Would you tell your employer that you are going for the CFA advantage, industry, friends, testing, another

smartpants

My thoughts are it depends where you are situated in the industry, but also the manager’s personality - and I think even the fact that your manager having a charter may not always play to your advantage…
I have had a couple of friends who went incognito through their exam experiences with their respective employers; but usually the case was they were testing to move to another area - liek from Commercial Banking to Private Banking, etc.
Are there any other reasons why this would be the case? And maybe we can use this thread for posterity  as to how to tread the thorny journey to the charter. [img]

anshultongia

If your boss isn’t a charterholder, then he probably doesn’t respect it.
If your company doesn’t employ a lot of charterholders, then they probably won’t value it.
If your city doesn’t have a CFA society, then it’s probably worthless.  And even if it does, it has to have a significant number. (EG - CFA carries more weight in Dallas than in San Antonio, because of the market for CFA Charterholders.)
———————————————————
Also,
If you’re a Level 1 Candidate, then that means ONLY that you can pay $1,000 for a test and are in the last year of school.  Any idiot that can stumble through a liberal arts school with a major in Piano Performance can become a Level 1 Candidate.
If you’re a Level 2 candidate, then that means that you have a very basic, rudimentary knowledge of all the stuff that you should have learned in undergrad.  Passing Level 1 is a very, very small achievement.
If you’re a Level 3 candidate, then that means you’re pretty sharp and fairly dedicated to the exam.  It also shows that you’re pretty well versed in valuation theory.  I would consider passing Level 2 to be a fairly significant achievement.
In any case, I would only tell your boss (or put it on your resume) if you’ve continued to make progress.  If you passed Level 2 eight years ago, the first question I would wonder is, “Why haven’t they finished Level 3?  Are they not capable?  Are they too lazy?  Did they lose focus?”

smuggycfa

Thanks Greenman72; that is certainly a lot of stuff I did not think about - good stuff! +1

segalm

Another thing to think about–even if you have considered all the above questions–will my firm make good use of my having the CFA charter?  If the answer is no, I’d keep it to myself.
One thing I’ve noticed–companies like you to have your mind on your job.  If your mind is constantly thinking about the test (which it will be–I guarantee), then you’re not thinking about your job.  If they know that you’re thinking about the CFA exam and not your job, they won’t be happy.
Granted–you’ll still be exam-centric whether you tell them about it or not, but at least you might slip through the cracks if you don’t advertise that you’ve got other things on your mind.

SkipE99

In my last job I kept it to myself even as I was studying like crazy for L2. Reason was it had nothing to do with my current position and would have been a good indicator that I wanted a new job and didn’t want to be there. Full disclosure: I wanted a new job and didn’t want to be there and wanted L2 to help out. They also wouldn’t pay my exam fee.
My new company is much more supportive of it and will probably pay for it so I’ll tell them.

yodacaia

With a 66% average failure rate, passing L1 isn’t really such a tiny achievement.  Not everyone decides to do finance before they enter college.  Some music majors are actually pretty bright. A lot of them do math as a minor or double major (music and math have a lot of similarities, and appeal to similar people, didn’t you know?)  and know about things like l’Hopital’s rule, how to program computers, and the like.
it is true that passing L2 is probably a bigger bump to your credentials than passing L1 is, but passing L1 makes it easier to talk about financial analysis in a way that sounds like you didn’t just sign up for the latest trading infomercial. So the benefits are there, but no jaws will drop.
if your boss doesn’t know what the CFA is, it probably won’t help you that much to hear that you took it and passed. If it will help you in your current job, then people at your current job will know about it and probably be encouraging.
CFA is making more inroads in Private Wealth Management, though, so if you or your firm is managing portfolios of rich families, there may be value even if no one knows about it yet.

Muddahudda

I appreciate the feedback above.
I unfortunately told a bunch of people I am taking L2 (I work in Risk management). Well let’s see what happens; I just won’t tell them when result s come out?
In any case - thanks as always!

jacksparrow

At my firm, lots of people take it. Would hate to fail in that environment.

sameeragarwal

If they (employer) are paying for it then yes, otherwise what is the need. In any case your study and preparation efforts will be encroaching on your working time and energy affecting quality and quantity (to some extent only) of your output  but will NOT be at the cost of it.
Lot depends on how well you can keep it secret (or hidden) from coworkers and the boss if you decide to not to tell them,  as theCFA  journey is long, arduaous and affects the total routine with a high degree of uncertaiity of success (despite your best efforts).  Telling ‘a bunch of people’ is as good as telling everyone, specially if one fails (they will know when the result is out whether you tell or not)!

hassan

My biggest mistake was telling my coworkers as pressure to pass is huge.