标题: Career change [打印本页] 作者: bigredhockey55 时间: 2011-7-13 17:05 标题: Career change
I am 36 and just sat for level 2 exam this June, I had been in sales and marketing lines for more than 12 years. Besides having great interest on investment knowledge, another reason I enrolled in CFA program is to get ready for career change to investment line if any opportunity
Would like to get advices from everbody on the planning of career change
1) will it be too late for me to switch to investment line with this age, am I be not competitive or not preferable in the job market compare to those 20++
Suggestions and comments are appreciated, in junction of life now .....
....作者: comp_sci_kid 时间: 2011-7-13 17:05
Hi step, i'm 30, work as an economist in a bank and have asked my manager to transfer to another department that will allow me to qualify for the designation at some point. so if you are in a situation where there is flexibility to start you career change within the organization you are currently maybe that's a good idea for you too.作者: iteracom 时间: 2011-7-13 17:05
The biggest issue you will likely run into switching careers at this point in the game is probably going to be economic in nature... starting at the bottom somewhere. Unless you enjoy sales, then you can sell bonds for anybody and the sky is the limit.作者: llxx 时间: 2011-7-13 17:05
ZealVoyage Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> have you asked yourself: why a bank or asset
> management company wants to hire someone like you
> as a entry-level analyst?
>
> But you can surely be a sales at financial
> institutions, but i don't think it would be more
> fun than the job you are doing now.
that is some eye-popping truths you are handing out there ZealVoyage, eye-popping to be sure!作者: RMontgomery 时间: 2011-7-13 17:06
CFA as a career change tool works if you are young sales, HR marketing to Finance.
After 30 CFA is mostly to moved higher or within the sector i.e move from corp finace project financing to valuation , Equity research in I bank, PE作者: firat 时间: 2011-7-13 17:06
^ I mostly agree.
Even young people passing L1 and L2 are hitting walls trying to break into finance. Late 20's and 30's trying to break in will definitely be even harder作者: hassan 时间: 2011-7-13 17:06
ha ha many soothsayers... if you blow up a bit more maybe i'll get to see you all the way from here作者: DSquaredSlim 时间: 2011-7-13 17:06
Hey Step,
I'm in the same boat. But I don't give a crap what the replies are to your question. Just an obstacle that I'm going to overcome. There will be less opportunities, but you only need one.作者: huangxiaoxie 时间: 2011-7-13 17:06
^ i think you need to change your name. great attitude.作者: kickthatcfa 时间: 2011-7-13 17:06
Hope I didn't sound too mean. You always have a chance but you probably should change the thinking from "what I want/what I can do" to "what the potential employer wants from me".
My situation is even worse. Being a financial journalist and a woman in 30s, in a city flooded with financial professionals - it is tough!作者: ayaz_mahmud369 时间: 2011-7-13 17:06
Telling someone that he/she cant do something because hes too old or because of gender or whatever is pathetic.
Here's a great line from one my favourite movies, The pursuit of happiness
"Don't ever let somebody tell you... you can't do something"作者: maryli 时间: 2011-7-13 17:06
No one is telling some one what to do or what not to do. Changing careers is always tricky, given this environment even more so, so everyone is just given their own 2 cents. The decision is on the person
" Look before you leap" a quote from real life ..ps Movies lie !!!作者: smuggycfa 时间: 2011-7-13 17:06
You're always going to hear of some example where someone made it against all odds. This forum is good because it gives people a healthy does of reality from people who actually work in this industry and have seen a lot.
People are not beating you down for the sake of it, they're just telling you the realistic odds of success. What you do is up to you.
"Hope. It is the quintessential human delusion, simultaneously the source of your greatest strength, and your greatest weakness."
It's why people still play lottery even if the odds are 1 in 300 million作者: llxx 时间: 2011-7-13 17:06
>
> People are not beating you down for the sake of
> it, they're just telling you the realistic odds of
> success. What you do is up to you.
>
"The realistic odds of success"...? just out of interest, what distributional assumptions (of the underlying stochastic process of course) are you incorporating in this theory you are developing?作者: iteracom 时间: 2011-7-13 17:06
Penny-wenny Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> greengrape Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
>
> >
> > People are not beating you down for the sake of
> > it, they're just telling you the realistic odds
> of
> > success. What you do is up to you.
> >
>
> "The realistic odds of success"...? just out of
> interest, what distributional assumptions (of the
> underlying stochastic process of course) are you
> incorporating in this theory you are developing?
