Where do you do get experience to be a financial analyst?

Scott in Kankakee, Illinois said: I have a degree in finance but I don't have any experience. All the jobs that I see post by Chicago want at least 2 years. So how can I can I get the job without the experience or how do I get the experience to get the job?

Are there other jobs that I could use to get the experience? Are there any exam or test that I could study and take to use instead?
And most of the job posting, are looking for experience in different type of program like SAP, and etc, should I look into taking classes in them?

Thanks for any help.

take an exam to show you are credible. the CFA is a great way to gain credibility. I personally am taking the CPA way because they give more weight to CPAs than CFAs. Its an expensive process but will definately help you out.

oh yeah in Des Plaines, Illinois said: Scott, you should be in progress of your CFA if you want to get an analyst job, or have at least 6+ years of relevant experience. You might look for a position in the departments that support analysts as a way to get your foot in the door and then get approved to enter the CFA program. You're too lean on experience at this point to expect to compete with those that do.

Scott, CFA is definitely the way to go to show you're actually serious, and it's a pretty good system actually; those who are serious pass it. Those who just kind of want a cool fancy finance job but want it handed to them without putting the effort in to get qualified for it will fail.

I don't know what 'oh yeah' is talking about, you don't need to get approved to enter the CFA program. If you have a bachelor's degree, you just sign up, they send you books, and then you study and then write the exam. you won't get the charter though unless you have 4 years of applicable work experience. if you pass the exam without having the work experience, you are "CFA charter pending" status.

You need to be sponsored in order to have your application approved. DUH!

What about jobs that I should look for (also entry level jobs) that will help me move up the ladder into a possible financial analyst job. If you know of any specific job titles that would help please let me know. Also what about doing adminstrative work in other non finance companies. Or accounting clerk/payroll type jobs? any suggestions

I'm in the same boat as Scott. Although the CFA seems to be the recommended way to go I was wondering if anyone had any insight into the FAS (Financial Analyst Specialist) designation? It is a 5 or 6 month course done online. I haven't been able to find any reviews of this, which leads me to believe it is junk! It doesn't appear to be on FINRA's list either.

DK1983 in Camarillo, California said: I'm in the same boat as Scott. Although the CFA seems to be the recommended way to go I was wondering if anyone had any insight into the FAS (Financial Analyst Specialist) designation? It is a 5 or 6 month course done online. I haven't been able to find any reviews of this, which leads me to believe it is junk! It doesn't appear to be on FINRA's list either.

I don't know anything about it. All I can say is that another acronym on the resume can't hurt, unless the organization that offers that designation gets nailed on a mass child porn scandal or something.

I got a designation called Canadian Investment Manager which also takes about 6 months to finish. The difference is, that designation, in combination with CFA level 1 means in Canada, I have legally met the education requirements needed to manage a portfolio in Canada, (though the necessary work experience is another story). Is this FAS designation good for something somewhere? is it expensive? Does anyone anywhere know about it? If it's expensive, and no one seems to know about it, I'd probably ignore it.

Hello Matt & DK1983,

Our team put together the Financial Analyst Specialist (FAS) program because in the past we have been able to attract over 1,000 participants to our Certified Hedge Fund Professional (CHP) Designation program and we had a model there that worked.

We have taken that practical approach to providing an industry designation program to the area of financial analysis by hiring a professor and using our teams financial analysis experience within the hedge fund and corporate finance arenas to create the Financial Analyst Specialist (FAS) program: businesstraining.com/Financial-Analyst-Certification.html

Our goal is the most practical, challenging, and globally relevant single level financial analysis certification program in the industry. We welcome your feedback on exactly what would meet your needs in this area, we add new video modules to our programs each quarter.

- Richard Wilson
G.T.C. Institute, LLC
BusinessTraining.com

Thank you for your response Richard. I guess I am just trying to get a sense of how useful this designation really is. It doesn't appear to be recognized by FINRA and I haven't heard a lot of people mentioning it. A quick Google search only pulls up your website.

I understand that it might improve my resume but it seems pricey for a designation that is so unknown. I might as well start on the CFA, which I know is legit and recognized/respected.

In what situation and for who would you recommend the FAS?

