When does a journey start? Is it when you take your first step towards it, or when you thought about reaching the destination the first time? While I can pinpoint when I paid the fees to start my journey towards becoming Chartered Financial Analyst – CFA, the gradual stages of getting to know the designation, being awed by its complexity and reach, and making up my mind to walk the path are all blurred. This is my story of achieving one of the highest degrees in the field of finance.
When I was offered a job in a finance firm through a campus interview, I was over the moon. When I went to the office situated in Pedder Road, Mumbai, my boss Mr. Vinay welcomed me into an office with a large number of empty desks. He mentioned some upcoming exam for which people had taken leave. After 2 days of joining, I got to know the name of the exam by the title of the holiday – ‘CFA day’, first Friday of June. I was amazed that an exam would carry such a weight to warrant a firm wide holiday.
Years went by, and every year, bright people would clear different levels of CFA while other equally bright people would tank it. There was no discernible pattern for an industry outsider. So in my mind, the feeling towards CFA was always a mixed bag, with equal parts of amusement and worry.
After learning my ropes in finance, I used to wonder whether I should attempt the CFA exam. But in my mind, I had made the association that as most CAs in my office were CFA candidates or members, somehow the exam was for accountants only. While I flirted with the idea of appearing for CFA, it was never given a serious thought till another senior from my office, Mr. Umesh, a CFA himself, urged me to take it up. He clearly stated, for a person with non-finance background to be taken seriously in a financial organization, CFA would play a tremendous role.
Finally, I entered myself for Level I in the last hour of early-bird registration.
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