MS, CFA®, job opportunities

I am a recent MS graduate (Financial Engineering, University of Montreal) now working as a credit risk analyst for a Quebec Bank in Montreal, Canada. I am interested in working in New York but am intimidated by the competition and unsure which jobs are perhaps a good match.

I have little experience but am considering doing the level I CFA® this year in hopes this will help me for New York. I am not interested in going head-to-head with Harvard PhDs for quant jobs in New York.

1) What kind of jobs should I look for in New York if I want a mix of finance and quantitative? What is a good match for me? I'm not even sure what kind of job listings to check and get confused with all the titles - investment banking, equity research, etc. Is financial engineering too quant? Can risk analysis/management be mixed finance/quantitative? Should I search for MS in the job listings?

2) Will a CFA® help me? Or would rather FRM/PRMIA actually help me significantly? This topic seems to have very mixed reviews on this forum. Remember, I dont want to be a full 100% quant. Id rather not attempt to compete with ivy league PhDs - there seem to be a lot of them, they get burnt out after a few years of the postdoc stuff. But I get the impression that FRM/PRMIA is nice yet redundant with my MS and not even that well recognised.

2 Comments
 
Best Response

CFA wont help you. Look into trading or something like that. See what banks recruit at CMU or Princeton. Don't bother looking for MS degree postings because most places don't specifically recruit or post jobs for a MS degree (either BS or MBA).

 

Et voluptas qui quam atque. Incidunt perferendis sunt id laudantium. Aut et aliquam illo accusamus. Vel aut labore sed totam dolorum voluptas.

Illo inventore quo tempora dicta. Maxime facilis suscipit sed qui. Similique fugit odit eos dolore praesentium aspernatur. Dolores recusandae maiores maxime. Nulla voluptate qui et dolor est aut quis.

Career Advancement Opportunities

July 2026 Investment Banking

  • Evercore 01 99.4%
  • Moelis & Company 01 98.9%
  • JPMorgan 01 98.3%
  • Guggenheim Partners 01 97.7%
  • Morgan Stanley 07 97.1%

Overall Employee Satisfaction

July 2026 Investment Banking

  • Moelis & Company No 99.4%
  • Evercore No 98.9%
  • Morgan Stanley 01 98.3%
  • BMO Capital Markets 13 97.7%
  • Banco Santander 01 97.1%

Professional Growth Opportunities

July 2026 Investment Banking

  • Evercore 01 99.4%
  • Moelis & Company 01 98.9%
  • Morgan Stanley 06 98.3%
  • Goldman Sachs 01 97.7%
  • JPMorgan 01 97.1%

Total Avg Compensation

July 2026 Investment Banking

  • Vice President (16) $429
  • Associates (46) $258
  • 3rd+ Year Analyst (8) $210
  • 2nd Year Analyst (22) $179
  • Intern/Summer Associate (14) $159
  • 1st Year Analyst (80) $150
  • Intern/Summer Analyst (73) $101
notes
16 IB Interviews Notes

“... there’s no excuse to not take advantage of the resources out there available to you. Best value for your $ are the...”

Leaderboard

1
redever's picture
redever
99.2
2
kanon's picture
kanon
99.0
3
Secyh62's picture
Secyh62
99.0
4
BankonBanking's picture
BankonBanking
99.0
5
dosk17's picture
dosk17
98.9
6
Betsy Massar's picture
Betsy Massar
98.9
7
CompBanker's picture
CompBanker
98.9
8
GameTheory's picture
GameTheory
98.9
9
DrApeman's picture
DrApeman
98.9
10
Mimbs's picture
Mimbs
98.8
success
From 10 rejections to 1 dream investment banking internship

“... I believe it was the single biggest reason why I ended up with an offer...”