It could be that people may be just writing wild things and stories on here. Or it could be true that 90% of the AFers are market moving big shots. From my experience, very few CFA holders and candidates are in such positions…Most are private wealth managers for either banks or RIAs. Some are true equity/FI analysts and surprising number of operations and accounting people.
Of course you can be the big shot, big $$$ making, know it all thundercat in any of the above positions…Who knows.
CFA is not meant to be a job placement tool. It’s a way to increase knowledge and facilitate networking among experienced professionals. That’s why there is a 4 year experience requirement for the charter; you’re supposed to already be in the industry.
If you’re serious about breaking in from a different field, get an MBA, or at least MFin or something like that. Unlike CFA (a series of 100 hour exams), these degrees require real commitment and investment, but will give you some measure of job placement service afterwards. Of course, you wlll most likely still regress into something related to your former job, but at least there is a chance.