Considering Leaving Your Job for CFA Studies? Weighing Career Risks and Opportunities

Hello Seniors, I'm a B.Com (H) and currently working full-time with an MNC bank at a junior managerial position. I have overall experience of over 6 years in various back office BPO/KPO-related roles (Fund Administration, Fund Reconciliations, etc.). My job requires me to spend around 10-13 hours in the office around 5 days a week.

In the past 6 years, I have come across many opportunities where I was told that I was ineligible because I'm not a postgraduate. I want to advance my career from here, and after doing my research, I have concluded that a CFA or ACCA could enhance my chances of securing a middle office position in a Hedge Fund/FOF firm in India & abroad.

I have been planning to prepare myself for higher studies; however, my current job role would not allow me to study during the weekdays. On weekdays, I leave home at around 9 am and return around 11 pm. Finally, I have decided to pursue further education.

Therefore, I'm planning to sit for the CFA Level 1 exam this December. I also want to quit my job and enroll in a good coaching center. This way, I will have enough time to prepare as I have been out of studies for about 6 years now.

Now I have a few concerns regarding this.

Q1: Impact of Job Discontinuity

If I quit my job now to pursue the CFA course for the next 1.5-2 years, will it affect my career adversely due to discontinuity?

Q2: Job Prospects Post-CFA

What are the real chances of me securing a much better job after completing this course than what I'm already doing?

Q3: Career Restart Concerns

As I would be out of a job for about 1.5-2 years, would I have to start my career from scratch again, or how easy/difficult would it be to secure that dream job post-completion of the CFA course?

My thanks and regards to all those who can share their advice, feedback, suggestions.

Thanks, sir, for the encouraging words. But do you think it is justifiable to leave a job for a 2-year course? Will the HR in the next company accept it as a good reason that I quit my job to pursue CFA? Will they not raise the question of why I did not continue my job and prepare for CFA simultaneously?

Not at all. See the trends in the top B-schools. Candidates with good corporate exposure and seasoning are continuously increasing. For example, consider institutes like ISB. HR professionals and good companies not only understand but also appreciate these extra efforts if somebody has put them in to reshape his or her career horizon. Preparing for exams like CFA requires consistent efforts, which are quite unusual alongside a job in a bank's back office or operations.

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I am much impressed by your tenacity to pursue higher education to qualify yourself for higher-level jobs. The idea is really very good. Keep it up. The CFA qualification offers a lot of opportunities in leading investment banks in India and abroad. No doubt about that. However, there are great challenges in completing all three levels. I understand from some friends of mine that even for the first level, the syllabus is very vast and the questions are objective, which compounds the difficulty level for the aspirant examinees.

My suggestion for you will be to try to clear at least the first level of the examination while you are on the job and take a call on leaving the job after you successfully clear the first level. In my opinion, this will be a very safe approach for you.

With every good wish,

Regards