Ask HN: Does a CFA Matter in FinTech?
For quite a while I've had difficulties deciding what I actually enjoy doing and managing my motivation, so I let myself get into a bad place academically, although I have my degree now (Bio Major, CS Minor), and have roughly 4 years of work experience in a large bank as an analyst.
During that time, I've learnt a lot about programming, mostly in my spare time but also professionally as well. Although I was in analyst roles, I pushed to make my role a bit more developer-like. I created an end-to-end prototype in Python of a software solution we were building as part of the project that I was assigned to. This was then used as a template for the real developers to base their work off of.
In my spare time, I learned how to automate cloud infrastucture deployments using a Packer, Terraform, Docker, Kubernetes, and kOps stack. I've also set up full CRUD apps with a Node REST API backend and React frontend, SQL DBs, etc... I've also currently passed the first 2 levels of the CFA program, and plan to finish the third this year. I think I was uninformed when I made the decision to go for the CFA since I find a lot more joy in programming than pure investment management, but I was hoping it could serve as a foundation for a position in fintech.
The last time I was searching around for jobs, I didn't get many responses at all for developer/engineer roles given my experience only being in analyst roles. so at this point I'm a bit uncertain about my employability going forward. I'm based in Toronto but did apply at various comapnies (large and startups) across Canada & US. What I was hoping to ask is if anyone here would know if finishing off my CFA would even help me get a tech role at a fintech company given my lack of experience as a developer? Is there anything I could work on as a portfolio app/demo to improve my chances there specfically? Even general advice on what steps I should take going forward would be much appreciated. Thanks for your time.
25 comments
[ 4.3 ms ] story [ 60.2 ms ] threadI would say that getting bad grades is possibly fine the knowledge you have with tech is what you want to nurture directly if thats what you want to be good at. If its your first job its going to be hard anyway but the grades are only judged really at that point then subsequently its on your ability.
If you are having trouble getting hired go for more niche knowledge for example a specific python skill, or rust async and find an employer who wants that. Its easier to show your skills off & be hired for with specialised rather than broad knowledge all over the place. REST/CRUD, React, etc is very broad and there are tonnes of candidates everywhere, even remotely..
I disagree. I work in finance and the company does think highly of people who have a CFA in a tech role. Sure, you could be a business side developer (which actually pays more). But they still allow you to work as a regular dev. Some areas of the company very strongly suggest (unofficially require) a CFA Foundations cert.
On a side note, how do you plan to get a CFA charter? I believe they require you to be working in the industry for years before you can apply.
I've accumulated roughly 4 years of experience as a full time employee/contractor at a large bank in roles falling into the program's guidelines, so I hope that will allow me to pass that requirement.
I do not have a CFA charter, nor want one. I did take the CFA Foundations cert since management made it unofficially mandatory. I think this level of knowledge would be useful for devs working in that area, but this isn't the only measure of that knowledge. At that time, the cert cost money and was held at a test center (it's now free and online). I tried to avoid taking it since I already have that knowledge from my business admin minor, but management basically forced me to take it anyways. I passed it two days later and management was amazed - I guess they didn't believe that I my minor was worth anything but that this stupid test was.
So it might be different at your company, but there are companies and managers out there who look favorably on having a CFA Foundations or CFA Charter (or even just passing level 1 or 2). It can even get you more pay. It's credentialing similar to others you would list on a resume, like the OP mentioning his major/minor in his post. The real issue for the OP, is that if he's unemployed then he can't get a CFA charter anyways since you have to have years of experience in the industry and your company to sponsor/approve you if you don't work in one of the approved/listed roles (on the business side).
My two cents: I’m sure there are some employers and situations where having a CFA will be beneficial. But given how much time and effort it takes to pass each test, I think you’re far better off spending that time learning or working on something that’s directly applicable to your job. This is especially true if you’re trying to transition into tech from a non-technical background.
Hope that helps! (And happy to answer any specific questions as well.)
Do you have any recommendations at all for what I should be focusing on while building out a resume in terms of skill sets to develop and projects to demo them?
My only real "portfolio" project is a SPA repo I've been working on that integrates most of the DevOps, Backend and Frontend knoweldge I've built up, but it's quite incomplete right now.
Also I guess a big question would be how I should approach making that initial transition career-wise in terms of what levels of SWE roles (Intern? Level I?) I should apply to.
And a pretty trivial one: should the resume be more then one page?
Really appreciate your help!
I would just apply to tons of companies (e.g. try to send out five applications a day, or something along those lines). Your skills as an interviewee will improve as you do interviews, until finally you get an offer you like :). Also, this is often a question of getting one offer, and then telling all the other companies you've applied to that you have an offer with a time limit to accelerate their processes. FOMO is real :)
All of this is predicated on being able to get interviews -- I'd expect a low hit rate, but if you're getting zero interviews, you'll need to adjust your approach and either improve your resume/cover letter or try a more personalized approach, like finding opportunities through your network or meetups, etc.
Re: jobs, I would apply to entry level positions. I would not apply to internships. I think your probability of getting internships vs. entry-level jobs is only slightly higher, so just go for entry-level. With entry level jobs, you're still going to be hired for your potential (not experience), which good companies recognize.
As for your resume, definitely keep it to one page.
I'll take a look at my resume and see how I can restructure it and start sending it out to at least see if I can get an answer back.
Cheers!
If you want to work in companies that make softwares that help manage corporate finance then maybe a CFA is good, I wouldnt know.
I’ve worked at investment bank’s tech and quant teams and CFA is not useful at all. If anything it may paint you as the IT person who think that an exam will help them break through the tech/business divide and become a trader. In my experience, CFA is generally seen as an antiquated education and people will think you’ve wasted a ton of time working on this.
Now, the way you presented yourself here is neat. You’re showing a great level of independance and a taste for tinkering with both finance and technical stuff. This is well regarded in investment banks. I have no doubt that you’ll be able to find a job there.
My advice to you is that you should leave the CFA level-2 on your resume, and if people ask you, tell them that you did it cause you found it interesting. It’ll make you look like a curious person. But I don’t think that the effort required to pass level 3 is worth it.
Godspeed!
Cheers.
It's not about proper money management and in that case, as I think, you don't need CFA to do (or wotk in) some Fintech services.
Experience in classical finance will be really useful because you can understand a problem. But again this is not about CFA.
Thanks for your response!