Hi , I am 35. currently working at CCIL-Clearing Corporation of India ltd. (http://www.ccilindia.com/) I have completed my MBA-.Distance learning in finance. .I have 15 years experience in all. 11 years with a broking firm in fixed income & equity and 3.5 years in my current org in operations. I am considering doing CFA. I have questions in this regard 1. is 35 late to begin CFA.?i have a wife and 4 month old daughter. I am saving to buy a house so finances are stretched.cost of a CFA is a problem 2. Will CFA add significant value to my CV. 3.Given the average of 4 yrs needed to complete it , at 39 would it be useful.
Go for it. It would definitely add another feather on your cap, considering you already have a distance learning MBA tucked in.
at 39 would it be useful - I doubt so. Even after getting the charter, you may still stuck in BO and that is not going to change given your 15-20 years of BO exp. Good for the info you get from the program but may not give you raise or promotion at this junction of your career.
I say go for it. But before you start, I would look into if your specific work experience would qualify you for the Charter. No sense wasting time and money if it doesn’t.
I’d say don’t do it with a caveat. 1. You have to be fortunate to find a signif better opp., and yes you are late into the game. 2. The costs are high, you have a daughter and a house to consider. You have not only the financial costs, but the time and energy you could spend elsewhere (i.e. family). You may fail a level more than one time. What is the consequence if you have to take a resit. Many of us have had to do it, though our employers have paid for it, so there is less skin in the game. 3. Yes, it could add significant value, but you should check out what jobs are being advertised in India to see if your market experience plus the CFA are worth considering. Do your own homework here. Talk to locals in those jobs and find out for yourself.
Unfortunately, it will not help you. Too late in the game.
A few weeks ago a 53 y/o dude was asking the same question. You have an edge here, go for it.
Remember that a lot of folks on this board are recent college graduates posing as know-it-alls. 35 is not too late to do CFA, but you may need to be realistic about what you expect it to do for you. The best thing at 35 is to figure out what in your past career can give you an edge over recent college grads and 20-something people who have the charter. You should be able to find something, but the issue is that at 35, people are not going to be very willing hire you for entry level positions, CFA or not. However, if you can prove that you do good analysis, then pro-active networking + CFA can be good for you.
I think it would add some value, but I don’t know if it would be enough to compensate for the time away from your family. I think that’s the most important thing to consider here, and something you’ll have to decide for yourself.
Enjoy the remaining days of your life!
Do it! Never let any one tell you how to run your life. Only you know what you want out of life. You do not want to look back 10 years from now and regret not taking the plunge. For every reason not to do it there’s at least one reason to do it. Believe in yourself. Do it.
dogonyaro Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Do it! Never let any one tell you how to run your > life. Only you know what you want out of life. > > You do not want to look back 10 years from now and > regret not taking the plunge. For every reason not > to do it there’s at least one reason to do it. > > Believe in yourself. Do it. Don’t let anyone tell you what to do! Do it! lol
storko Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Unfortunately, it will not help you. > Too late in the game. I hope this was tongue in cheek. If not, saying that someone who is 35 is too late to do anything regarding a professional designation is foolish. OP - be careful asking a 25 year old for career advice. Getting old is bad enough; being old and uneducated is even worse.
bchadwick Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Remember that a lot of folks on this board are > recent college graduates posing as know-it-alls. > > 35 is not too late to do CFA, but you may need to > be realistic about what you expect it to do for > you. The best thing at 35 is to figure out what > in your past career can give you an edge over > recent college grads and 20-something people who > have the charter. You should be able to find > something, but the issue is that at 35, people are > not going to be very willing hire you for entry > level positions, CFA or not. However, if you can > prove that you do good analysis, then pro-active > networking + CFA can be good for you. When I wrote this, I forgot to add that the material in the CFA is good to know. Lots of people here will write that it’s useless, inadequate, etc., but the value - along with just becoming familiar with many of the terms and tools of financial analysis - is in learning to avoid a lot of very costly mistakes, or at least if you are going to take risks, making sure your eyes are as open to what they are as possible. The CFA is not the end-all and be-all, but it is a good curriculum. I am teaching an undergraduate investments course, and I find I’m able to get barely half-way through the material that would ordinarily be covered on the Level 1 exam.
