Originally Posted by Unregistered

just somethings to add. You are right though, they value relevant experience. but it is not a must like what you say in your above example, i have done 5 yrs of research in philip capital or whatever small firm so now I can move on to the big boys like UBS. I have seen many people moving from firm to firm but always never be able to break into the big boys. E.g. 5 yrs in philip capital, then move on to another 3 yrs to another fund, then another 3 yrs to another fund, all doing research. You can see many of such profiles in Linkedin.

what I am trying to say is that if you wanna compare monetary wise, over a 10 yr period for example, the one at ops at goldman sachs may be earning overall more than this research guy who was working in small firms.

There is no right or wrong answer. One is not wrong to choose ops in a big firm and one is not wrong either to work in small firms in research. It really depends on ur interest and how u want to walk your life.

and yes like what you said, job openings for research at small firms are very competitive too.

TS, as you are in the public sector at age 27, I assume say by the time you leave next year for Masters at age 28, you may be drawing $4k+ or close to $5k. In the worse case scenario, u may be joining a small firm with $2k-3k after graduation. By then you are 29 or 30 after graduation? What are your family plans? Are you planning to get married or already married at that stage? Will you have children? How much savings do you have? Can they survive on your low salary?

And pls dun take the CFA route then change jobs. To pass the CFA even at all levels, you need like 2 yrs plus (assuming you had not passed any level now). If you fail one level, your CFA charter may take longer to arrive (level 2 n 3 only happens once a yr in june). By that time you will be in your thirties and your chances of switching will be lower. A Masters is a better option.

Don't just follow the Finance crowd blindly. The people in the government sector are not stupid for not following the finance crowd. They thought about their odds, age, qualifications etc and may have decided that it may be better to remain there.

Everybody's route to success is different. I wish you luck in finding yours.