Passing the CFA
Hi everyone,
I’m currently doing my bachelor’s degree and I’m thinking ahead about the CFA Level I. I’m not totally sure yet what my path will look like after graduation. I might go straight into work, or I might work for a bit and then apply for a master’s program. Because of that, I’m trying to figure out when it actually makes sense to start preparing for the CFA.
For people who have gone through it, when is a realistic time to begin studying while still in school? Is it better to wait until I have some full-time experience, or is there value in passing Level I earlier to strengthen my profile for internships, jobs, or grad school?
I’d also really appreciate any honest input on how much time it usually takes to prepare properly, what the workload feels like on top of classes, and how useful the CFA has been for your career depending on whether you went straight to work or did a master’s first.
Thanks a lot for any thoughts or advice.
Non-CFA here, contemplated but decided not to pursue.
It is possible that Level 1 can strengthen your resume - but I believe the 300 hours of effort elsewhere would do more for you. The first internship always seems hard, but once you secure something, even a part-time internship at an IB/PE firm, search fund, etc. you can springboard from there.
I’m unsure about my future career path but I’m thinking about IB or working in a HF. I have heard that the CFA helps in HF but I was wondering if it gives an edge in IB.
Also, I haven’t started my recruiting yet but am thinking about applying for an internship in Europe at a BB as soon as I see positions available in my area. Am I starting too late with this?
For some reason, the CFA tries to position itself as something akin to the CPA or an MBA/grad degree, when it is not. I think they have done a terrific job with their marketing particularly to people who believe more education of any kind helps in any circumstance, but this is not true.
Yes, I’m in Europe and I honestly don’t know what the timeline to apply is, I should ask that in another thread
Anecdotally, not a single SA interview I had brought up that I had passed CFA L1. However, every single one brought up and seemed very impressed by the SIE. Kind of annoying considering the SIE was 100x easier
300 hrs for level 1
300 hrs for level 2
300 hrs for level 3
That is a LOT of time to give up when you’re not sure about your career path (the CFA will help you in equity research and a little bit with the buy side, not much else). My advice from the IB standpoint would be to take the SIE. That shows initiative but is not a crazy time drain on your end (100 hrs MAX study time) which will allow you to network as much as possible. The networking step is by far the most important step in the entire recruiting process.
Experience is the name of the game and the best way to get experience is to network. 10-20 LinkedIn messages a week is a healthy target to start with
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