If you want a career in finance, you’re probably thinking about getting one or more financial certifications. After all, earning various financial certifications gives you more expertise in the field and can lead to more job opportunities and higher salaries.
One of the most important is the Chartered Financial Analyst certification or CFA, which you can learn below. Earning this certification takes work, but with the right CFA exam preparation course, you’re sure to pass with flying colors!
Improves Your Finance Career
In the last several decades, the expansion of financial services worldwide has made the CFA certification the gold standard in the finance industry. Many leading investment banks, accounting firms, and asset managers use the CFA as a prerequisite in their hiring processes.
Your CFA charter can be helpful if you’re already working in finance or want to change to a particular finance role. Many professionals find the CFA helpful in these occupations:
- Private bankers
- Portfolio managers
- Financial advisers
- Relationship managers
- Financial strategists
- Research analysts
The charter also is useful for financial services consultants, investment banking analysts, and corporate financial analysts.
Gives You Expert Knowledge In Finance
Passing the CFA takes a lot of work, including several hundred hours of courses over three years. However, with enough studying, most of the material isn’t difficult to grasp. It’s just that you need to retain all the information for the grueling examination in a limited amount of time.
But if you earn your CFA, you are telling others that you have expert financial knowledge. Also, the CFA program is regularly updated so you learn about the most recent innovations in the field; you are always learning new things as you’re prepping for the exam.
CFA Is Recognized Worldwide
The CFA is one of the most well-known professional credentials in finance. One of the best things about it is that you’ll enjoy career mobility worldwide. For instance, if you want to move to Europe, having your CFA will be a plus wherever you work. The charter isn’t just for people with finance careers in the United States.
The CFA overseas is the same as in the US, and finance professionals earn the same credential everywhere.
Excellent ROI
The total cost of getting your CFA depends on the preparation materials you buy and how many exams you take. But for most people, the cost ranges from $2,500 to $8,000.
For the program to cost $2,500, you’ll need to register early for all three levels and pass them on the first try using the CFA prep materials only (no outside study materials purchased).
If you decide to purchase third-party study materials, that’s when earning your charter can cost up to $8,000.
Whether you spend the least or the most amount to earn your CFA, it’s always a good return on investment, given the greater job opportunities and higher salary potential you’ll have.
You Don’t Need To Choose Between Your CFA and MBA
There are situations where the CFA is best, and the same goes for MBA. If you want to earn a credential that will boost your finance career, the CFA is probably the way to go.
But if you want a qualification to improve your career prospects outside finance, you may want to earn your MBA.
In the end, many finance and business professionals wind up earning both. If you think you want to have both, many experts believe that earning your CFA first is wise.
They say that it’s best to earn your CFA when you’re in the entry or junior level of your finance career, because of the time that it takes to study for the exam. You’ll have more time to study if you get your charter before personal and family obligations become more significant.
You can earn your MBA later as you move up in management, and many companies may even pay for your degree once you’ve been there for several years.
Higher Pay
Generally, people with their CFA earn more money over their finance careers than those without it. According to one survey, CFA candidates who pass Level 1 earn 6% higher salaries, while those who’ve passed Level 2 make 23% more.
If you pass Level 3, you may earn 39% higher compensation. That’s a great return on investment!
Clearly, spending the time and money on your CFA designation is worth it for a prosperous career in finance.
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