I have been accepted to ESSEC's Master in Finance for the 2023 intake. I am not an EU citizen and I don't speak French, and I was wondering if taking the CFA level 1 would help me land internships and maybe secure a full-time offer in London. If so, I will take it in May, but I'm not entirely sure it will be worth the money and the time commitment.
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What type of job do you want? CFA has no bearing or relevance to IB/PE and is a waste of time if you are pursuing those careers. It is useful for equity research or asset management.
I am not speaking in terms of applicable knowledge. In Egypt, I've heard that CFA level 1 is prerequisite for all entry level high finance jobs, and even FDD.
I'm also only speaking in terms of job application usefulness - can't speak for Egypt but in NY/London absolutely not worth your time for IB. The CFA takes hundreds of hours, your time is better spent networking or doing other things.
For IB it's not gonna be worth the effort
So it won't add any value to my application to IB jobs?
No, not really.
It might add a slight "oh that's nice" element but idk to me that doesn't sound appealing for an exam that I dedicate 300 hours to.
There are higher ROI uses of your time like networking, joining clubs etc.
IB doesn't care.
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