Thanks

I have been looking at businesstraining.com for about month, I cant find any good and I cant find any bad reviews for this online course. I am not sure if $400 per course is pricey, compared to other programs. If you have experience as an Financial Analyst not sure if this course would help.

I am working on my MBA in Project Management and my goal is to make $82,000 as a Financial Analyst. I dont want to waste my time. However, I think this course could help me reach my goal. I have Financial classes in my MBA program. But think this would help prepare me for class and the workforce.

B-Easy,

I actually decided to sign up for the FAS program. I've been posting updates on the businesstraining.com forum. Hopefully you will find it helpful. I was in the same situation as you and decided to just go ahead with it even though its a little pricy.

here is the link: businesstraining.com/forum/showthread.php/46-My-businesstraining.com-experience

Feel free to message me if you have any questions.

I've got an MBA, but no experience, and I've applied for hundreds of Financial Analyst jobs all over the country and have had only a handful of interviews. I rarely see any job postings that even mention the CFA designation, so I'm not sure if it would be worth it to put out even MORE money for another worthless designation. (Spent $60,000+ on tuition for my MBA and undergrad, been out of work for a year and a half, and have never had a college graduate job.) If anyone has actually been able to get their foot in the door with a pending CFA and the hiring employer somehow waived the experience requirement, I'd love to hear about it. Or if anyone knows of a searchable job title where you would work under a Financial Analyst, that would be good too. (Or any entry-level job where having an MBA is an asset instead of a liability, for that matter.)

Building relationships is as important as the formal education received in an MBA program. The best way to start building those relationships is through an internship in the company or function you want to pursue. Intern, intern, intern.

I think the issue is where you live

most financial analysts positions are at corporate headquarters

I am basically in same boat...I can figure out how to get the financial experience required for these jobs in order to at least get to the interview...

Only have a B.A. in Economics with a strong financial background. I was considering the CFA designation, but after studying for the Level 1, it seems almost relevant to move on to the next levels if I want to focus on firm financial not necessarily portfolio management and equity/bond valuations.

Thinking of going towards the CPA route now, since it seems to be more practical towards company financial reporting...

Should I just get a bookkeeping job or a bill clerk position?...I feel so lost
How are you guys doing with everything, since this forum started like almost 3 years ago?

skiptomylou in Dacula, Georgia said: I think the issue is where you live

most financial analysts positions are at corporate headquarters

I living in southern California, willing to relocate to San Diego or LA...but wow...its competitive out there...how would you even set yourself apart from the rest...
everyone can do the financial modeling, advance excel, cost analysis...and everything else that comes along with it...only thing is who has the experience...which just leaves us, inexperienced folks, out basically forever ;)....:( haha....

Having CFA does not help in landing a FA job anywhere. Finding an internship in Corporate Accounting/Finance has always been very tough as not that many companies hire interns and when they do, only few lucky ones are selected from well-known schools or local colleges. The CPA route is good and practical though there's no shortage of CPAs anymore, at least not here in silicone valley. For experience, ask a FA friend to show you exactly what s/he does and then use it as consulting (contracting) experience to get a head start... it's a tough world out there and sometimes one has to be creative, you know :) Good luck!

Richard D. in Rialto, California said: I am basically in same boat...I can figure out how to get the financial experience required for these jobs in order to at least get to the interview...

Only have a B.A. in Economics with a strong financial background. I was considering the CFA designation, but after studying for the Level 1, it seems almost relevant to move on to the next levels if I want to focus on firm financial not necessarily portfolio management and equity/bond valuations.

Thinking of going towards the CPA route now, since it seems to be more practical towards company financial reporting...

Should I just get a bookkeeping job or a bill clerk position?...I feel so lost
How are you guys doing with everything, since this forum started like almost 3 years ago?

I had CPA and Valuation experience , but I didnt get financial analyst job experience (though i had level 2 CFA passed, working towards CFA level 3), i still didnt get any financial analyst job offer ......I think people who get hired is those that really have solid FA experience, as employers are not willing /less willing to train up people from the beginning...te job market is really tough....

i'm studing mba at sharif university of thechnology (the best university in iran),i am really interested in finance, and i want to apply for good university in this field . i don not have any specific relevance work experince in this field in any organization (except with my little capital in Tehran stock exchange and future gold market)(but i can work for few month) , i want to know how getting level one of cfa would help me to get addmishion?and can i work easily in countries such as usa or singapore after finishing university ?
tnx all

Has anyone completed the FAS program? I'm debating whether or of to do it to help in the job hunt. How much more competive does it make you?

