mo34 Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Kakane Wrote: > -------------------------------------------------- > ----- > > Hi guys, > > > > Need a little advice, if you please. > > I’ve got a job interview and would like to know > > whether the company can find out my exam record > > with CFAI. > > > > What if the company asks ‘did you pass each CFA > > level first time around’…could I get away with > a > > little white lie of saying I passed all three > > levels first time around? > > We all know that CFAI ethical standards > prohibit > > candidates/charterholders from implying first > time > > passes are superior, etc… > > > > Cheers for your feedback, > > > > K > > > As the experts have indicated earlier, the CFAI > will not go back and check your results. > > So my advise to you is to lie and add something > like " Sure did, but I did not feel that it would > be appropriate to specify that on my resume". > > If the interviewer asks you such a stupid > question, he/she is obviously looking for one > answer " Yes I did". > > All the feel good stories about how someone failed > each level twice but showed determination, are > just that ( feel good stories), I wouldn’t want to > work with that guy in a million year, good luck to > him away from me. Agreed. If an interviewer asks this question, it would raise a big red flag in my mind. I had an interviewer ask me a while back what school I went to and my grades I got in my end of school exams. That’s not information I have on my CV nor is it information I consider relevant considering my education and work experience since then. That stuff might be somewhat relevant for your first job out of school, but I’m well passed that stage. In and of itself, you might think those questions are no big deal. If you think about the thought process behind why someone is asking that question though, I think you have to have serious question marks over whether that person will be capable of judging the best candidate for that particular role based on the information they have. By the way, that particular guy also gave me a gorilla-grip handshake when I arrived and stared straight into my eyes for several seconds while he did it as if he was trying to hypnothise me. The interview went downhill pretty fast as I couldn’t build up any sort of rapport with that man. I just found him creepy.
I have never been asked if I “passed all 3 on the first try”, but it definitely comes up when discussing the chronology of my work experience and progression through the CFA program. If I were the interviewer, that is how I would frame it. It is much more difficult to lie about something like chronology and to stick with that lie.
What’s really stupid. My friend was asked for his SAT scores from 11 years ago. Graduated college from a top school, went to work for a bulge bracket for years already. People can change huge in 11 years. It seems to me someone asking for SAT scores is desperately hanging on to the past.
What’s up Kakane? Hope all is well your way and hope the surf has been good. I wouldn’t even consider that an option. In my opinion honesty and integrity are two of the most important traits out there, and really lacking in a lot of this business. Going 3/3 is great and all, but I’d much rather hire someone that is honest in all facets, that went 3/4. We both barely missed that first L2 and we learned from it, and were able to get past L3 on the first go. No shame in that. You’ll be glad you told the truth.
GMofDen Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > In my opinion honesty > and integrity are two of the most important traits > out there, and really lacking in a lot of this > business. What are you talking about ( honesty and integrity)? This is not an interview for the LAPD we’re talking about. He’s probably trying to get into ER and eventually move up to write all kind of BS that he knows for sure doesn’t work and is not even worth the paper it’s printed on. So what’s the big deal in starting the lying early on with something irrelevant like 3/3 or 3/10 ?
Yeah, I’m pretty sure lying (or at least withholding information) and being good at screwing people discretely are two of the most valuable skills in finance.
mo34 Wrote: --------------- > He’s probably trying to get > into ER and eventually move up to write all kind > of BS that he knows for sure doesn’t work and is > not even worth the paper it’s printed on. So > what’s the big deal in starting the lying early on > with something irrelevant like 3/3 or 3/10 ? Are you serious? This is a joke right? Your argument that since he wants to do ER, and will write BS, means he should just start lying about his resume now?? oh god. please don’t listen to this advice.
Yeah I find those important traits in life. My clients do too, and I like to work with people that have similar views. You can choose whether you would want to fib on that, I personally wouldn’t.
do you really want to work in an office where you will constantly be watching what you say when you describe your life/past to coworkers, to the point that you may have to change your story to adapt to a lie you told years ago? if so, then lie about it. if it were a one time thing and you could forget about it, then maybe it’d be bearable, but to have to lie for the rest of your life adds unnecessary social pressure and mental wear that is just not worth it relative to the ‘reward’ for lying. just be you. tell your cfa story as part of the greater story of your life. you shouldn’t have to come onto a forum to ask strangers whether you should lie about passing an exam or not. as cfa candidates/charterholders, we can only have one serious answer, no, if you were to do so, you could lose your charter. it would be extremely childish to lie about exam results.
mo34 Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > bchadwick Wrote: > -------------------------------------------------- > ----- > > I think it’s stupid not to be honest about this > > thing. Reward/Risk << Hurdle rate. > > > What’s the risk in this case ? The CFAI will > neither confirm nor deny his claim. The risk would apparently be zero. But it definitely is not zero. We just had a thread last week about someone who said she’d passed L2 and very likely had only passed L1. CFAI being informed of the issue was intermediate step in the process, it was not the source of the discovery. Suppose later on, the OP is hired. A buddy at the firm fails L2, and the OP wants to be friendly and says “Hey, dude, don’t worry, I had to do it over too.” Story circulates about how the OP is really friendly, and their boss says “hey, wait, OP went 3/3.” All of a sudden, OP is a known liar, and hopefully OP has been a really really nice person to everyone, because, otherwise, someone will try to drag their name through the mud. Yes, all of these are low probability events, but the probabilities are still a lot higher than one might think. One should really live one’s life in such a way that you don’t need to lie. That doesn’t mean that everyone is entitled to know whatever they want about you. You can say “that’s none of your business,” or the like. Or you can spin things to the positive angle. But there’s really should be no need to lie.
I went on an interview and was asked if I failed before. The interviewer only asked that question because he wanted to feel superior then other people. I didn’t get the job and it was probably a good thing. Who wants to work with a boss who needs to consistently feel superior to other people? I saw he had a wedding ring on and I felt pretty bad for his wife.
BiPolarBoyBoston Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > I went on an interview and was asked if I failed > before. The interviewer only asked that question > because he wanted to feel superior then other > people. I didn’t get the job and it was probably a > good thing. Who wants to work with a boss who > needs to consistently feel superior to other > people? I saw he had a wedding ring on and I felt > pretty bad for his wife. That’s what I was talking about. A stupid question deserves a lie. If someone is juvenile enough to ask if you went 3/3 ( probably like in your case because he/she did it and wanted to feel good about it) he deserves a smack down answer like " Sure, no big deal really, I didn’t feel the need to clubber my resume with minor details" .
Cheers for the continuing insights everyone. "I had an interviewer ask me a while back what school I went to and my grades I got in my end of school exams. That’s not information I have on my CV nor is it information I consider relevant considering my education and work experience since then. That stuff might be somewhat relevant for your first job out of school, but I’m well passed that stage. In and of itself, you might think those questions are no big deal. If you think about the thought process behind why someone is asking that question though, I think you have to have serious question marks over whether that person will be capable of judging the best candidate for that particular role based on the information they have. " Carson - I had that experience last Friday, school grades don’t carry much weight when compared to an undergraduate degree, masters and work experience combined with the completion of the CFA Program. Guy was a bit of a t$sser… GMofDen - I’m doing well, thanks. Not been surfing as much as I’d like to, though that’ll change when I hit Fuerteventura on the 26/11…going to go nuts on a hired surfboard lol! Consensus is: shoot from the hip and be straight in an interview - like I stated before, I’d be uncomfortable otherwise. Wish me luck 
K