First time writing on analystforum although i’ve followed it for years now. I would soon be moving to Canada and was just wondering if anyone could shed some light on what the job market for CFA charterholders is like? I’ve got 2+ Equity Research experience in Asia and some experience in working at a corporate treasury. Ideally i would like to get in to a corporate finance or corporate strategy division and would like to stay in Toronto, Montreal or Vancouver but honestly wouldn’t mind moving in to a smaller city if there are better opportunities. I have the option of doing an MBA as well but wonder if the cost, which is likely to be CAD 100k+ is really worthwhile.
Any thoughts or insights on the matter would be highly appreciated.
It is certainly not “safer” to spend 100k in hopes of getting a job when you are perfectly qualified already. Yes, an MBA might be your best bet to break in, but you literally have nothing to lose by getting your resume and cover letters together and applying to 20 jobs to see what happens. That is far “safer”. The worst that can happen is you don’t hear back and you can still go get an MBA, best thing that could happen is you get a great job and save yourself from spending what might take you a 5-10 years to save.
Yeah certainly I am going to float my resume around and see. But given the dim outlook of the market I think it makes sense to start applying for MBA programs sooner than later. I was wondering whether I should delay the application process by about a year to see if i can land a decent job but if that fails it would hurt my chances of getting in to a decent MBA program.
don’t come til you have a job. Sorry to say this but it’s true. People ignore this advice but then spend a year looking for a job here burning their savings and end up making 40k doing something barely related to their field. By then you’re too far committed and end up in a lifetime of misery and regret, making a poor wage, no prospects, and living 1+ hr out of the city. Especially if you are coming from decent finance experience prepare to be disappointed.
^ I’m not sure how many times we can say that Canada is already way over saturated with finance professionals and people who want to be in finance. It’s a hard enough for native Canadians who speak perfect english and went to the right schools.
How are the mid-level cities like? Or even Montreal/Vancouver or Calgary? I would honestly like to stay away from Toronto as it costs a fortune to live there plus i’ve read some stories about horrible work-life balance in the GTA! Plus i’m not targeting buy-side/sell-side jobs or banking. Looking for a decent Corp fin gig at a local firm or an MNC.
On the other hand, if the market is this competitive even an MBA would not give you a major edge right? Apart from access to networking channels, which you can build urself if you are willing to put in the effort, anything else that makes an MBA program more appealing?
Asian + Indian mentality = I’m just going to keep accumulating credentials with no work experience or work experience from my home country, then come to Canada to make a lot of money, if that fails I’m going to get an MBA preferrably at Schulich or Rotman.
Lol. First I have not been accumulating credentials without work experience. If you bothered to read my post I have decent experience in finance in my home country and if you didn’t know already, its extremely tough/next to impossible for an Asian to break in to a developed market right after their bachelors unless if they had studied in that country. So I know that I would have to attach a discount to my experience but i dnt think that should stop anyone from pursuing their dreams.
On the other hand, I’m not coming to Canada to make a lot of money. (making it big in investment banking or fund management is not my goal) If i wanted to do that I would’ve considered a much larger developed market in Asia or US. So thanks for laying out the “typical mindset” of Asians for me! But on top of that do you have anything of value you might like to add?
Then why bother coming to Canada, why not stay in your home country since you have work experience there and I assume you studied there. I’m not trying to be an ass, I’m trying to reason with you. One of the reasons why Canada is a tough market is because we accept a lot of highly qualified immigrants who then try to compete with locals who are also highly qualified but they get the benefit of being a local. All I’m saying is that this influx of qualified immigrants is a trap, there aren’t enough high paying jobs because Canada’s market is very small. But our government keeps on accepting these highly qualified immigrants because 1. it looks good on paper so that bleeding heart liberals can say Canada is a multicultural inclusive society that makes us look good on the world stage. 2. with declining population where is the government going to get the tax dollars.
^ Risking making $40K in Canada is better than being chased around by mosquitoes, breathing polluted air, stuck in traffic 4hrs/day, being harassed by men every single day on the streets in third world countries (some exaggeration but it’s close). That’s why people move. You won’t be able to relate to that unless you’ve lived it. Not to mention good healthcare and education for kids.
I’ve been fortunate enough to travel to many parts of asia, primarily Hong Kong, Shanghai, Beijing, Tokyo, Taiwan, Singpaore and Malaysia. All of which are by no means 3rd world countries but I understand the harassment thing when I visited Malaysia. I’ve heard it’s terrible in certain parts of India. But nonetheless I am not discouraging the OP from coming to Canada, living standards here are great but it isn’t cheap. My family immigrated to Canada in the 90’s, and back then it was much easier than it is now. Like all things in life timing and luck do come into play. For the OP to come to Canada, he/she is just adding to the competition in the already very competitive job market that he/she doesn’t want or need.
Lol Cooler! I certainly wouldn’t call the demise of the Indian IT industry to be a good thing. The sooner countries like India and Sri Lanka develop, the sooner citizens would be able to enjoy better standards of living putting an end to this urge to migrate.
I believe this is very true. Canada has been accepting a lot of immigrants lately and most have a bachelors at the very least. This influx is going to turn a job market that’s already bad even worse.
But what you might be able to understand is that for a person from a third world country, living off minimum wage in Canada offers much better quality of life than one can enjoy here even while making a decent salary. Not to mention living amidst a liberal and a multi-cultural society and everything @tactics mentioned. This is why so many from developing countries like India and Philippines apply and migrate to Canada (i’m not Indian btw, I’m from Sri Lanka). For someone from a third world country this is a “golden opportunity”.
So is there anything that an immigrant can do to stand out in this job market? My initial plan was to apply for a few MBA programs whilst trying my luck in the job market but after reading all these comments i’m not sure even a good MBA (i’m eyeing Ivey, McGill or Sauder) is gonna cut it!