I am current in college studying for a degree in Economics. I am not sure what work is best to do. I am thinking about becoming a financial analyst. My problem is I do not do which job i should do so i can move up. I understand that must persons said its best to do the CFA and the FAS.

I agree with you Matt. You are on the right path. I am so completing my CFA.

I am currently a Senior FA with a major multi-nation financial institution. I started in the back office and worked my way up about 14 years ago after graduating.

Most successful advisors have the CFP designation like myself and/or and acounting designation.

MBA in my opinion is over saturated in the industry. I believe years of experience directly with clients and back office operations is more valuable than $100K Executive MBA.

My suggestions is to work as a Financial Advisor so you will be forced to to learn hands on skills, practical knowledge, and experience in the industry. However, not everyone has is suited for this role. It requires a balance of guts, excellent communication skills, leadership, research, integrity and common sense.

I am firm believer of the "School of hard Knox". If you want to be a portfolio mgr, try being a day trader, investment advisor, or financial advisor first. I guarantee you that you will be working hard, but the experience would be valuable. This will determine if you are worthy of the role Portfolio Mgr.

It is true that nothing helps more than hands-on experience. Most of those who earn over $100,000 or $300,000 are able to do so because they have valuable experience, but I do think that education is an important component. I think many people get frustrated when they here that experience is what is most important because all of us have started at some point from nowhere - we all had to get started somehow.

I have a free report on how to make $100K in finance if anyone would like to read it - businesstraining.com/FREE/100K-Roadmap.pdf

Take care

Richard

I'm trying to find out pros/cons between being a Financial Analyst at a bank vs a financial analyst at a large company (ex. Ford, General Electric)?

Temp to hire. They see you're qualified and get to.see you before you're hired. Win win!

Haha, I got an email saying someone commented, and thought I would provide an update on my career, 27 months later apparently. I still have not managed to get a research/analysis job, but I think I'm much closer. I've passed CFA level 2, and finished a year at U of T's MBA program (Rotman). I'm doing a summer internship at the same place I already worked. It's pretty much the exact same, except they pay me a dollar less per hour lol. In 8 months though, I'll have level 2 CFA, arguably Canada's best Finance mba, and about 2.5 years of back office experience in a wealth management company. If I can't get a decent job with these things, then the problem is my networking.

Update: July 2012... Economy is still difficult four years after this thread began. YIKES ! General finding is that without a few years of direct FA experience in a corporate FP&A role (with a BA or MBA in finance) you will not get an FA job without a personal favor.

Employers still have hundreds of applications from out of work candidates who are willing to take an entry level position just to get back into the workforce. They might have five years direct experience and be unemployed so they snap up that opening you Mr./Ms. recent BA finance graduate just applied for. Point is that employers know the marketplace is over saturated with available labor. It's a buyer's market.

This dynamic won't change because it's cheaper for the employer to hire the five year experienced FA. There's no training cost for the employer. And with today's slow economy, price margin pressure on corporations is intense, thus motivating them to hire only experienced labor.

If the candidate has anything in their profile that's unusual or raises doubt in the hiring manager's mind, the hiring manager will quickly move on to the next candidate. So if you're applying from out of state or across the country, forget it. If you're a career changer - even worse.

With all this bad news, where's the good part? Try to look at your resume and yourself as a candidate from the employer's point of view. Do anything you can to make yourself look more attractive to them. How can you reduce the hiring manager's risk of hiring you? Be working toward your CFA. Do financial related volunteer work at a local community non-profit. Non profit organizations are always looking for extra help.

Good luck!

Networking is important in getting interviews, but likeability, chemistry and other personality factors are big factors considered by the hiring manager who determines if you are the one at the end. In most cases, I believe those candidates interviewed all meet the technical job requirements on paper because companies do not want to waste their time, so the interviews are conducted to find out the other side of you...

