Over the next 6 months I will have time to work on my skill set for the upcoming job search. I am looking for suggestions on how my spare time can be best spent to improve my marketability come December. My initial thoughts were to work on my VBA programming and maybe work on 1 or 2 other programming languages; FYI - I’m not looking (nor capable) to become a Quant analyst. Can you help with some suggestions? Is working on programming pointless for the desired role I described? Any certs worth getting? More volunteer work? CFA Society meetings? Any advice at all?
Simply out of curiosity, do you think there is any significant increase in my chances of landing interviews as a level lll candidate as opposed to a level ll candidate?
l3 equity research for 2.5 yrs and 1.5yr lit consulting. my advice is to stick with your employer juss cuz it’ll be easier. juggling a new job and studying is really bad. I did it for l2. and i remember my job was a lot harder at the start cuz i had something to prove. i think once you get 4 years work exp, you are golden for a fresh start. (from what i read is the overall average of tenure for our age range). there are 2 typical routes for us, mba or new job. im going mba route for the prestige, network, and its typically a job req to be an exec.
actually, juss last weekend on sunday after the cfa exams, i met a potential business partner with an interesting atypical story. ~33yo, came from nothing, juss a uc undergrad. worth a mil now, drove a mazzeratti, left his investment job at 27 to start a tech company he is a coo at. has a few side businesses. his main thesis is to have multiple avenues of income generation and to be entreprenurial.
in any case i do not recommend getting more certs. i do recommend being fit if you arent. programming, it depends, i had to use sas programming on my 1st job but i sucked so i quit it. i recommend you focus on what you are good at. i never joined the cfa society cuz i didnt want to join unless i have at least pass all exams. bottom line though, i dont think whether you l3 or l2 will matter. its your level of exp that prolly matters more and how you present yourself. and the most important thing to have is prolly having confidence. so be sure when you do interview you do whatever it takes to have that.
-BBA in Finance from an average school and MBA in Finance from a top 50 b-school. Just took level 1.
-I went into wealth management right out of school and obtained the CFP certification. Not a whole lot of application outside of the WM industry.
-Been a FA for about 3 years. Have really had a jack of all trades experience. In addition to the mundane management of retail portfolios and retirement projections, I have done a bit of fixed income research but nothing like you would find on the buy side. Worked in a junior PM type of role with the firms bond portfolio. Good overall experience but again nothing like you get on the buy side.
How can I branch out into asset management? Possibly doing buy side research or credit analysis. Maybe working at a hedge fund. I am open to ideas but like the original post I WANT OUT OF WM!
From what I have read I am a bit discouraged and dont really know where to start. If there is someone out there with experience please share how you made the transition.
Neryblop, thanks for responding! Sounds like your general advice is to suck it up at my current job while working through the CFA exams. Unfortunately, not an option at this point.
Regarding the MBA, I’m actually considering prepping for the GMAT over the next few months and applying to top MBA programs down the road if I score high enough. If you’re in an MBA program I’m presuming you took the GMAT? How did you find the GMAT compares to the CFA with regard to preparation? Is it worth preparing extensively for?
Yes I think I am ruling certs out, I just don’t think it makes sense to pursue any other certs at this point in time.
neither in an mba program, nor taken the gmat. i will apply this sept though, if i am able to score 700+. if not, i will apply next year.i studied with magoosh last year (100 bucks) but im going big this year with mgmat (900 bucks) since ive heard they are the most accurate tests from a few ppl in this site. the study is different. cfa tests is more memorization. gmat is more logic based with creativity. you cant guess your way to victory since there are 5 choices. so luck is less of a role. i think it is worth to study extensively for. its the primary filter used especially at the top. Id say its more important than the GPA juss cuz its standardized. and in terms of the amount of hours u put for your gpa, this is a small investment of your time. that being said, a high gmat will not guarantee it, but at least it will force them to look at u in a more serious way.