Big 4 FDD/TAS to Equity/Credit Research

Hey monkeys, I want to make the switch from FDD/TAS at a big 4 (currently a 1st year sr. associate) to equity or credit research. My question is will taking the CFA level 1 exam help with recruiting in addition to learning about the industries I want to cover (and networking), or should I just not bother with the CFA and focus my efforts on the latter? For background I started in audit and made the move to FDD to break out of the pure accounting role. Ideally I'd love to cover metals & mining. Thanks

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