I’ve just recently passed the third level of the CFA and have been working as a buy-side equity analyst in Connecticut for a few years post-graduation (non-target undergrad in the US, non-finance major). I’ve been applying to some jobs in New York but the lack of responses to my resume is astounding (pre-CFA3 pass, but I’m not sure it’ll make too much of a difference here). The responses that I’m getting from head hunters is that I’m not Ivy with a 4.0 GPA and 2 years IB experience so the buy-side in NY is out of my reach (pretty ridiculous, but almost word-for-word).
Because of this I’ve begun thinking that moving internationally would be a good idea, as other countries might not care as much about my education/major as they would about my applicable experience and the CFA. Does anyone have any experience with marketing the passing of the CFA exams abroad, and if so, what was it like? Is it more valued by internationally-based employers?
Almost word-for-word. They recommend I look into operations or compliance as a career path because New York employers can “choose to be picky”, to which I respond, “How does my experience in analyzing investments and aiding in portfolio management the past 3 years made me a good candidate for operations?”
Tough market right now. Maybe not going through traditional paths is the real way to staying on the buy-side
I would try London if I were you. The UK is normally a market quite open in terms of background/experience, and I’m already feeling the difference between being a L2 candidate and a L3 candidate, so I’m sure you’ll be called.
Also, I guess you’re native English-speaker so out of the US, UK would be the place I would say.
The reason they are telling you that is because they have tons of ops rolls to fill and can get paid quickly. They would have to work very hard to find you an investment analyst role and given your level of seniority it would not pay that much more than an ops role.
So, from an investment perspective: for them the reward is roughly equal between finding you an ops role or an investment role, but the ops role is 100% certain while the investment role is 50% certain with a longer duration.
Source: knowing senior executives at major headhunters.
I just cannot imagine someone with 3 years of buy side equity analyst would be suitable for operations role. I mean any monkey can learn to do operations so you don’t really need experience but this is not the point. You have skill set in front office.
You should look for recruiters that specialize in front office.
Just out of curiousity, I know nothing of this matter, how does citizenship work? I know some places, I.e. London, have strict mandates to hire locals before foreigners.
Not sure which places are more welcoming, but would like to hear more. It’s a reasonable idea.
Are you Spanish sharky? My wife is from the Basque country and she would like us to move to Spain at some stage. I work at a Big Four firm in Malta at the moment. What do you reckon are my chances in Spain (passed Level 2, Master’s in Financial Analysis from Universidad Carlos III, Bachelor’s in Accountancy, Big Four background…)? And employment opportunities for English-speakers?
This is where i belileve if you use the same amount of energy and time into doing something else, you probably will be successful doing whatever you do…
There are actually a surprisingly large amount of finance jobs in Malta for such a small place. Tax incentives being the main reason. Also it is English speaking, in the Euro, nice climate and a short flight to anywhere in Europe.