If I were to describe my education and career path, I would say it's a path that made very little sense in hindsight.
I entered first year university enrolled in a BBA program and was set on venturing into marketing as a career path. During my second year, I unfortunately encountered some health problems that would cause me to miss out on a lot of school, and I ended up not being able to commit the time I needed to into the BBA program. So I re-evaluated my decisions and decided to switch into a Psychology program, which I've heard, would still appeal to marketing employers as studying psychology does provide consumer behavioural knowledge which is desirable to have in the field of marketing. I graduated with an Honours BSc.
During university, I've worked in a part-time sales position at Rogers, and I moved on post-graduation into a Media/Marketing roll at a small company. I've learned a lot and have enjoyed doing what I have been doing, but I have recently left my position at my company to pursue other opportunities with better career advancement opportunities. As much as I enjoyed what I was doing, I didn't feel like there was much room for me to advance.
While looking for new work, I found it extremely hard to get into larger companies, and a big reason was because I didn't have a BBA or a BComm, or any marketing related degree. I've passed multiple interview rounds to be told that another candidate was selected instead of me for that very reason, in multiple occasions. I started talking to a few of my friends from my original BBA program who have done well for themselves since graduation, working at some big name investment consulting firms etc., and it has got me intrigued at the idea of finance as a career. The more I talked to them about their work, the dreaded CFA exams from hell, and everything else, the more I seemed to be interested in learning more about it.
I Googled to see how other people have been in similar situations (career switch to finance, writing cfa exams without a finance background, etc), and it actually seems more do-able than I had imagined. I'm Asian, so I'm pretty sure it won't take too long to catch up on the math side of things with properly managed studying. However, there are still things that I still need to think about, which is why I decided to come here to see if I can get some wisdom and advice from others that are more familiar with the world of finance and can semi-understand my situation.
What are some of your thoughts on the career switch at this point in my life? (I'm 24 y/o)
Has anybody switched into a finance career without a finance background? Wrote the CFA exam(s)? I would love a layman perspective on this!
I still need income, so what should I do from here? Should I work part-time at a bank to gain experience? Does that lead to better opportunities?
Is there a certain role at a bank (CSR, FSR, FSA, etc.) that you need to be at for them to re-imburse you in fees associated with certifications and designations such as CSC/CFP/CFA123? <-- Important question
All thoughts and wisdom would be appreciated. Thank you!
I entered first year university enrolled in a BBA program and was set on venturing into marketing as a career path. During my second year, I unfortunately encountered some health problems that would cause me to miss out on a lot of school, and I ended up not being able to commit the time I needed to into the BBA program. So I re-evaluated my decisions and decided to switch into a Psychology program, which I've heard, would still appeal to marketing employers as studying psychology does provide consumer behavioural knowledge which is desirable to have in the field of marketing. I graduated with an Honours BSc.
During university, I've worked in a part-time sales position at Rogers, and I moved on post-graduation into a Media/Marketing roll at a small company. I've learned a lot and have enjoyed doing what I have been doing, but I have recently left my position at my company to pursue other opportunities with better career advancement opportunities. As much as I enjoyed what I was doing, I didn't feel like there was much room for me to advance.
While looking for new work, I found it extremely hard to get into larger companies, and a big reason was because I didn't have a BBA or a BComm, or any marketing related degree. I've passed multiple interview rounds to be told that another candidate was selected instead of me for that very reason, in multiple occasions. I started talking to a few of my friends from my original BBA program who have done well for themselves since graduation, working at some big name investment consulting firms etc., and it has got me intrigued at the idea of finance as a career. The more I talked to them about their work, the dreaded CFA exams from hell, and everything else, the more I seemed to be interested in learning more about it.
I Googled to see how other people have been in similar situations (career switch to finance, writing cfa exams without a finance background, etc), and it actually seems more do-able than I had imagined. I'm Asian, so I'm pretty sure it won't take too long to catch up on the math side of things with properly managed studying. However, there are still things that I still need to think about, which is why I decided to come here to see if I can get some wisdom and advice from others that are more familiar with the world of finance and can semi-understand my situation.
What are some of your thoughts on the career switch at this point in my life? (I'm 24 y/o)
Has anybody switched into a finance career without a finance background? Wrote the CFA exam(s)? I would love a layman perspective on this!
I still need income, so what should I do from here? Should I work part-time at a bank to gain experience? Does that lead to better opportunities?
Is there a certain role at a bank (CSR, FSR, FSA, etc.) that you need to be at for them to re-imburse you in fees associated with certifications and designations such as CSC/CFP/CFA123? <-- Important question
All thoughts and wisdom would be appreciated. Thank you!
