Guys I have cleared all three levels of CFA in first attempt,finding it difficult to get a job in Indai.
What are the probabilities to get a job in Toronto?? I have one year of option trading experience.
Toronto reportedly has more CFA charterholders per capita than any city in the world. Employers in Toronto will unfortunately be even less excited about your achievement than are employers in India. Do you have a Canadian work visa?
go to calgary
^ agreed.
I previously heard that the job market in Calgary was very strong, so I applied for a couple dozen Calgary finance jobs. Didn’t hear a peep back from any of them. I concluded from this that Calgary is not the promised land for financial analysts that some will tell you it is. I suspect that all of Canada has too many CFAs, including Calgary.
Canadian companies are not going to hire someone not living in that city unless they have valuable experience. Some guy with a couple years experience and living in Mumbai is not going to get an interview for anything in Calgary or Toronto. Canadian firms hire locally. If you can relocate here first, you’d stand a 5,000% better chance of getting a job. Calgary especially. You’re not getting a job in Toronto with a year of option trading in India. If you were an established pro within some unique in demand niche, maybe. But why would they go through the hassle of hiring you if they can call UofT and have someone with a Canadian education tomorrow? Calgary is a gold mine if you’re an experienced pro and willing to work in a corporation. And Wendy is right too. A designation in Canada is a ticket to play the game. It isn’t something special.
I think I saw on TV where they were giving foreigners work visas to work at Alberta hardware stores and donut shops. It seems that there isn’t an equivalent shortage of investment professionals, so take stories about Calgary employment prospects with a grain of salt.
Everywhere is a gold mine if you’re already an experienced pro in the field of finance. I believe that OP’s challenge is that he has only a modest amount of experience.
I’m hacksaw educated. I have no experience directly in oil and gas. Been in the business less than 10 years. No IB or ER history. Last job search I sent out 15 resumes. 8 call backs and interview requests, I attended 3 and got 3 offers, all well comped. May may another move for a big bump in next bit too. Of course, YMMV. And you need to live here to get jobs here.
So – to be clear – what you’re telling us is that there was nothing in your education or background that made you unusually well-suited for an oil & gas related finance job?
Not really, no. I’m not in oil and gas. All of those were outside of oil and gas. If I was in oil and gas, I’d have even more opportunity. I’m just a hacksaw analyst. Honestly its starting to feel like 2007/08 here again. Companies are scaling up and spending. Not really a great sign in the medium term.
Yes. I’m surprised you remembered that.
To the OP, Calgary is unquestionably the strongest market right now, but IMO it’s a one trick pony. It doesn’t have a diversified and resilient economy. It’s cyclical. It was a depression (not recession) there in the 1980s when energy collapsed.
I would try really hard for London, Tokyo, NYC, Chicago if I were you.
FT - You don’t have to go back to the 1980s. 2009 and 2010 were very bleak. There were literally no jobs, people were getting fired, housing prices were collapsing 20% so folks couldn’t leave. If you want to play out here, you need to accept the upside and downside. Peripheral industries are key IMO. They kind of smooth out the trend, while still benefiting from somewhat inflated wages. Working directly for a producer can be very volitile (though when things are good, the bonuses flow just like Bay Street).
I didn’t think it was that bad out there. We weathered the storm here in the east relative to most of the world. Then again, since then we haven’t had much of an uptrend either (besides housing).
If you aren’t local here, don’t expect to hear anything back. I can assure you local companies here will NOT call anyone in India. Move here first or might as well stop trying.
^ This is 100% true. And not just India.
So, the job market for financial analysts in Calgary is strong only when compared to relatively weak hiring environments elsewhere. If the Calgary CFA job market was truly strong, they’d give serious consideration to candidates willing to relocate to Calgary.
Sure, they’d consider Vancouver, Montreal or Toronto for example if you’ve got some experience, weaker markets with a surplus of talent. But why? Two hundred thousand people moved to Calgary looking for work in the last decade. Companies don’t have to pay relocation because thousands of qualified people move here on their own accord. I wouldn’t be surprised if several hundred pros moved here last year seeking opportunity. If you’re not willing to do that, someone else will take the job.
Unfortunately not.