Ya I like the CIMB most, looks confident and smart.

According to the CIMB guy who was one of the panel during Noesis workshop, he mentioned few times his CFA worth more than his MBA.

5.5k is for 1 yr noesis tuition fees only.

This post has been edited by cristiano7mu: Oct 30 2011, 10:10 PM

Just a correction: the fees are for level 1 only.

This is a joking .

I switched from IT to IB and my pay increased 20%, and some more in between I had not worked for 2 years before joining the IB.

There is none of the interviewers asked me the question "Did you pass all 3 exams at the 1st attempt?". Instead they asked me in case if I could not pass the exams, what will happen to me.

Btw, I wish you good luck to pass all >70 in the CFA exam, it won't be easy to achieve all >70. For my level 3 morning paper, 9 out of 10 I scored <50 .

This post has been edited by kinwing: Oct 31 2011, 11:31 AM

Wow 5.5k each level looks expensive . Hope it worth the dollar spent.

"friendly // high passing rate // career services // their lecturer are the exam markers for Level 3 too" this more looks like the content appears in an advertise flyer .

Hi fino, do you have the FB link to post here? Just lazy to search in FB .

Here you go:

http://m.facebook.com/home.php?sk=group_38..._user=648270045

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Added on October 31, 2011, 12:54 pmI don't what's your final salary before you switched, but my friend was already earning quite a high salary when he wanted to switch.

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Added on October 31, 2011, 12:57 pmDepends on interviewers.

Thanks =) i will do my best.

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Added on October 31, 2011, 1:02 pmHahaha, he is just relaying what he heard at the presentation.

This post has been edited by fino_abama: Oct 31 2011, 01:02 PM

kinwing u didn't work at all in between 2 years? didn't they ask you what the gap is all about/

Yes, I stop work at August 2008 and started work again at October 2010. When the interviewers asked why I did not work, I gave them few reasons:

- when I resigned at August 2008, the economy was not doing well so it was not easy to find a job
- since it was not easy to get a job during economic downturn of which I predicted it would last for 1.5 to 2 years, I might just concentrate to full-time study and complete the CFA program in 2-year period
- as I did not have any commitment at that time and I had enough financial resources to well support my study and living without working for few years
- at the same time I was assisting my dad to operate his small banana estate

This post has been edited by kinwing: Oct 31 2011, 11:00 PM

ahhhh okay

so when did u do IT halfway?

I had been working in an IT company for almost 3 years before I resigned.

This post has been edited by kinwing: Nov 1 2011, 10:10 AM

ic but before that is finance right?

I think scoring >70 for L3 is close to impossible (Of course, this is not taking into consideration the geniuses). However, I think it is something that is good to look into. If you have the mentality of wanting to score >70, it will somehow push you to work harder. And that ounce of Motivation may be the difference between passing and failing.

Anyways, do hope that I can get >70 for the coming level 1. I will be sitting it in June 2012. =)

Yah, I worked almost 2 years in a bank before joined the IT firm.

cheeky u're right in the sense that aim for the stars, if you miss, u might land up on the moon! so always aim for more

kinwing, u're degree is in finance?

My degree is bachelor of commerce and administration, double major in accounting and finance, and I got a pro cert in Oracle too but get that cert during work one.

hahaha i did training in sap, but don't have cert. not going for it though.. won't help in getting finance job

Which line of IB are you looking into? if you are doing Corporate Finance (IPO, due diligence, restructuring), CFA is not directly relevant (although still highly regarded) and they prefer people with accounting background / BIG4 experience. Plus, you will be required to sit for the CMSL examination because the nature of work is regulated under SC guidelines.

If you are talking about getting into firm such as Goldman Sachs (they have an office in Malaysia), big name private equities (Navis maybe), CFA alone without working experience or any other supporting background (i.e., Ivy league MBAs) is not sufficient to secure an interview. Having said that, local IBs or small fund houses i believe may still open their doors.

There are other options such as consulting firms / corporate finance consulting arms of BIG4s that offer really good exposures for CFA related job experience. Then again, it can be competitive these days as well.

Then again, 3-4 years down the road, you will find the working life unpalatable because generally it is very fast pace and ppl around you are relatively intelligent and competitive. You really have to really want it to get through the exam as well as the working life. Behind the glamour there are sacrifices sometimes.

Still, CFA is still worth doing it if you enjoy the reading and the knowledge. Even if you do not work in the relevant line, finishing the exam commands a lot respect from people anytime you mention it. Hope that motivates you. Cheers!

I concur with what Justin said. When people mention about Corporate Finance, most of the case they are referring to the so-called "Execution" teams which carry on paper proposals and submission to the authorities such as the SC, Bursa and Bank Negara. To prevent any misleading or obmission of information being submitted to the authorities, proper due diligence is required, and staffs in CF are expected to equip with audit experience as the nature of work is compliance based. I can conclude to say "Execution" team is tend to be more accounting and auditing oriented.

There is another team in corporate finance is the marketing team or the so-called "Origination" team which job scope is to meet clients, provide corporate advisory and structure transaction deal according to the needs of the clients. For my opinion, this is more challenging as staffs will be required to structure specific of transactions and proposals and a lot of presentation of power point and excel modelling require. Knowledge learn from the CFA and MBA would help a lot in this job scope.

By the way, I think CFA is not well-recognised in Malaysia. I hope 1 day the SC will exempt those who pass CFA level 3 from taking the CMSA module 12, then it could in directly promote the CFA .