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Question

Hello

I am a CFA L1 Dec`14 taker from India and i failed in the 10th band. I did work hard in the final month of the preparation but did not focus much on mock papers apart from schweser test papers (the 2 books)
My scores were below 50% in Econ and Fixed Income only.

I am seriously starting to wonder is this course is for me and should i retake the exam due to higher difficulty at L2 and L3.
I am a recent graduate with a commerce degree with no background in finance. 
I have no work experience and no job.

Can you guys please help me out with a few queries :-

1. should i continue forward with the course?
2. are 300 hours at L2 and L3 enough to clear them?
3. What kind of pay/job would i get after clearing L3 with no exeprience whatsoever.

4.Would the CFA designation be enough on its own for a good career prospect or should i indulge in other courses like MBA (finance)

I deeply appreciate all the help i can get.

Thanks

fabian · Answer

Hey @Yeshank‌ 1. This is something that you should decide for yourself. I think that with a 10th band you're definitely close to passing, and stand a great chance next time around, but you'll have to decide whether the 3 years is worth it. Hopefully my answers to the next few points will help you decide on this.2. Level 2 is almost universally agreed to be harder than Level 1. Some find Level 3 easier than Level 2, but definitely Level 1 is the easiest. You should plan to put in more effort in L2 and L3 compared to L1 - 300 hours is a useful base guide in getting an idea of how much effort is involved, but there is a difference between 300 hours of truly productive work, and 300 hours of half-hearted study, or studying the wrong things.3. & 4. CFA does not 'guarantee' you a job. It's note a base 'required' qualification like say an accountancy qualification, but rather something that people would like to see in asset managers and wealth advisors etc. If you want to go into a particular finance area, CFA is a great thing to have, but making connections, knowing the industry and interviewing well will be 100x more important. @mitch895‌ wrote something similar recently: https://300hours.com/f/careers/t/cfa-for-career-changers/. This also applies to any qualification, doesn't matter whether it's CFA, MBA, ACA, etc etc. All the qualifications in the world doesn't matter if you don't have the soft skills to make friends in the industry and come across as someone awesome to work with. It's like trying to join a 'cool' group in school - you can look as good on paper as you want, but if you don't come across well when you talk to the group, you're not getting in.Just my 2 cents. I've tried to be as helpful as I can and hope I don't come across as insensitive (or worse). Good luck!