Hi, I gave CFA L1 Dec.16 exam and got passband 2 
. I’m from a non finance background and presently working in a commercial bank in Retail credit profile. I missed Dec’17 exam. although couldn’t prepared well because of hectic work schedule then. Now I have decided to retake the exam in Dec’18. If anyone can suggest a better strategy to start with and prepare well to crack the exam. Also which third party study material is better, IFT or schweser ? I still have the confidence and passion to get to work in the field of investment banking but just want the guidance and right way to get the requisite knowledge and get pass through CFA L1.
Schweser was good when i studied it. Read the books, do the end of chapter questions, use a question bank and smash through 100s of questions everyday.
L1 is easy dude.
You have the confidence and desire to work in IB, but that doesn’t mean anything. You also need aptitude, network and luck.
How hard do you feel you studied when you got Band 2? Do you have ideas what went wrong?
The best strategy to pass the exam is to do lots of practice questions and mock exams and of course read the books as well to understand the materials.
I think I’m in a somewhat similar role to you, I’m a corporate credit analyst in a commercial bank. Realistically speaking, I think it’s difficult for us to break into investment banking. CFA is good to have but definitely is not the golden ticket for IBs. To have a good chance of becoming an IB in a BB bank you will probably need to have an MBA from a top business school and more importantly, connections!