They are not hard. Hard is someone studying their a$$ off and failing. Most people who fail the CFA exams underestimate the time required to be prepared or are drained out from work. CFA is only an inch deep.
level 3 is like mayweather, doesnt look that intimidating but it will FU*K you up
That is a good way to put it.
It’s good to have a backup and it’s good to study if you have excess capacity.
I know it is very hard to break into finance, but you never really know until you try, and since you are working and you are interested in the material, may as well try, at least you can’t say you didn’t put in the effort for something you like.
and from what i see, there are more and more CFA candidates/ charterholders working in roles outside of traditional finance, so CFA may be the next “must have” for all business management roles.
I recall a thread comparing the different levels a few years back that bears resurrecting. The general form of the replies went something like
L1: Kiss from a cute high School Girl
L2: Getting abused by a coke-out courtney love
L3: Getting abused by a coked out Phyllisi Diller
Feel free to chime in.
Bumped it, for a second time:
http://www.analystforum.com/forums/cfa-forums/cfa-level-ii-forum/91015512?page=9#comment-91498577
I don’t think this was my experience at all. I had less free time and was tired, but I felt like taking care of myself physically was just as essential to passing the exams as doing practice problems. Eating healthy and working out did not go on the back burner throughout this process. Even on exam day I made sure I had healthy food on hand so as to avoid the food court affair at my testing location.
i do think that it’s best to take the exams early, because when you are younger you feel LESS intimidated. Once you are in the industry for a while (or coming from a different profession), you almost get more nervous failing because you have more to prove.
if you are 24 years old and fail, so what? you can retake it 3 more times and you will pass eventually. The more stress out you are, the worse you perform.
If you are taking the exam in your 30s or 40s, chances are your career didnt turn out like you expected. I don’t think the CFA would help at that point unless you are ready to take a step back.
true words^
I don’t know how true/false that statement is. Could you elaborate one what department or specific job role you’re talking about when you make that comment?
In your 30s and 40s you should be well established in your career that you don’t need the CFA (that goes for any department). If you are great in ER or IM or portfolio management or anything else, no one will push you to study for your CFA. Firms will fight over you based on your experience and track record. For the most part, those that study for it after being 10-15 years in the workforce are those hoping to advance out of a dead end job or switch careers into the industry.
Basically, when reached 30/40s your ability to bring in the dough should be the reason why anyone hires you. At the younger ranks, that’s when people look pretty similar on paper and CFA could be a differentiator when it’s down to 3 finalists, and 1 doesn’t have it.
In the 30/40s you should be settled in the job, agree. But maybe the Charter can prove a certain dedication to the profession and show the ability of the “old” to study successfully. I think I found my job, but I cannot exclude another change, maybe the title becomes valuable (over and above knowledge!)…
I know lots of CAs that have tried, and only one has actually finished. Most quit after L1 or L2 and they go off with a “well, it’s not that relevant for me anyway.” One girl was particularly bright and quit after failing L2, was on pace to finish same time I did.
CA program covers a lot of material, and that’s why the hours are so signficant. But it’s not particuarly difficult… not that CFA material is hugely difficult either. But if you look at the pass rates on the UFE, it’s much higher than say L3 pass rates, and the UFE is a much weaker pool (as they haven’t been weeded out by two previous exams with 30-40% pass rates). UFE is about an 80% success rate, whereas completing all three levels is about 20%.
I’m by no means saying CFA is better than CA either… CA is a great program and it’s a very professional group of accountants. Best accountants out there I think, better program than the CPA down south. But in terms of exam difficulty, I don’t know any CAs that agree with you after actually taking and passing the CFA exam(s).
I took my Level I exam when I was 39. It had nothing to do with my career turning out as I had hoped, nor with my ability to bring in dough. My employer – a large fixed income house in Newport Beach, CA that shall remain nameless – decided that all of its analysts and all of its account managers would take the CFA exams.
(Note: of the six analysts who took the Level I exam that year, five passed. Of the six account managers who took the Level I exam that year, five . . . failed. I don’t know what that says about analysts vs. account managers, but I thought that the symmetry was pretty.)
CA and CFA aren’t comparable at all by their pass rates. To get into the CA program you need an undergraduate degree + a thorough list of pre-requisites as well as work at an approved CA training firm. The CA program does have weed out tests before the UFE as well, it is different by area. The UFE is in the primary language of the country it is offered in.
If the CFA started to require a B.Fin and to be working at a job that provides qualifying work experience and was offered in the primary language of the writers country the pass rates would go through the roof.
Let’s not kid ourselves, the failure rate in the CFA program is MASSIVELY inflated by low barriers to entry and high language/culture barriers.
Nearly everyone (except me, if I recall correctly) in my CFA Level I and Level II Schweser classes had either a bachelor or masters in finance, work exerience,were native english speakers, and many still failed.
I have to say, motivation is the key to passing any exam.
I think one of the “problems” with working accountants taking CFA is that, they find little reason to take the CFA exam on top of CPA or whatever accounting title they alraedy hold. They may initially sign up because they think it’s “good to have” and gives them an edge, or a challenge. But when it comes down to studying, they quickly find the workload is a lot more thant they think and they don’t find it worth while to study on top of their alrady busy schedules.
So most of them probably just DON"T have the motivation to pass, but i believe they probably can if they have enough reasons.
Wait until you get the Charter and then report back. I’m not making the judgement myself, I haven’t written the UFE. I’m just passing on what I’ve heard from the long list of CAs that I know who have tried it.
EDIT: That wasn’t directed at Nana, but the previous poster.