Guide for becoming a CFA
My long term goal is to become a CFA employed at an investment group, but I am in need of some guidance on how to get there.
A little about me:
I am currently not working in the financial industry, but I am planning on making a career change. Here is the problem, I have a Bachelors degree in music. I am young (sort of :), 29) and highly motivated, but I am not sure where to start. I have been trading as an individual for a few years now and really enjoy it. Should I start over by getting a bachelors degree in finance, pursue a CFA title, or seek an MBA in finance. My fear is that because of my background I will need to start over completely to have a chance at becoming competitive.
With that said, can anyone offer a basic step by step guide to get me on the right path to become a part of the industry?
Thank you
http://www.cfainstitute.org/cfaprogram/process/Pages/becoming_a_charter…
http://www.wallstreetoasis.com/cfa-prep-15-discount-for-wso
This is going to be extremely tough for you. Not having any exp in Finance along with a degree in Music puts you incredibly far behind almost everyone. Passing a few Levels of the CFA might help a little, but I don't think it will be enough to get you where you want to go. The CFA will help compensate for the Music degree, but you still have zero experience. I think your best bet would be to go into a top MBA program (if you can) and try to transition from there into a firm. Who knows, if you have good stats and experience thats way different from most everyone else applying to b school, you could potentially get into a top program. I would look into that as going back to undergrad would be a giant pain, and you would basically have to start with doing summer internships to get exp and basically go back to being a 20yr old sophmore. At least the MBA route gets you the MBA and not just another undergrad degree. Good luck to you. Work hard enough and network enough, sprinkle in a little luck, and anything can happen.
^ I agree with the MBA. What you need now is to rebrand yourself as a businessperson, and that's what the MBA does. If you're accomplished in your field and can show a definitive interest in finance, you could land in a top MBA program.
I think the easiest way to put it for you may be:
So yeah, you're behind, but I don't think you're nearly out of the game yet. Good luck.
Thank you everyone for the responses and links thus far, all of the information is extremely helpful and encouraging.
Using the outline above, it looks like I will need to start by getting some formal experience. My plan would be to find all of the local investment groups/firms and apply for an internship or entry level job(Heck even a janitor, :) ). While I am gaining some experience so that I can take the CFA exams, I will spend all of my free time preparing to kill the CFA and GMAT before applying for MBA programs.
As I look at these local investment groups, any suggestions?
Thanks,
If you're completely serious about doing the move to finance, I think having a network of professionals to guide you will be invaluable. You should use this site and perhaps the paid mentoring services, but most important is for you to begin meeting people in finance. Even if it's old college buddies you haven't talked to in a while, it may be worth your time to start there and begin associating yourself more with people in the industry. Go to seminars and networking events, provided that they're cost effective and don't take too much of your now-indispensable time.
Also, consider your educational options. A grad program (MA, MS, MSF) is flexible in terms of what it can do for you (OCR, network, skills development) but is expensive; the CFA, though it is low cost relative to grad school, requires a huge amount of unguided study. And with no finance experience, you're looking at 4 years before you can use the designation, assuming you even take the L2 and L3 exams. In short, the CFA L1 may be as far as you should consider pursuing the CFA, and only to boost your knowledge and show how serious you are.
Finally, in terms of work experience, it'll be hard to get a paid job without experience or a network and only a liberal arts degree. It may be worth your time to find an unpaid internship (networking is useful for this). Also, it could be of use to get involved in an extracurricular business activity - if you do a grad program, join a finance club and take a leadership role. An interesting thing I've been experimenting with is an online application called "10EQS". You can google it and find out more - it's basically a crowd-sourced consulting firm started by McKinsey alumni.
That's just to clarify what I meant before. I'm not sure about what groups you should join, considering it's unclear where you are. Tell us what region you're in, and I think if people know it they can help you better in terms of possible work, schools and involvement.
^ additionally, there are no career services for being a charterholder. Atleast with a FT MBA you get OCR.
http://www.analystforum.com/article/cfa/the-cfa-exams-will-not-land-you…
get a MBA
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