I have just moved to San Francisco, I am a CFA level 3 cleared candidate with 3 years of work experience as an analyst in India in an advisory firm. The firm was focused on providing assistance to clients for raising funds for projects.
Now that I have moved to USA (got married), I would like some help to understand the type of profiles that will be suitable and the job availabilities. I am not reluctant to start at entry-level.
I want to start off in the right direction. Any little piece of information will be help me a great deal.
If I were in your situation, and if my financial situation and academic background allowed for it, I’d enroll asap in a MS program in one of the Bay Area universities. The network and name recognition will help you establish common ground with potential employers. You should notice a difference in employer interest even before completing the program. Otherwise, the obvious choice would be to find companies who perform a similar function to your previous job, and invite their employees out to lunch to generate prospects or ideas.
Ideally, that would be great. However, MBA in those schools is too hard to get into for most people, and it is expensive both in terms of time and money. So, that might not be a feasible choice. Instead, there are many MS programs at those schools or other local universities, that are cheaper, shorter in duration, and are easier to get into. For a FOB with no US brand or work experience though, they will add a lot of value.
having a cfa anywhere will not make you employable, its not a golden ticket. It might put you ahead of similarly qualified candidates but its not going to give you an edge over someone with more relevant experience.
an MBA is valuable because it helps you build a newtork, which you do not have. Anyone can pass the classes even at a top school its not hard. The CFA does not really help with the network as much, you can try and join the local society, but no one is going to be throwing jobs at you for having the charter. Id look for jobs that have descriptions similar to your prior experince, look for firms in that field.