Hi, was laid off recently after first stint in finance/ER. It was not performance related at all, and I have some good contacts/references, as well as published work. I think I know what to do, but wanted advice as well, doesnt hurt. I have CFA 3 coming up, and I’m barely into the curriculum at the moment (work completely consumed me). Given the absolute cluster-f*** that the markets are currently in, the layoffs, the lack of jobs, I’m inclined to dedicate my time to mostly preparing for L3. When I get a detailed first read under my belt, I then plan to start looking again (about 1.5 months or so). I only have 3 months of experience in ER and I’m not overly optimistic about my job prospects in this climate. I need to put in a solid 500 or so hours from here until June to ensure a pass, and I definitely don’t want to jeapordize passing this exam bc I’m chasing job opps that aren’t there. Thoughts?
500 hours!?
How did you get laid off if it wasn’t performance related? Headcount cuts and lowest on totem pole?
yes. there were cuts in equity research and investment banking. all ER associates went, even one with 3+ years there, an ER analyst, and a IB analyst who was lowest tenured. Paycuts and bonus cuts throughout institutional staff to those who survived. I want to feel confident/assure a pass, so I threw out the 500 number/target.
Sorry to hear about your situation. However, I do not understand the question. Why would you not conduct a job search while studying? CFA is meant to be taken on top of working 50+ hours a week.
Sorry to hear your stint was cut short, not even your fault - I think I know the shop and it was coming given these conditions.
Keep networking and job searching, need to keep planting those seeds if and when the economy comes back. 300hrs should suffice. You really have no excuse to fail now! good luck.
Not so easy. In fact, I had this dilemma some time ago - you may even find a thread on this forum, maybe you find some advices useful.
Take up any project/ temp job/ anything that is more or less in line with decent experience for you. And keep searching for a perfect job. This is basically what I did and I highly commend this option. CFA exams will not run away from you. Level 3 is not the material you need badly to be an equity analyst, or take up any entry-level job.
As Ohai said, you can easily do both.
Exactly. Here’s another thread to help you become disciplined: http://www.analystforum.com/forums/water-cooler/91347999
You’ve got 16 weeks until the exam. Spend 5 hours a day during the week to study, and 3 hours on Saturdays and Sundays. You’ll still have 3 hours a day for job searching, and you’ll get to your 500 hours by June 3rd. You can do both and only put in 46 hours a week. Of course, if you actually get a job, you’ll be in a bit more of a pickle…
Lol, that was my point - not that I couldn’t manage job searching and cfa studying. I appreciate all the advice, I really do. If anything I will be considering allotting more of my time to job search going forward. That being said, knowing what life was like with an ER associate job (up at 5am, home at 6 pm on a good day, bed by 9pm, and a day on most weekends) it was extremely hard to fit in study time there. Hence my initial goal is to get through a meaty first-read, with notes, before I start allotting more job search time. I would hate to land a so-so job and throw away my opportunity to get finished with my CFA exams now instead of adding another year on time line. So maybe focus my job search right now only to jobs I think would present excellent career opportunities (eg. another ER associate job) where my CFA L3 would be less important. But for example some administration job in finance may not be an ideal spending of my time compared to ensuring an L3 pass.
Not sure it it helps but years ago I passes on a good job that would have put me on a path that pays me much more than I earn now, I figured I would just take a couple of months off to finish the CFA and I would find better. Fast forward five years and my position now is no better than I had on the table five years ago. So my take is put as much as you can into the job cause that can make all the diff. Sure however do study for CFA and make good use of your down time.
I don’t know man, there is a long line of us here that finished L3 with demanding jobs. The gap on your resume sucks. Just be aware of that. Everyday you’re out of the workforce you become a little more unemployable.
a good job >>>> passing CFA exams.
it’s not even close.
You’re getting 8 hours of sleep and complaining?
Do both. No one is saying settle for a shitty job, but the CFA should not preclude you from searching for a new job.
Complaining? I was merely stating a personal fact. I’m not saying I got 8 hrs every night, but I would try to, b/c it would lead to the most productivity at work. I understand that people like to brag about how little sleep they get, but A. not everyone is the same, and B. ignorance of the importance of sleep should never be triumphed.
Anyway, I will keep searching for jobs that I would consider worthy of potentially having to retake CFA3 for.