Value of the CSC (Canadian Securities Course) for ibanking?
Hey WSO,
I am currently entering my third year of university here in Canada, and was looking for earning some useful knowledge this summer. I want to supplement my internship with some other great education and resume points. I have been looking at the CSC (Canadian Securities Course), as well as the Wallstreet prep Modelling Premium Course. I want to break into ibanking, hopefully in NY. Would the CSC be relevant at all for a US bank? Can anyone of you comment on the usefulness of these courses, or recommend any others?
Thanks in advance, Market McFly
The certificate in retirement strategy offered by the CSI is much more relevant for banking than the CSC.
Thanks for the response. Could elaborate a bit as to why? I don't really see the connection with retirement...
We are currently in a phase of de-leveraging where people simply can't afford to grow old. In order have the ability to navigate thorough this era that will be synonymous with tight credit, a certificate in retirement strategy would be massively beneficial for all careers in high finance.
It's something that you really have to weigh the cost/benefit for, and consider your own personal situation. For example if you come from a non-business background then the CSC might been seen as something that shows you have at least a base knowledge of finance. But, if you are a business major then it's benefit isn't quite as obvious since you'll have related coursework that shows you've got some base knowledge.
From talking to people who have written the CSC exams they've all said it's not hard and only requires minimal studying, which to me takes away a lot of value. I'm also sure you've already looked into it and know the CSC isn't cheap so it's a fairly big expense for something that may not even impress the person reviewing your resume.
I never enrolled in the program myself since I couldn't justify paying for the benefits it would provide. My feeling is that you're typically better off spending the time networking with people in the industry since networking is many times more likely to help you land an interview than 3 letters on your resume (if the person reviewing your resume even reads that part).
Maybe somebody who has enrolled in the program would argue differently, but I'd be willing to bet you'll have a hard time finding someone that can say "I got my IB internship because I passed the CSC".
In terms of relevance to IB, it is useless. However, a few interviews earlier in the year brought up why I didn't have my CSC (one HF, one mutual fund). My previous internship wasn't finance related, so the CSC would have been a good way to show my interest in the field. It definitely wasn't an auto ding that I didn't have it, but looking back I would have done it given my lack of experience. The CSC will not provide "great education", and the resume point will only be valuable if you do not have finance experience.
Thanks for all of the responses. What is everyone's opinion on the wall street prep modeling course? It looks like it will teach me a lot, but is it legitimate enough to place on my resume?
If you want to manage money in Canada at any point in your life, you'll need the CSC and the Conduct and Practices course
^ Load of shit.
I took the CSC to show interest in business before applying to undergraduate business programs and it was a huge help in discovering what interested me about finance and what I might like to major in when I went to university. But if you have any sort of basic understanding of finance don't bother with it for learning sake.
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