I am the lowest paid CFA charterholder. Can u beat me? experience

JRossSter

I am a CFA charterholder and make $58k a year. Is there anyone that makes less?
Area: NYC
Years of experience: 5

IAmNeil

Get the hell out of the big 4 and seek a higher position elsewhere is gonna be the fastest way to move up the ladder.

ryanlb

I’m glad you posted about your situation I must admit that its a bit scary considering a Canadian CFA compensation report mentions about 25% of the respondant earning well over 200k…
Good luck on asking for you raise, seems like its not an unreasonable move and I kinda doubt you put your employment at risk by bringing this up. I don’t see how the person would be that shocked that you thought of engaging a conversation about your compensation.

Chuckrox

Wow, man $58K? Is that base + bonus? What do you get between the 2?
Find a new job immediately, working for that little will haunt you for the rest of your life. I thought my comp was horrible…

sabre

While I like nigelnyc’s approach and agree that this is how it *should* work for the most part, if we are talking about a Big 4 company here (someome mentioned above) nobody gives a $hit about your bright ideas. You advance by kissing as$, being extremely visible and well-liked among the partners around and plunging bravely into the depths of the sewage that is office politics. If generating bright and thoughtful ideas may result in stepping on someone superior’s toes, changing an organizational system or process or engagement procedure from the way it’s always been done - your audit partners running the show won’t like it, and they won’t like you.

neil1234

I’ve noticed that a lot of ideas I bring up suddenly end up as part of my main client’s marketing discussions and thinking.  Sometimes I get credit for it, sometimes I don’t.

ohai

@ohai,  I certainly agree, I have learned to never throw anyone under the bus, ideas are always for the improvement of the “group”,  and be very respectful and thoughtful when posing any ideas or potential improvements. Simple concepts to keep up front.  
@bpdulog,  hopefully my comments can be of beneficial use to you; you can either start speaking up ( I am not saying yell but well thought out ideas) and adding some value or sit quietly on your 58K and wait until they hire someone else who has better ideas. I remember when I interviewed for my current position one of the last questions they asked me was “If you were given the position what ideas can I expect you to bring to the table that will add value to our firm?”….Remember that a 1000 Hedge Funds go out of business every year.  Management can’t always be that smart.

d2rockstar

I think it depends on your role and also how you express yourself. No one wants to work with young smartass who thinks he can do things better than everyone. So you need to temper your suggestions with respect for the pecking order. It’s also important to demonstrate that other people benefit from association with you - that is, make sure your boss and people you work with get some group credit where possible. It makes them like you and support your ideas.
Your job function is probably also important. If you are in a revenue generating role and everyone’s bonus is tied to group PnL, then people are likely to appreciate your contribution. If your job is just plugging numbers, then maybe your incremental contribution is less tangible and less likely to be valued.

anothercfainnyc

That’s probably the NYSSA Annual memberhsip fee, right?

segalm

I always feel the way to get  more money is to get creative and CONSISTENTLY bring new ideas to the table.  Especially ones that help bring in more revenue, and they don’t have to be directly related to your own position.  Like the sign in the subway says “see something, say something”.  You read an article about something that can help the business, talk about it.  Some company executives have been working in the same position for so long they suffer from stale thinking.  I experience that all the time. My ideas got me an additional 25K plus 6K performance bonus worked into my contract for 2013, and my company laid off 4K in January. Get after it!