The hardest part of breaking into finance is having a contact inside or a way to initiate conversation. The easiest method to do this is through your school. At 36 your far removed from your education and you don't have that option. All that is left is your personal network and the online application process (read garbage disposal). If you don't have a person with some sway inside advocating for them to view/consider your resume your going to have difficulity. It's not based on any hard numbers it's based on common sense.
I belong to another forum that discusses finance and every so often the CFA comes into discussion. They generally say the CFA is not a career changer and suggest an MBA for that. The only people they encourage to do the CFA are usually fresh graduates who missed their recruiting opportunites during school (as far as for breaking in purposes). I'm not saying this to discourage you. I really like the positive attitude on this forum and as someone said, "you only need one opportunity."作者: 19831985 时间: 2011-7-13 17:06
Making a mid-30s transition is totally doable. I got my MBA at 32 and didn't officially break into the investment industry (aside from years of real estate investment consulting) until I was 33. I didn't start working on my CFA until actually getting into the industry directly. I have a "regional" MBA and never worked in New York. I'm now 36 and awaiting L3 results and waiting for the return of my wife and kids from their "CFA vacation" that started in May.
Since my early mid-life crisis/decision to transition, I have had two great buy-side positions at a large university pension+endowment and a corporate pension fund. I was very focused in my search and identified positions in which I was truly interested and against which I could map my skills and education to demonstrate that I would be a strong organizational fit. I only applied for a handful of jobs but really spent the time on my approach to each potential position.
I didn't have a deep network when I sought out each job but I did leverage connections on LinkedIn of all places to conduct informational interviews and to get some inside information on both organizations. I think the key is to wring anything out of your previous career that can be applied to the industry you seek to enter. The toughest questions to deal with, though, are the "why know?" questions. Work on your story and your "elevator pitch" and you'll be on your way.
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at Tuesday, June 28, 2011 at 12:32PM by ATH.作者: Otabek 时间: 2011-7-13 17:06
hey step, if youre a criminal then get on the floor.作者: bolligerallstar 时间: 2011-7-13 17:06
It all depends on what you mean by the "investment line"
If you mean research/portfolio management, that will be a tough move because being in sales/marketing you just have never performed that type of job function.
If you want to get more into a technical investment facing role, but don't necessarily have your heart set on being a portfolio manager, something like Relationship Management/Product Management might be able to leverage your skills from your experience while also giving you more experience working directly with investment concepts. While this also might not be an easy path, probably more likely than going the portfolio management route.作者: random_walker47 时间: 2011-7-13 17:06
Never you let anybody discourage you by saying you are too old or that it is not possible to switch career at your age, except you are one of those that hang their life totally on luck or fate. With enough passion, energy, focus, good strategy and most importantly PERSEVERANCE, anything is possible to the man who believes he can. There is always a way round every challenge we face daily. Stories and biographies abound everywhere (especially in America) of people rising to beat the odds that stand in the way of their greatness. Certainly, you are up against a host of others who may be more advantaged by reason of their age or some other factors, but I challenge you NEVER to give in to rejections from prospective employers. These challenges are a normal part of life meant to test you if you can stand as a rock and get what you want no matter the circumstances.
