Case:
did a part-time masters (mandatorily, as it was part of the graduate program in which you started your professional career) in something that is unrelated to the jobs that you’re applying for right now, as a CFA level III candidate.
is it better to put this masters or maybe better to take it out as it probably does not add any value for the application and it may raise questions (such as why you did this as it has nothing to do)?
is it a breach of the standards if you don’t disclose that information to make your CV look stronger?
cheers!
This was a required part of a job you did?
if that’s the case I see no reason not to include it, and just state that you completed as part oft our training won that job. If an employer has a problem with that they will have a problem with your job and probably won’t hire you either way
you used it as a way to get a job?
again I think most employers that will hire you with this unrelated experience will also be fine with a similarity unrelated degree.
Also what was the degree and the job? (assuming you feel comfortable disclosing it)
Here it goes: I do transfer pricing, which is merely valuation of inter-company transactions (to be compliant with tax regulations, the job has nothing to do with tax though), and i’m in the financial group, so my job is primarily to determine interest rates and debt capacity analyses (through cash-flow modeling or peers analysis). I also do some intangibles valuation, but sporadically. I’ve learned a lot of transfereable skills such as industry research, credit analysis techniques, modeling, etc.
Thing is that at the B4 this area is within the tax line of service, and at the company I started at, it was mandatory to take a masters (part-time) in tax, no matter the team in which you were going to work. It’s absolutely stupid, because the masters was not applicable at all to my daily job, neither to my profile, but I had to take it.
Having said that, u think it is worthwhile mentioning, or is it better to skip it? For the jobs I’m considering right now (debt advisory, credit analysis, and valuations), my main concern is to be seen as a tax guy, and having a masters in tax definitely does not help to that.
Thanks for your comment and feel free to be honest, I need to know my real chances!
Well I would still include it. Use your job description to show that you have experience in financial modeling and analysis, from what I’ve have seen almost everyone is going to view you as a something guy based in your experience, and your degrees can almost be like a add-on.
I think most people would agree that all things being equal they would rather have a better understanding of taxes than a worse one, so this is one extra thing that might make someone take a chance interviewing you, especially if they recently had an issue where they felt a bit more tax knowledge would have been helpful. I think that’s more likely than someone not interviewing you because you have a masters
Thanks for your help Ron! Much appreciated.
Cheers!