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EduPristine > Blog > “How choosing CFA® career pathwasthe best decisionI made!”
“HowchoosingCFA® careerpathwas
the best decisionImade!”
July 18 2019 Written By: EduPristine
“Hi friends, I am BushraVahora, in this blog, I am sharing my journey of
choosing the CFA® path and cracking Level I CFA® in the first attempt. I
hope you findthis journey helpful to plan your own path.”
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After completing mybachelor’s in Mechanical
Engineering,
I chose to go for an MBA, and as an engineer, I was determined to go for
an MBAin Operations.Though,when I studied some ofthe Finance
concepts during my firstyear of MBA, I found it interesting. I started
reading books and watching movies, series, etc. based on financial
events, stock markets, private equity & venture investments. I really love
the show Shark Tank. But I was nervous abouttaking up Finance as my
career choice as I did not have a finance or accounting background.
While I could see my friends,who had a commerce background,their
fundamentals were clear, and they were able to understand things
better. I connected with a few seniors who had an engineering
background and were doing well in the finance domain. One ofthem
suggested me to take up the CFA® course. In fact, he said- “even ifyou
are not ready to take the exam, just reading the curriculum will help you
understand financial concepts and you will be able to crack interviews
and get a finance job”.
The journeyfrom MBAto campus placement
I started researching about CFA® Program, but like many, I was lazy to
study anything extra along with my MBA.Then I got a campus placement
in an ITcompany as an Associate Consultant in Financial services
consulting domain. Now, I had just started earning forthe firsttime in my
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3. life. I was in Pune; the cost of living was low. I got busy in partying and
traveling and chilling in general. I forgot all about CFA® Program and just
focused on enjoying the time.
It was difficult to get into Finance jobs
When I worked there for a few months, I realized,this is not a finance-
related job, or it is not helping me increase my knowledge or skills. I
started looking for a job switch, a sector switch, in something related to
Finance. I found it difficultto even get my Resume shortlisted for any
Finance jobs. I struggled for almost 7-8 months, in fact,for 3 months, I
was unemployed, and I was just sitting home and applying for jobs.
The idea ofdoingthe CFA® Program.
That’s when it struck me to start pursuing CFA® Program and I was
serious this time. Now,the first step was the CFA® exam registration. I
took advantage of early registration discount- $300 (so necessary as the
exam is expensive, man!) and registered, in September 2017,for a June
2018 attempt; that gave me a good 8-9 months to prepare. Meanwhile, I
also managed to get a job. Itwas a Financial Planning and Analysis role
in a startup.Areal exciting role.
How andwhyI chose EduPristinefortraining

4. So nowthe situation was- I have paid the fee (Enrollment fees $450 +
Level 1 Exam fees $650) for Level I CFA® Program, just started working in
a role, I am like, how do I manage to prepare forthe CFA® exam?
I wentto ourfriend Google – searching forways to prepare forthe Level I
CFA® exam, coaching, material, etc. First of all, CFAInstitute material is
vast and just not possible for me to read all that. So, I decided to
purchase Schweizer notes. I thought using a coaching institute for my
preparation will be helpful as itwill keep me on the track.After some
research, I found, EduPristine is the market leader in CFA® Program
preparation. I enrolled with EduPristine in a full-time weekday evening
batch… I would attend classes afterfinishing work.The classes were
amazing, right from the firstweek, I was already confidentthatwith
sincerely attending the classes and studying overthe weekends, I will
pass the exam. Even otherwise, itwas fun to attend classes. In the class,
the faculty and other students would share their experiences, and you
could talk aboutwork challenges and studies,which was helpful.
Butyou knowthe Irony, anyone who works in Finance orAccounts,their
February to May months are super busy with the company’s annual
Budget and StatutoryAudit and so on.And then you have the exam in
June, oh God, so much pressure now. It is March, I am insanely busy at
work, not able to study anything.All weekends are working,working till
late nights,totally exhausted. Could not manage to give any time to the
program prep.