Has anyone in here have any experience with the Financial Analyst Specialist Certification by the GTC Institute? Has anyone found a job as a financial analyst? I have a Bachelor's Degree in Economics from a Top university but I cannot seem to find a job as a financial analyst. I have been wanting to switch careers for over a year now to become an analyst.

DK1983 in Camarillo, California said: B-Easy,

I actually decided to sign up for the FAS program. I've been posting updates on the businesstraining.com forum. Hopefully you will find it helpful. I was in the same situation as you and decided to just go ahead with it even though its a little pricy.

here is the link: businesstraining.com/forum/showthread.php/46-My-businesstraining.com-experience

Feel free to message me if you have any questions.

Have you gotten certified yet? Are you able to find a job as an analyst?

BBA, CFA L2 candidate, took L3 this June, 3-year experience in accounting, still no job. On the same boat with most of the ppl, it is hard to break into the finance industry.

Hey guys, i have a couple of questions about becoming a financial analyst. First off let me give you a little background info, i recently graduated with degree in finance and have no experience relating to the finance industry. I was looking for a job as a research assistant or a junior analyst in order for me to get experience and work my way up to becoming a senior financial analyst, but every position i look at requires experience. How do i go about getting that experience, what kinds of jobs should i be looking at for me to become a research assistant or junior analyst? Thanks for the help.

Look up L i n k e d i n profiles of the folks already made it to the positions that interest you... I found it pretty interesting to read the profiles of those who now worked in various corporations and cities....some are really over-qualified... a sign of the times. ..

In chronological order, undergrad UofT Computer Engineering, CSC, CPH, DFC, TTC, OLC, DLC, CFA Level 1, MBA at Ivey, CFA Level 2, CFA Level 3. Current employer offering generous study time off and reimbursement of registration fees to take the CAIA exams.

A few things I've learned in getting to where I am today (buy-side PM):
- The MBA experience is time for you to take a break from work, meet new people and learn a few new things. I remember those days fondly.
- Having said that, if you want a good chance of landing a US or International job, get in to a top-tier US business school. Nobody knows who Ivey, Rotman, Schulich, blah blah blah, is outside of Canada (after having interviewed almost everywhere in the world). Not impossible though.
- CFA designations are a dime a dozen in Toronto/NYC. If you don't have one, or at least passed Level 2, nobody will look at your resume (at least I didn't when hiring others). Around here, and other financial centres in the world, the CFA designation or significant progress in it, is considered the base case.
- It is tough to break into the industry, no doubt, but I got here from stupid retail banking by really knowing my shiz. It's surprising how much more my programming skills from undergrad were valued than my MBA or passing of all three levels of CFA (charter under review at Toronto CFA society).
- I didn't know a lick of Excel before b-school. Looking back - I wish I had been this good at it before. Would've helped job prospecting to be able to model a PE transaction well.
- Networks are important, but it's still tough to vouch for someone. Would you put your own reputation on the line for a contact that you don't CLOSELY know? Many have gotten burned by vouching for others in our class.
- Following the above, I got this PM job through merely applying and the team liking what they saw on my resume. No friends, no networks, no nothing. Just pure me.

Feel free to ask me more q's: g.gekko30 at gmail.com

oh yeah in Des Plaines, Illinois said: Scott, you should be in progress of your CFA if you want to get an analyst job, or have at least 6+ years of relevant experience. You might look for a position in the departments that support analysts as a way to get your foot in the door and then get approved to enter the CFA program. You're too lean on experience at this point to expect to compete with those that do.

what kind of positions support analysts? research assistant?

I am just like everyone else here, recent graduate with Finance degree.
However I was actually thinking about getting temp job of Junior financial analyst first, just to build up my resume and get my foot into the door. Because so far, I have applied for more than 200 jobs and I got only a handful reply, not to mention those reject letter.
Do you guys think, doing the temp job will help? will I get better chance for being hire for temp job?

Yes, register with as many agencies as you can, take any accounting/finance assignment when offered, it's very tough out there, for years, I see folks with B.S degree and even MBA ended up employed as clerks or in general unemployed or under-employed.

Finally got a Financial Analyst job in September, 2012. My new job is in a corporate finance department, not as a portfolio or investment manager.

