Currently I am in my first year undergraduate majoring in IT and would like to go into investment banking for my career. I understand that investment banking accept all sort of majors but should I take up either CFA or MBA to score a better chance of going into IB ?

Should I take CFA Level 1 exam in my final year to have a higher chance of going into investment banking upon graduation ?
Or should I focus completely on my undergraduate studies (e.g. : CGPA & Co-curricular activities) ?
Or should I work for a few years upon graduation and then go for MBA after that ?

My main goal is to go into investment banking once I graduate but am afraid IT graduate would have a lower chance.

Thank you in advance for your advice.

Just work first and then decide, but my bet is with CFA as there are too many MBAs right now which has become a worthless piece of paper

Hehe. Read this;
http://www.businessinsider.my/mba-vs-cfa-2013-4

Typically CFA more money than MBA, and got both more money than either one, but CFA is more specialized, so if no job then no job lo. Though MBA pay a little less, but wider option..

Also have to see you punya career sekarang.
Nak switch oath dari IT gi finance, better MBA. career switches easier with MBA.
http://www.lifeonthebuyside.com/mba-vs-cfa/

So, ideally, CFA + MBA for better salary. Read both the links.
Salary wise, CFA but so much tougher, lesser breadth for you to lari and not sure if IB reject you then CFA lesser options.
Option wise, MBA but slightly lesser pay. From the article, best advice if switching fields better MBA.

Extra fun read: http://www.forbes.com/sites/investopedia/2...fa-mba-or-both/

Investment bank in western countries prefer non economic major. This is because economic or finance major are everywhere. IT graduates will be much sought after due to their high problem solving skills and knowledge in IT.
But I strongly suggest you to break in to IB straight away after you graduate from university. Don't waste your time on postgraduate. NO ONE will hire postgraduate with zero working experience in investment banking field.
You could work as analyst in an investment bank for 1 to 2 years first. Then only study for MBA if you wanna move up the ladder to associate position OR exit to the buy-side career (I'd suggest this one).
You are so wrong. CFA cost more than MBA to study but its function is not as great as the MBA. After obtaining the MBA, your job scope will not be limited whereas CFA will only limit you in certain career that act as specialist.

Hey there, are you currently working in an investment bank ? Does local bank hire IT fresh graduate for their analyst position ? I have made a simple search in JobStreet, it seems that out of the 3 banks that I have searched RHB,Maybank and CIMB, only RHB is hiring analyst but it requires some working experience as well as post grad qualifications.

http://www.jobstreet.com.my/jobs/2014/5/r/...&src=16&srcr=12

That is Senior Analyst. Junior analyst is the bottom of the hierarchy of investment bank. So try searching them again. If they say looking for Junior investment bankers/banker. that also mean junior analyst.

Answer: None of the two.
Better you take the money and invest it in expanding your network and buy Investment Bankers drink/dinner every now and then and cultivate a strong relationship while demonstrating your ability, willingness and eagerness to enter investment banking sector. That will give you a chance of being selected as an intern which is a ticket towards an investment banking career.

Always remember: people will be more inclined to hire others they know and trust. Dosen't matter what qualifications you hold (although basic ones need to be there). You have to be in the right "camp" with the right people.

Otherwise you are one of thousands of other applicants who flood the in-tray of Ibankers with their resume.

This post has been edited by robertchoo: May 21 2014, 11:10 PM

lol.. finish ur undergrad first then return here n ask... u r 3 years too early

wrong... mbas yes, mba holders from top schools are hard to come by... in fact it is the cfa holders that are too many

this is d biggest bs ever... are u working in a IB? local IB or .... dude, ppl that are bent on entering IB knows u hv to undergo internships while u r in school... who says freshies dont get positions... in fact at tops IBs, most entry pos goes to freshies postgrad or not

CFA cost more than MBA? i guess u must be comparing with those unranked msian schools right?

and CFA as a specialist? you gotta be kidding me...

Good advice, in fact nowadays higher qualifications don't count as much and what you say is right. Don't waste time on an MBA or CFA.

Some wanna break into Wall Street ba..

I think Wall Street realised what MBA and PhD did with Lehman Brothers, it went bust.

I wanna plan everything properly in advance so that I can go into investment banking the moment I graduate. I do not wanna regret not doing anything that could have gotten me into IB.

All the more reason you should take up my advice. Afterall an internship with investment banks will do you good. Alot of the times young people get too sucked in by the glamour of the job without realising its another reality when it comes to the actual work. Hours are long and gruelling and the environment is highly stressful while you are doing monotonous and boring work, spending endless hours working around 30 excel spreadsheets checking and rechecking calculations and formula, tweaking the numbers over and over again while your boss screams at you coz you have a figure wrong on spreadsheet no. 15 which means you have to spend more time reworking spreadsheet no. 16 to no 30 coz the figures are interlinked. Or the boss thinks spreadsheet no. 5 is too bullish and wants you to rework the entire 30 spreadsheet and hand it first thing in the morning to him at his desk so he can present it to clients which means working through the night and god forbid if one of the figures is wrong. And then imagine doing the same thing day in day out for 16 hours a day, day after day, including weekends for 5 years.

This post has been edited by robertchoo: May 22 2014, 01:15 AM

why then go down d IT path?

You need to finish your bachelor's first. Taking an MBA without work experience is bullshit IMO.

If you're doing your degree in Malaysia then your chances of getting into IB is slim, but as someone already mentioned networking can do wonders.

With a few years of real work experience under your belt, you can apply and get accepted to a top b-school and increase your chances of getting an IB significantly. I personally know several people who went to Harvard, INSEAD, Columbia, Oxford b-schools straight from Malaysia. A top b-school is where their career services help you get a job. IB recruiters come and recruit on campus etc.

I also know people who went straight into IB soon after graduating their undergrad but far fewer of them.

Good luck and work hard

I'm talking about ivy leagues. When you get CFA, you're only limited to your current career or maybe something that's related. But for sure it wouldn't make you jump to other different jobs. CFA specialises in a certain field dude, don't ya understand? An employer would rather hire a MBA than a CFA, true story.
And yes, no one will will recruit fresh postgraduates. If you think investment bank will hire fresh postgraduates, than either the investment bank is new/lack of employees or you're being plain lucky.

This post has been edited by Y.J.S: May 22 2014, 06:53 AM

This post has been edited by alaskanbunny: May 22 2014, 09:07 AM

TS, I got offer from IBs with only BBA. You should focus on your degree now, put some colours in the cert, medals, some letters like 1st class, awards, gold medalist and so on. I got CFA soon after grad and then MBA recently. If you want IB or more prestige cert, CFA. But CFA is not easy. If you flung your IT degree, you may have hard time passing.

Wah didn't know my fresh bachelor degree better than fresh postgrads degree. My department just hire a fresh phd analyst, I should suggest to my boss to fire him and hire a 2-3 years degree holder from mangala university or some 20 years exp janitor.

But you have a business degree. Does IT graduate stand an equal chance as business graduate to get into IB ? If it doesn't, should I take CFA Level 1 during my final year to cover up my disadvantages as an IT graduate ?

You are asking a question ahead of your time. Not necessarily a bad thing if you can stay focus on your priorities. I concur with Fiona, focus on your degree first. You never know if your interests might change as you progress to your final year. For now, you can pick up some financial reading to beef up your general knowledge (i.e. business or finance sections of the newspapers; or how the Government budget affects you?)