"Nothing splendid has ever been achieved except by those who dared believe that something inside of them was superior to circumstances" - Robert Collier作者: FinancialAnaly 时间: 2011-7-13 17:06
If we need to select the most mysterious member of the year, I would vote for step.作者: yalo 时间: 2011-7-13 17:06
Now try to do this step ("Back to the lab")
and make sure the pace is kept
and this ain't as smooth as I'ma get
Nice and easy but hard to catch on to
Move with melodies, rhymes to respond to
The mic's in front of me, so you know it's gonna be
rough and rugged, plus I'm smooth as I wanna be
I'm somethin like sippin on Dom Perignon
So absorb the song, til the rhyme's all gone
My beats and speech original, you can't find these
Eighty-nine is mine, so is the nineties
Tellin you what you need to know and more
You're unsure? On tour, I explore
From street to street, to speak, from beat after beat
My cypher's complete, when I build with people I meet
So here's the info straight from the source in fact
Paid the cost to be the boss, STEP BACK
give me room to exercise the mind
Three-hundred and sixty degrees'll be fine
The weight of the world is what we hold
That's a six, followed by twenty-one zeroes
Six sextillion tons is a lot of weight
My truth is the strength and my thought won't break
What it take, concentration, to rebuild our
nation but we got to have mind power
And we can make it work, because I know we can
And if somethin go wrong, make another plan
It's up to us, so strive and be wise and
when we reach the top, don't stop risin
And I'll keep comin up with more of
the most requested songs that you all love
Reach out and touch the mic, take control
Still gettin +Paid+ and I still got +Soul+
And the only thing I ever wanted you to follow was poetry
Mine takes X-rays, so listen closely
From the darkness came the light, clear out of a dark night
Now I'm here to spark the mic
Send out truth, for other groups and substitutes
with run-on rhymes and weak dubs and loops
They'd rather hear the arsonist, they insist
No need to reminisce, see if you can step to this作者: ap0258 时间: 2011-7-13 17:06
wake2000 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Now try to do this step ("Back to the lab")
> and make sure the pace is kept
> and this ain't as smooth as I'ma get
> Nice and easy but hard to catch on to
> Move with melodies, rhymes to respond to
> The mic's in front of me, so you know it's gonna
> be
> rough and rugged, plus I'm smooth as I wanna be
> I'm somethin like sippin on Dom Perignon
> So absorb the song, til the rhyme's all gone
> My beats and speech original, you can't find
> these
> Eighty-nine is mine, so is the nineties
> Tellin you what you need to know and more
> You're unsure? On tour, I explore
> From street to street, to speak, from beat after
> beat
> My cypher's complete, when I build with people I
> meet
> So here's the info straight from the source in
> fact
> Paid the cost to be the boss, STEP BACK
> give me room to exercise the mind
> Three-hundred and sixty degrees'll be fine
> The weight of the world is what we hold
> That's a six, followed by twenty-one zeroes
> Six sextillion tons is a lot of weight
> My truth is the strength and my thought won't
> break
> What it take, concentration, to rebuild our
> nation but we got to have mind power
> And we can make it work, because I know we can
> And if somethin go wrong, make another plan
> It's up to us, so strive and be wise and
> when we reach the top, don't stop risin
> And I'll keep comin up with more of
> the most requested songs that you all love
> Reach out and touch the mic, take control
> Still gettin +Paid+ and I still got +Soul+
> And the only thing I ever wanted you to follow was
> poetry
> Mine takes X-rays, so listen closely
> From the darkness came the light, clear out of a
> dark night
> Now I'm here to spark the mic
> Send out truth, for other groups and substitutes
> with run-on rhymes and weak dubs and loops
> They'd rather hear the arsonist, they insist
> No need to reminisce, see if you can step to this
NICE作者: wxs1986 时间: 2011-7-13 17:06
murph1134 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> It all depends on what you mean by the "investment
> line"
>
> If you mean research/portfolio management, that
> will be a tough move because being in
> sales/marketing you just have never performed that
> type of job function.
>
> If you want to get more into a technical
> investment facing role, but don't necessarily have
> your heart set on being a portfolio manager,
> something like Relationship Management/Product
> Management might be able to leverage your skills
> from your experience while also giving you more
> experience working directly with investment
> concepts. While this also might not be an easy
> path, probably more likely than going the
> portfolio management route.
thank you murph 1134, you give me an idea on how to use my CFA, & meanwhile utilise my skill & experience which i have accumulated over the last 12 years to break from current status quo, thank to all the people who have contribute the postive ideas in this lead, i really don't expect i will get so many constructive replies, as well as the alerts so i will be cautious in planning my career作者: Kapie 时间: 2011-7-13 17:06
step Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> ZealVoyage Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > If we need to select the most mysterious member
> of
> > the year, I would vote for step.
>
>
> Ha...
>
> why you say so ? , curious to know
>
> i don't intent to be mysterious , feel free to ask
> if anything puzzle you
Hehe... coz you started the thread and then went quiet. Good you re-emerge now. 作者: OmarAdnan 时间: 2011-7-13 17:06
step Wrote:
> thank you murph 1134, you give me an idea on how
> to use my CFA, & meanwhile utilise my skill &
> experience which i have accumulated over the last
> 12 years to break from current status quo, thank
> to all the people who have contribute the postive
> ideas in this lead, i really don't expect i will
> get so many constructive replies, as well as the
> alerts so i will be cautious in planning my career
The alerts are good to hear so you know what you are in for, but don't take that as a negative. Networking and knowing what you want is the key - you'll get there, just don't expect it to happen tomorrow - and realize that there may have to be an intermediate step along the way.
, curious to know