5. Now it’s May already, stress period atwork is over, but hardly a month
left. For once I thought, I am not going to make it in this attempt, might
have to try for it in December only. But one smartthing I did was, in all
the stress and everything, I still made sure I attend at leasttwo-three
classes a week. In one ofthose classes, a faculty said, he prepared for
Level 1 exam only in 15 days and cleared in the first attempt. Now a ray of
hope!
I approached him and had a detailed conversation on how I should start,
what all things I should do, importanttopics, etc. Made a full plan of
study and immediately applied for a 15-day leave atwork, my manager
was supportive and sympathetic to approve my leave.
I started studying and going through the class notes and calling or
writing to the faculty whenever I get stuck somewhere.And wow,with
this I cleared the Level I CFA® exam!
How I cracked Level I CFA® exam in thefirst
attempt.
Not as easy as it sounds, I studied for almost 14-15 hours a day, straight
for 15 days. Plus,the exam-style was not easy, giving an exam of all the
10 subjects in one day,two papers back to back, a total of six hours of
concentration. Honestly, itwas overwhelming. On the last day before the
exam, I had so much anxiety.To add it all, I could get only 1-hour of sleep

6. the night before the exam. I somehow managed to keep my brain
working till 5 PM on 22 June 2018.
Watch on
I passed CFA® Level I on rst attempt | EduPristine
I passed CFA® Level I on rst attempt | EduPristine
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Butyes, my hard work paid off Constant hard work, understanding the
concepts during the classes and doubt solving sessions, really worked
for me.
I would not suggestyou do the same thing; please, please do notwaittill
the last 15 days.
I would give a few suggestions:
nd

7. Register in the early registration window,fortwo reasons:
. Asaving of $300 is a big deal. Early registration is $650 and the
standard registration fee is $950 (late fee is $1380).
. Once you register,you are committed to studying for it.
Join EduPristine for CFA® Program training and clearyour concepts.
With working professionals (faculty and classmates)you get an idea
what kind of jobs are outthere in finance,which domains can CFA®
Program help in and how do you leverage your CFA® certificate to
get into a job you desire.
Make a strategy for howto appearforthe exam and implementthat
in every mock test. So thatyou can time your exam well,you can
balance among different subjects.
And do keep yourweight in check, I eat a lotwhile studying 😀
After I cleared my Level I CFA®exam, I was able to apply a lot of concepts
at my work and analyze the financials better. I was more confident in
decision-making in FPAand gave better recommendations/suggestions
to my seniors.
Trust me,with Level I CFA® certificate and a year of experience in
Finance; your resume starts getting short-listed forvarious finance
roles.And that gives you a push to startworking for Level II CFA®
Program, and thereafter Level III CFA® Program.

8.
Preparingfor Level II CFA® Program.
Well,when I started preparing for Level II CFA® Program, I realized, Level
I was so easy compared to this one. For Level I CFA® Program,you just
need to knowyour concepts and you can solve 80% ofthe questions. But
nowyou must be responsible and sincere towards your studies.
In Level II CFA® Program,there are case studies,where there will be 4-6
questions based on a case study for each topic. Make sure notto miss a
single lecture, give as many mock tests as you can,try to solve both the
practice volumes of Schweizer.The syllabus of Level II CFA® exam is
vast; each topic is tested in detail.You need to give enough time for
thorough revision. Make your notes, mind maps that contain problem-
solving flow and formulae,which you can refer on the last day.
To conclude, ifyou wantto make a career in Finance,you should enroll
for CFA® Program.As of now, companies specify CFA® designation as a
‘preferred’ qualification butvery soon itwill become a ‘pre-requisite’.And
ifyou wantto give a CFA® exam, do registerforthe exam immediately
and if possible, join EduPristine as it keeps you on track.
What you should knowwhen you are considering
doing CFA® Program

9. . CFAInstitute is based in the US.They offer global courses in the
Investment management domain. It has recognition in almost
30-35 countries.
. Awareness of CFA® Program in India is surprising. 25,000
candidates appeared in June 2019which is almost 10% of global
candidates. (Courtesy: Economic Times). In India, a lot of
multinational companies consider CFA® designation as a
preferred qualification in a finance professional. Large
Investment banks, Big 4’s, Equity research firms, Credit Rating
firms are some ofthe organizations where CFA® designated
persons are highly in demand.
. Passing all the 3 levels of CFA® Program, and a minimum of 4
years of experience in Investment decision making profession
makes you eligible for a Charter.
What you needto know about the CFA® exam
. Most ofthe Level I CFA® Program topics are covered in MBAFinance
at a top view level. CFA® curriculum is in much more detail. It is very
importantto understand all the topics of Level I CFA® as it makes a
foundation for Level II and Level III.
. Schweizer notes are good.They are precise, easy to read, enough
examples to understand the concepts and two volumes of practice
problems, covers a variety of problems and questions.

10. . Ittakes around 35to 45 days for CFAinstitute to declare the results.
Till then,the candidates are relaxed and can continue with their
normal lives.
Disclaimer
CFAInstitute doesnotendorse,promote,orwarrantthe accuracyorqualityofthe productsorservicesofferedbyEduPristine.
CFA®aretrademarksownedbyCFAInstitute.

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