Professional and Competitve Learning Opportunities
Hi everyone,
I've been lurking on this site for a couple months now, and I've decided I now have questions that I think justify making a discussion post. I'll first give a rundown of where I am in life. I've been serving active duty in the military for over 7 years, and I have about two years left on my enlistment. I have been taking undergrad online classes for about two years now while working full-time at my unit. My plan when I leave the military is to attend the best business school I can get into, and have an undergraduate degree in finance upon completion. While studying full-time I'll be filling in the gaps with internships as well as using my senior year to become a CFA.
While I am still in the military and taking college classes I'd like to be able to do more to make myself competitive. I feel like even though I'm taking as many classes as I can there is always more to learn. I want to be as much of a complete package as possible. Aside from my college classes I am reading books (Intelligent Investor, Mastering the Market Cycle, accounting textbooks, etc.). I'm also making my own investments into the markets for personal and professional experience. I looked into taking the CFA Level I exam, but I'm not sure if active duty military qualifies as what they mean when they say you need 4 years of professional work experience.
The reason why I put this into the Asset Management forum is because that's what I would like to do long-term in the industry. I'm interested in value investing, and the sectors I've gravitated towards are technology, energy, and retail. I'm not sure if there will be an opportunity for me to jump right into AM upon graduation, but if I have to grind elsewhere for a time to gain experience then that's what I'll do.
I'm sure there are other opportunities for growth I haven't learned about yet. If anyone has a great way to distinguish themselves along their path I would greatly appreciate the input. I'm open to whatever ideas are thrown on here.
