@justing
Forum Replies Created
-
Posts
-
Up5
best to clarify with the CFA Institute via email. Save their response, print it out and bring it with you to the exam just in case.
Up4I started as a regular analyst, did that for a few years then joined a startup. I met the founders through various contacts and it led from there. In the bay area of course it’s easy to find tech and startup people but it is also quite easy in major cities – just look for meetups online and join them.
Up3See my reply in this thread: https://forum/.300hours.com/discussion/3330/cfa-after-aca
I’m not in fintech but at a startup – PM me if you have any more questions.
Up31. No. Lots of people I know are still switching careers at around that age. However, if you play it right you could possibly do it without starting at the bottom again, although I’m not sure how flexible they are in Germany in this respect – I’ve heard they can be quite rigid.
2. CFA for investment analyst definitely makes sense, but I think it would be a career-development tool rather than a get-a-job tool in your case.
3. I’m not sure if your resume would get you dinged before your interview, but no, lack of ADHD treatment would not really be a quantifiable factor to discount your history. Sorry. What would they assume your grades would be otherwise?Up3It really depends on how you choose to sell it. I am currently CFO in a small startup – I believe I got the job partially due to selling my CFA credentials. Your job seems a lot more relevant to CFA than my job description.
Honestly using the CFA charter to market yourself is not hard at all, you just need some time to figure it out for yourself and your particular situation. If you’re looking for a quick 5 min hack from the internet, there isn’t one.
Steps on how to make the most out of your CFA charter / program:
- Identify specifically what you would like to gain. “More money” or “a better job” is not specific enough. Instead, you should be identifying e.g. “a promotion into role X” or “that specific job with this job description”.
- Look closely at the objective and the CFA curriculum.
- Treat the exercise like a college essay – “In what ways do the CFA program help a person in (insert your goal here)?”
- Actually spend time (like a proper hour or so) to researching and writing that paper.
- You now have a primer to refer to when writing your resume, going for interviews, talking to your boss/colleagues etc.
Up3CFO in a startup here.
Honestly, from what I can see, it does not seem like a great move to me. A lot of this would depend on your personal circumstances as well (e.g. single/married/kids, age, risk appetite). But here are the cons as I see them.
- It’s moving away from an area you’re interested in
- Less (immediate) money
- IMO career path will be slower than if you’re in a smaller firm. Mid-management in a large firm is the worst
Since you’re already CIO, to further your career I would either try and grow the company or join a growing company (you could get less pay but get equity). If you join a large bank in my experience the career doesn’t go anywhere exciting.
Up2– Make sure you try out the CFA institute issued past exams and model answers.
– note as much of your calculations down as possible
– spend time in proportion to the number of points allocated to the question. Don’t spend 30 minutes on a question worth only two points. I think the actual exam even states the number of minutes you should be allocating to this – treat this as your max, with reading time included.Up2Type I error = incorrect rejection of a true null hypothesis (false positive)
Type II error = incorrectly retaining a false null hypothesis (false negative)Up2Edupristine do a few free notes that helped me when I have trouble with specific topics. Too disjointed to download in its entirety as notes though.
Up2Another one to add – let go of the habit of needing to study for a ‘solid’ period of time before you’re convinced it’s effective. I used to be one of those people that needed a large, long block of time to get anything productive done. What an impossible luxury when you have kids!
I very effectively squeezed in anything from 15 minutes to an hour of study every early morning before my baby woke up and a similar amount right after his bedtime. It all adds up!
Up2Do companies care for work done outside big companies? Yes, especially if they’re also small companies, or if they’re serving that market. I don’t think you should expect to rejoin a grad program, but you’re unlikely to be promoted either during the move.
Try:
- smaller firms, or
- firms that focus on regions that include Bulgaria, or
- need Bulgarian speakers
- applying for international banks in Bulgaria then angle for an internal switch
Up2You fear what you don’t know – with each additional essay paper you complete you will gain confidence and familiarity with the format.
Know that every additional practice paper contributes to your knowledge and ability regardless of how well or badly you do in the individual papers.
Up1quick intro: I’ve been around this forum a while and passed with 300hours as a guide, never commented, but have now seen three threads in a row very relevant to me so here I am. I’m a CFO at a tech startup (small one), have been so for the past 3 years or so. Here are some points from my experience that might help:
- I don’t have a CPA or an official accounting degree – my past work experience as a research analyst helps cover that area. Accounting knowledge is very important, but the specific qualifications may not necessarily be, it really depends on the board and CEO’s personal biases.
- Finance experience and networking goes further than any qualification.
- It’s a lot easier/faster to get hired as a CFO outside of the finance industry.
- CFO is not necessarily unrealistic, it all depends on the scale of the company you join. If you’re not getting much success, look for smaller companies and if you help them grow well, you would have proven yourself and moving up to larger companies becomes easier.
- Small startups CFO responsibilities are mainly budget/cashflow management and fund-raising. CFA helps the practicality of the first one and your credentials in the second. When interviewing you will mainly get assessed on your ability to fund-raise, so again connections and experience matter.
Overall, just on credibility, I would rank MBA and CFA above accounting qualifications.
Up1tomsaso said:Hi. I passed L1 in December, scoring above 90th percentile on all topics but Corporate finance.Congrats on passing!
From your comments it seems to me that you’re at the start (or thereabouts) of your career. My advice:
- Trying to ‘get a well-paid job online’ is not a good idea if you’re serious about building a career in finance. The job is as much about meeting, managing and selling to people, as much as or more so than the technical side. Also, unless you decide to branch out and do your own thing, you’re unlikely to progress fast up the ladder if you’re a remote employee.
- You’ll need to complete CFA L2 and L3 before it starts to matter much
- Regarding your projects, 1,2 and 4 can be tested in interviews so it’s good to get some practice. There is a lifetime skill to mastering equity research reports so producing one could be a good move to give an example of your work, but it can really backfire if it looks bad.
Up0Am a CFO at a small tech startup, in the process for my CFA. My thoughts:
Oli31 said:– I feel ok on the budgets/metrics/accounting part due to my previous experience, but I can personally feel that I have a lack of knowledge on the fundraising/financing part. Can the CFA help me with that? Or do you rather advise me to get into a specific course on investment/startup valuation/etc…?Work experience has been my best guide on this. CFA might help you prepare more strongly for your proposals and argumentative points. I’ve not looked at courses, that might help but personally I’d advise getting a mentor, or mentors to help you through this.
Oli31 said:– Is the course somehow focused (or covers) specificities of SaaS/internet startups ?No.
Oli31 said:– Is the CFA certification only recognised on the job market when completing the 3 levels? What about when passing level 1 or 1 & 2 only?You can certainly talk about that (e.g. on LinkedIn), but unless you get all three there isn’t much of an impression during say investor presentations.
There is also a similar thread that you might find useful here: https://forum/.300hours.com/discussion/comment/18561
