Useless efforts to obtain CFA®
How many kids do I see in back office/mid office/IT/etcs trying so hard to obtain the CFA®?
To me, this appears completely useless in most of the cases. Some of these kids are all looking for the high paying jobs the financial industry promotes, but I feel like none of them truly understand the world of finance and the limited jobs there are.
I also find it very difficult for people to jump from a back/mid/IT position to IB/CB/WM/PM.
thoughts ?
Maybe they want to work in asset management?
Perhaps, but I just feel like these kids think that by obtaining a CFA they are automatically going to get a job out of their back/mid/IT jobs, which I believe is not true.
well it certainly helps, but i'm more curious as to why the hell you care? everyones got a different reason bro.
Cause they could put more effort into the systems working properly instead of studying cfa.
haters gon hate.
If only there was some kind of certification that could be acquired by back/mid/IT people that would improve their knowledge and marketability for IB/CB/WM/PM positions. Someone should work on that. Oh, wait...
I have met back-office managers with a CFA. It's not a matter of getting into Front Office. Nowadays to move up in Back/Mid office a CFA helps.
yes yes it's a crazy world we live in...
yea the CFA is pretty worthless and won't help you get a job. but if you're stuck in a rut it's better than nothing
"but I feel like none of them truly understand the world of finance and the limited jobs there are."
how did you "truly understand"?
what does it mean to "truly understand"?
no sarcasm i'm curious
Yeah please, enlighten us. Maybe we all don't "truly understand." What a tool. While the CFA doesn't guarantee a FO role, it certainly shows motivation, dedication, interest in finance, etc. Maybe these are traits you don't possess and feel the need to display your frustration on an internet forum.
It won't help but won't hurt either. There is a marginal benefit but cannot be used to move to FO. It is a requirement for those in equity research, asset management to advance their career. e.g. In Switserland you cannot get any decent asset mgt job without a CFA level 2 qualification.
I agree. And contrary to what people say here, I believe it does help. I'm not in a FO role but I've gotten some interviews because I passed the Level 1 in addition to other factors in my resume. It shows dedication to be in the industry even though you're not currently. In addition, you learn a lot of stuff that you wouldn't necessarily learn by reading the guides.
By "truly understand the world of finance", I meant that the people I've met in BO/MO/IT roles that are doing CFA is to gain access to FO/IB/PM jobs and that most of them think they will be automatically making tons of money by working close to the money. That they will be "ballin".
I had a conversation with one of the IT guys a few weeks ago, and he was telling me about his motivations of doing CFA. His motivations are that he believes that obtaining CFA will enable him to gain access to an analyst position in IB.
To be honest, I believe that's being dishonest with yourself. I think it's even harder to gain access to an IB role once you've started a career in IT/BO/MO.
@pivot1990 : I agree, once you've started in this field, it's a must if you want to go up the corporate ladder. But this is not the situation to which I am referring.
You do realize there are more FO roles in finance than IBD, right? The entire asset management industry, for example... where a CFA is actually useful.
Of course CFA isn't intended for IB, just look at the charterholder industry breakdown.
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