Here's how I got my job:
1. Applied using Craig's List. It's better because it limits the applicant pool to local candidates so I wasn't competing against applicants from across the country.
2. I had to demonstrate a strong competence level with Excel and Access. I took the proficiency tests in both these programs at www.Smarterer.com. It's free and gave employers an independent validation of my skill set.
3. I worked for two years as a Financial Advisor for a major retail investment company (similar to Ameriprise, Edward Jones, Fidelity) selling mutual funds, stocks and bonds to individual investors. It's very easy to get one of these jobs b/c it's mostly sales - but they give you solid financial and analytical training and licensing (Series 7 and 63). This gave me a story to tell during my interviews about how I analyzed data in Excel to identify budget variances, made cash flow forecasts and other tasks that are central to the Financial Analyst role.

My background: marketing undergrad w/ finance MBA in 2009.

Hope that helps....

Hey all,

I have been reading all these comments on here and I am currently in the military and getting ready to start school to get into this field. I have been looking on job sites to get a feel for the job market concerning the finance field and I was just wondering if getting a job at a bank say doing loans and paperwork things would help as experiance since I don't have anything but the military experiance. It is in a completely different field so this is a big change for me and I could definetly use some advice before jumping into the unknown.

Thanks

Aaron in Chesapeake, Virginia said: Hey all,

I have been reading all these comments on here and I am currently in the military and getting ready to start school to get into this field. I have been looking on job sites to get a feel for the job market concerning the finance field and I was just wondering if getting a job at a bank say doing loans and paperwork things would help as experiance since I don't have anything but the military experiance. It is in a completely different field so this is a big change for me and I could definetly use some advice before jumping into the unknown.

Thanks

You're right that your lack of experience will be a road block to landing an analyst job after school. If you can get into a bank as you describe, a good strategy could be to work your initial job for a couple years (doing loans and paperwork things)and then transfer WITHIN THE SAME BANK to a financial analyst role. They will be more likely to consider you for the analyst role at that point because they know your track record with them by that point. Employers are always more likely to give opportunities to internal candidates than they do to external applicants for this reason.

Also, working in a support role will allow you to build up transferable skills that you can then use to justify why they should hire you as an analyst.

Hope that helps!

Here are my bits.

I've a Senior (light manager) Financial Analyst with 13 years experience and a BS in Accounting. I've debated getting an MBA or masters in IT but at this point I'm unsure of the value.

I spent my first 3 years as an auditor for a Public Accounting firm. Throughout the years I've transitioned from the Accounting department to more of a Financial/Data Analyst role.

A financial analyst should have a basic understanding of accounting and strong aptitude with systems.

My advice go for an entry level accounting job. Be prepared to to grunt work. Something that exposes you to a month-end process--including account reconciliations. Hopefully the company will use Oracle.

Next, I would learn SQL. Use your free time automating repetitive processes. Not only will you grab attention but you'll have experience with business process.

I hope this helps.

Almost Forgot.

Learn Excel (backwards and forwards), Access and SQL.

Hi Matt, I know you posted this comment sometime ago, I was hoping I could get a hold of you, I want to ask you some questions. Thanks in advance for your reply, where can I email you?

Matt in Toronto, Ontario said: yeah, that is a problematic chicken and egg thing, isn't it? I have a BBA and all I was able to get right out of school were sales jobs in freakin call centers, so whatever, I did it (getting to the point shortly). Eventually, as the economy started getting crappier, I got a job doing outbound sales to New York Banks (that was my sales territory) and that was June 2008.
Those guys were so arrogant; I couldn't handle that they talked down to me like they were so much smarter than me (even the Lehman bros. and AIG people were like that). So I was like screw you guys, you're not that smart, I can do your jobs no problem.
step 1. take CFA level 1. step 2, take Canadian Securities Course (like series 7 in USA). step 3, take another couple courses needed to be licensed as trader/portfolio manager/whatever and just keep passing them and stacking pieces of paper. step 4, apply for a back office job doing admin or some crap like that at a well respected finance company (this is the step I'm at right now). Step 5, CFA level 2 (that's in june). My hope is that after a handful of certifications, and finishing the third level of the CFA, I will be able to apply for, and get an entry level financial analyst position that pays like 45-50k. I'm setting the bar real low so I don't get disappointed.