TBH, I recently realized I made a mistake with my career choice. I started leaning towards finance a while back and have a personal and family portfolio that I manage.
I decided that I want to do that for a living and I want to get all the skills possible to achieve that.
The reason I am aiming for the CFA, is to simplify my career change process. I am not sure if it will help with finding a job though.
I might be pursuing a false goal or doing a huge mistake, but the worst that could happen is me learning more about finance.
As for the difference between mechanical engineers and civil ones, think about a wind turbine.
A mechanical engineer designs the blades, the turbine, the gearbox, the cooling system, etc.
A civil engineer designs the structural tower and the foundation.
So basically moving (mechanical) vs stationary (civil) with some exceptions.
Armino - You seem to have it in your head that you need to wait until you have passed level 3 before applying for a finance related jobs. That is the wrong way to think of it. Passing the CFA exams will be a minor positive during the recruitment process, but no more than that. It is not a free ticket to a job. Get your CV spruced up and start applying for finance jobs straight away.
Yeah I think it’s unfair, but what can you do? You can still put on your resume that you passed the tests, which should probably help as much as the letters given that all kinds of jobs are counted as experience.
It’s not clearly fair or unfair. It would be unfair if - after passing level 3 - you were prohibited from telling anyone or putting on your resume that you’d passed the exams.
Since that is permitted (provided you use the proper language), then it’s really hard to say that it isn’t fair to demand that you have financial experience before using the letters on your resume or business cards.
If you finish all the requirements for your major, but haven’t passed additional breadth requirements, they won’t let you graduate from college, either. Once you meet that criteria, you can put BA or BS or whatever is appropriate on your resume. It’s really not that different, except that you need some experience as some kind of practitioner.
The CFA was intended as a mid-career professionalization program. Most people who took the exam already had some experience, and this was designed to give better breadth and training to those who might have had experience in only one aspect of finance. Over time, people started using this as a way to get into finance, and it worked pretty well in the early 2000s, but hasn’t since the financial crisis.
If you want to get some financial letters after your name that doesn’t require any experience, do a master’s program in finance or financial engineering at a university. They will let you use the letters after you’ve passed their courses.