How to Pass the CFA Exams in 18 Months

Your article was very motivating and inspirational. I am currently working at a bank as a Personal Finance Specialist. I did my Bachelors degree in Business Management. I do have 7 years of Accounting experience working with an Accountant when I was doing my Bachelors degree.

I have been contemplating for long whether to go for CFA or not. I have made up my mind that I am going to do it. I am looking to take Level 1 exam in December 2014. I have read the articles and your responses, so I got a good idea about lot of things that I was confused about. I went through the free workshop questions on Ethics and got 3 questions right out of 5. I think it is pretty good without reading the material. I don’t know, not trying to be overconfident.

You mentioned in your article that you read Schweser books. Couple of questions:

1. Would it make more sense to order Schweser online like from Amazon or through this link from Kaplan Schweser they have on 300hours? Because they have all these different packages such as Premium Plus, Premium, etc.

2. Is it always better to read current published books or you can prepare for CFA exams from old published books?

3. Should I be looking for jobs in investment banking or similar field while I am attempting to get my CFA certification or not?

I will really appreciate for your prompt response. Sorry, I am new to this website and I have posted this comment at 2 other places as well.

Hi @Kanwaljit – thanks for your kind words, I’m glad you found the article useful. Great initiatives on checking out if CFA is right for you!

1) I don’t think those sold on Amazon are up to date. It’s better to get it directly from the Kaplan Schweser link here.

2) It’s better to get the current/latest published books. Although there may be minor variations from year to year, it’s just a piece of mind (my view anyway). I guess I was always paranoid that I would be in Band 10 because of 1-2 points difference due to a topic I didn’t know about! :))

3) Yes you could, if investment banking is your target career sector. It can be tough though, best to have passed at least 1 Level I’d say. Else there is no difference to your CV now vs. being a Level 2 candidate – may be more effective then?

Sophie, Thanks for prompt response. For self study, should I choose the premium plus package or which one do you recommend.