anyone else…it’s usually about who you know. I would think this path is harder to navigate in a large firm.
I’ve heard of people in trading who do this (as Ops etc for trading is still good experience) but I don’t see how I would move from BO/MO to IBD. Perhaps from ER the jump would be ok but probably at senior levels.
Surely there are other ways into banking if you are not cookie-cutter internship --> convert like other candidates? Or is there no way until MBA level (but at this point the opportunities available in banking/PE for juniors is minimal).
Quite stuck - thoughts are welcome.