So, I have recently been toying with the idea of foregoing the pursuit of an MBA altogether. The reason? I'm hearing that most banks consider a CFA charterholder to be just as knowledgeable and capable of high production and finance field specialized competency when compared to an MBA degree holder.
Now I am not looking to completely bypass the graduate school avenue completely, but can anyone offer any insight/experience into any non-traditional routes they have taken that have landed them or their colleagues associate level status or senior analyst status right out of their non-traditional respective grad programs? Is there a clear discrepancy in compensation between someone who may have a CFA but not grad degree as opposed to someone who may just have the grad degree?
What would be the point in having a CFA if you want to be an investment banker? Isn't that... overkill?
My question is if you had no I-bank background but let's say you came from sales and trading or commercial lending (something unrelated) and had a CFA vs the candidate with an MBA in hand, who do you go with? What do you think is more desirable to an I-bank?
what if you have a <abbr title="Chartered Financial Analyst
">CFA from your prior job?Disclaimer: The post above has been made by someone who is not currently employed in IBD, and has not had an interview yet...
So what I am saying is no MBA but has a CFA vs the MBA w/ no CFA, which may carry more weight when looking to come into the associate, senior analyst roles? (both have equal background experience)
From my research on the CFA exam, I don't think it necessarily pertains to I-Banking. I believe the people who pursue CFAs often work in wealth management (Wealth Management being the fund managers and analysts at companies such as Fidelity Investments). My personal opinion would be to obtain the MBA and not worry about your CFA.
I'll probably do the CFA exam. Since a lot of companies give you a bonus for completing each level + it should help with <abbr title="Masters in Business Administration
">MBA applicationsDisclaimer: The post above has been made by someone who is not currently employed in IBD, and has not had an interview yet...
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