To give a little bit of context: I have 2.5 years as a Product Manager in a Tech company in India. I’m interested to work in Finance in Toronto and am joining Schulich in September. I have no prior experience in Finance. I would ideally want to work in PE/MnA/Hedge Funds. My question:
Is a CFA level 1 (which I’ll have by the time I start looking for jobs) good enough to get a foot in the door of top IB firms in Canada?
Is the marginal utility high enough to warrant the opportunity cost ($1100, many hours of studies) as opposed to learning new stuff (projects with professors, courses on Coursera) in stead?
Will this help me make up for the lack of work experience?
No. They wouldn’t care. 2. Depends. If you value what you learn from level 1 (basic understanding of financial statements and corporate structure, some basic quant methods which would be useful for your work, being able to hold a conversation about investing) then it’s worth it. If you want to rely on a level 1 pass as leverage in the job market, then no. 3. Unlikely. There will be thousands of others who passed level 1. Even the CFA charter would probably be seen as merely the icing on the cake (the cake being experience, network, ability, and personality).
As a CFA Charterholder and a CPA in Canada, I can tell you that MBA is pretty dime a dozen here and likely won’t get you into any of those areas you have mentioned after graduating.I would recommend you look into doing an MBA at a top 20 school in the states to get your foot in the door.
Agree with Tactics - they don’t care about level 1 or even if you had finished the program. They only care if you can make it rain.
Agree with Tactics here as well - if your intention is learn and grow in finance, level 1 will give you some general understanding and may make the MBA go a little smoother. But, it won’t get you a job with no experience or give you a leg up on other graduates that are applying for the same jobs.
experience >>> charter or designation, so no.
My recommendation is to re-think the Schulich part and apply to a real MBA in the states if you want to accomplish your goal. Also try to get some internships during your MBA since you have no experience in finance.
Schulich he’s referring to his a business school in York named after Seymour Schulich.
Schulich is actually a Charterholder himself and has numerous other school named after him as he had donated millions (engineering, law, music, business and medicine). He is worth in excess of a billion I believe.
Do THE CFA level 1, not my. You wouldn’t say “I’m going to get my girlfriend” if you are looking to get a girlfriend, you’d say “I’m going to get a girlfriend.”