How I framed my Corp Finance work experience to get approved all, experience, performing, explained

Mechanic

Just because I had problems finding this for myself I wanted to post how I explained my Corporate Finance work experience which was approved by CFAI(still pending local society review, but I expect no issues).
I had 71 months that qualified and all were approved. Two positions were as consultants, one as a Sr Financial Analyst.
Sr Financial Analyst

As owner of the Worldwide Capital Expenditure budget, I made recommendations on beneficial uses of capital after performing financial analysis on all projects submitted for Capital funding. I designed and built financial models using cash flow, NPV, IRR, and Payback period analysis and these work products were direct inputs leading to the capital investment decision making process which I also participated in.

I also owned the Monthly Close and Preview packages that were put in front of the EVP team, CFO and CEO of the company. These packages included financial fundamentals of the most recently closed month as well as a forecast/projection of the next two operating months. I directly prepared financial models that presented EBITDA Profit and Loss statements, Key Performance Indicators, and foreign currency translation impacts in these packages. These packages were direct inputs to the investment decision making process and were used to determine any potential capital structure and/or funding needs as well as to ensure certain financial ratios were in compliance with our debt convenants.

I also directly supported the Treasury platform which provided input into preparing the company’s net daily cash position and short term cash forecast.
Senior Consultant

I was a Senior Consultant on a business process re-engineering project for a major foodservice distributor. I performed analysis of Accounts Receivable and prepared financial models and projections. These work products were used as direct inputs into the investment decision making process on whether to generate cash flow by selling certain Accounts Receivable to 3rd parties that specialized in collections(aka “factoring”) or whether to obtain short term funding using commercial paper in capital markets. My work products aided investment decision making process on how best to maintain a sound liquidity position.

Consultant

As consultant, I prepared financial models to assess different pricing scenarios to maximize account profitability. These were direct inputs into the capital investment decision making process on whether to purchase assets under consignment or outright before selling in marketplace. I prepared financial models to evaluate the overall working capital effectiveness of the company using Cash Conversion Cycles. These work products were direct inputs to the investment decision making process as they were used to determine financing needs using liquid assets or in the capital markets.

I participated in the Corporate Weighted Average Cost of Capital(WACC) calculation utilizing the Capital Asset Pricing Model(CAPM). This was a direct input into the capital decision making process since it was used as the hurdle rate for all capital projects submitted for consideration.
  
I also directly supported the Treasury platform which provided input into preparing the company’s net daily cash position and short term cash forecast. This aided the investment decision making process by determining if any short term funding needs were required via asset sales or in capital markets.

As you can see, there are several consistent themes I stuck to in each job description:

Use key terms from CFA curriculum. Show how what you learned you use in your daily jobs. You can go directly to the text and the LOS’s to come up with ideas on how to frame your work. Use terms and phrasing from the text vs trying to be creative. Don’t lie of course but make the connection between what you do and what the curriculum teaches. If this is too hard for you, you probably don’t have the right type of experience.  
Show how your work contributed to the investment decision making process. You don’t need to directly make investments or decisions but show how your work was used in that process by someone.  
If you’re in IT or have some IT component of your job, make sure you demonstrate how the platform/application was used to make investments or present information to decision makers. Name the decision makers(Treasurer, CFO, VP of Finance, etc)
Follow the “this is what I did, this is who it helped, this is the type of investment(from CFA curriculum) that my work product added value to” model.
I hope this helps those out there that may be iffy on how to frame their experience, especially if you’re not directly in the investment/asset management industry or maybe not even in Finance(say IT).
Hope this helps a few folks next year, or even this year if you’ve been a slacker.

agulani

@jlive1975
Well written. One of the rare meaningful guideline and example for framing work experience for CFAI membership I have seen on AF.  Citing your own write-up will help those who are on way to apply and don’t know where to start . Actually it is not so much a matter of  ‘what you do’ but actually ‘how you say what you do to satisfy the CFAI norms’, that is why so many genuine and best written (in the opinion of the candidate) gets rejected or need to be revised again leading to wastage of time and frustration. Your write up explains it all. Many applicants will genuinely be benifitted by your effort and will obviously thank you.

atate2007

mygos wrote:
Actually it is not so much a matter of  ‘what you do’ but actually ‘how you say what you do to satisfy the CFAI norms’, that is why so many genuine and best written (in the opinion of the candidate) gets rejected or need to be revised again leading to wastage of time and frustration.
^This.
No matter what you do (be it a dry-cleaning job), if you somehow associate it to how your work helped in the investment decision making process then you will get everything approved.

wake2000

Thanks, appreciate the feedback. It was hard for me to properly explain it so I figured it would help someone else in a similar spot.

cmacedo

may i ask:
how long did it take you to get this approved by the CFAI and the society?
thanks

stockjaguar

Submitted 9/7, only got it approved this week. I don’t know what their process is, or if they take longer for non-investment jobs. Maybe they take longer to review those since it’s not as cut and dried. I figured a few weeks due to the crunch of L3 passers.

cfalevel2011

lol,
i wrote 5 lines

tikfed

I’ve seen people get approved for work that’s really stretching it.
It’s actually disappointing

Nishant1

Agreed, but this is like this in every society. I pledged a frat in 1995 and got hazed. Now, the pledges can barely be made to do pushups or squats. I graduated with a MBA with kids straight from undergrad who had no business at all being in business school since they’ve never actually, you know, worked in a business at all. You’re always going to have those that might not be completely deserving of something the way we look at it.
Hell, there used to be 80% passing rates for this thing way back when. Regardless, if you passed all 3 exams, that does speak to something, even if your work experience isn’t completely eligible.
All you can do is hope people actually hiring CFA charterholders can tell the difference and separate the men from the boys.