I'm applying for a job that lists some specific finance skills and knowledge in the job posting. It also prefers CFA® charterholders or candidates. I'm thinking of putting something like:
Passed CFA® Level I
**Exam covers DCF, NPV, financial statement analysis, etc etc**
In order to have better keyword matching on my application. I expect any human (even an HR person) reading the resume knows perfectly well what the CFA® is, making the bolded section redundant, but I'd like to make it past whatever automated filters they have.
Does this look stupid? Am I being paranoid? Good idea? Bad idea?
Thanks for your feedback.
There are no automated filters even though Business Insider is trying to sell it to you. It looks ridiculous. Take it of, everyone knows what CFA means.
This would look really stupid
I would say remove it. Any finance firm is going to be familiar with the CFA program.
"CFA Level 2 candidate (June 2017)" or "Passed CFA Level 1"
Passed CFA Level I Attributes gained from CFA: Better investor, generate alpha, boost in ethics, DCF machine
Please do not put this
Lollsies
Hahahahha, really good one
They should really know what CFA is. If they do not, is that a firm you really want to work for?
Agreed with this one. I'll be pretty iffy if the firm/bank you are applying for does not know what CFA is.
Does not matter. Submitting resumes for machines to read is utterly useless in general. Campus recruiting or networking is the only way to get interviews. In which case, passed lvl 1 or lvl 2 candidate should be sufficient if applying to finance jobs.
If they don't know what a CFA charter is, maybe don't work for them? At the very least, they won't value you as much as other companies who know.
Didn't they cover how you should use your CFA Designation in the Ethics Section on Level I. If I remember correct, they strictly say that you should't mention about CFA until you get your charter. To me, things like CFA Level 1 Candidate (meaning you haven't done anything) or CFA Level 2 Candidate (yes I know you passed the Level 1 but so is a million other people), CFA Level 3 (might, but still wouldn't put this on).
I think you should bring this topic up within your cover letter or during the interview process. I wouldn't put that on my resume. Most of the time people put this on because their work experience is not strong enough for the job. Then you should really examine yourself on what you have been doing with your career.
And please don't put Mr. John Doe CFA Level 1 on your business card or LinkedIn Name. It just looks really stupid.
Lol from (I am) CFA Level 2 Candidate. See how stupid it looks?
You can state that you're a candidate in whatever level or that you've passed levels 1 or 2.
This is the same reasoning as you can wear any tie as long as you wear a tie to a job interview. In reality, it doesn't work that way. Try wearing anything other than solid color ties (dark red, or navy blue), you will start things off the wrong foot. So as a potential interviewer, I would probably ding anyone who put on CFA Level 1 on their resume to "demonstrate" or "validate" their knowledge in Finance.
"You Know Nothing, Jon Snow.”
Disagree with this tbh. Definitely don't put Level 1 candidate or anything pre passing Level 2, but after that I started using it on mine.
EDIT: To clarify, do not refer to yourself as John Doe, CFA Level 3 candidate. Not only is that an ethics violation, it also looks pretty stupid. It's fine to have Level 3 Candidate in your educational section though.
Note to the OP - most investment banks don't actually care if you have your CFA or not from the technicals side, they care that it shows commitment and effort. This is particularly true if you self funded and self studied alongside a full time job. Just something to keep in mind.
Usually pretty quiet around here but have benefited so much from the advice given on the forum, I felt compelled to straighten some points out.
Couldn't disagree with this more, especially for lateral hires. Point 1, as BreakingOutOfPWM has mentioned (and absolutely sans the CFA explanation) Point 2, as @Asatarhas mentioned.
But I'm really here to bring up Point 3, I was told by my MD to include that I passed Level 1 and send a fresh copy of my CV to HR. My initial thought was like everyone else - throw a stone at anyone in finance and chances of you hitting someone who has passed Level 1 is 200%. Also this role is for a capital markets division (not ER) really no one will give two craps about if I've passed or not. But the MD's point was that the certification would place me in another compensation bucket, and necessary for the higher ups to help me argue for a better number.
I'm extremely lucky to be joining a team with a manager who dispenses such advice, but please don't make the same mistake I did.
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I think you should write the following on your resume: "Passing the CFA Level 1 exam guarantees that I am able to generate excess risk-adjusted returns indefinitely."
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