KickinTheBricks Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > dogonyaro Wrote: > -------------------------------------------------- > ----- > > Do it! Never let any one tell you how to run > your > > life. Only you know what you want out of life. > > > > You do not want to look back 10 years from now > and > > regret not taking the plunge. For every reason > not > > to do it there’s at least one reason to do it. > > > > Believe in yourself. Do it. > > > Don’t let anyone tell you what to do! Do it! > > lol yea that is kind of ironic isn’t it. Saying “don’t let anyone tell u what to do” and then turn around and say “do it!” ? Anyway, yes there’s a lot of hype on the CFA, and no one will doubt it is a great distinction to have. But the point of the CFA is to get a great job right? No one is in it just to wear it like a badge. And what’s very dangerous is too much back office experience. While some people will deny this, and surely yes there are people that crossed over. Don’t stay in back office long, especially towards mid-career because you will be pegged as back office and that will be it. Controllers isn’t that bad, since many controllers work with front office guys all the time, but ops is bad. ops is pretty much back-back office. I’ve worked at Goldman Sachs, and let me tell you that every year, every new wave of analysts for controllers and operations, every single one is thinking, “i’m going do some time, and transfer over to the front office”. How many actually make it? maybe 2%.
I would say, you should go for another distance learning program in Phoenix University Online. In some useful major like Home Economics.
I would say, you should go for another distance learning program in Phoenix University Online. In some useful major like Home Economics.
confused2010 Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Hi , I am 35. currently working at CCIL-Clearing > Corporation of India ltd. > (http://www.ccilindia.com/) I have completed my > MBA-.Distance learning in finance. .I have 15 > years experience in all. 11 years with a broking > firm in fixed income & equity and 3.5 years in my > current org in operations. > > I am considering doing CFA. I have questions in > this regard > > 1. is 35 late to begin CFA.?i have a wife and 4 > month old daughter. I am saving to buy a house so > finances are stretched.cost of a CFA is a problem > > 2. Will CFA add significant value to my CV. > > > 3.Given the average of 4 yrs needed to complete it > , at 39 would it be useful. I just noticed something. Did u actually say you have 11 years of experience in a “broking firm” ??? Did u mean brokerage? yea… might want to brush up the english there…
iteracom Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > KickinTheBricks Wrote: > -------------------------------------------------- > ----- > > dogonyaro Wrote: > > > -------------------------------------------------- > > > ----- > > > Do it! Never let any one tell you how to run > > your > > > life. Only you know what you want out of > life. > > > > > > You do not want to look back 10 years from > now > > and > > > regret not taking the plunge. For every > reason > > not > > > to do it there’s at least one reason to do > it. > > > > > > Believe in yourself. Do it. > > > > > > Don’t let anyone tell you what to do! Do it! > > > > lol > > > yea that is kind of ironic isn’t it. Saying “don’t > let anyone tell u what to do” and then turn around > and say “do it!” ? > > Anyway, yes there’s a lot of hype on the CFA, and > no one will doubt it is a great distinction to > have. But the point of the CFA is to get a great > job right? No one is in it just to wear it like a > badge. And what’s very dangerous is too much back > office experience. > > While some people will deny this, and surely yes > there are people that crossed over. Don’t stay in > back office long, especially towards mid-career > because you will be pegged as back office and that > will be it. > > Controllers isn’t that bad, since many controllers > work with front office guys all the time, but ops > is bad. ops is pretty much back-back office. > > I’ve worked at Goldman Sachs, and let me tell you > that every year, every new wave of analysts for > controllers and operations, every single one is > thinking, “i’m going do some time, and transfer > over to the front office”. How many actually make > it? maybe 2%. From his question, I am assuming he already wants to pursue becoming a CFA Charter Holder. If that is indeed true, then I am not really telling him what to do, am I? If my assumption is wrong, I assume he’s smart enough to decide what he wants to do with his life. In any case my advice still holds, only he can determine what he wants for himself. It’s great to know you worked at Goldman Sachs. Let’s assume you are being truthful. Then, it’s also great to know that not everyone that can say “I’ve worked at Goldman Sachs” can engage in basic reasoning and deduction before they mouth of a spew of arrogant nonsense.
wow the ignore button works wonders! no more BS!