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The Runaway MBA: Insecurity and immaturity made me join the MBA masses. Don’t make the same mistake
I can’t remember the exact point at which my interest in pursuing an MBA first arose. But I know it was sometime during my undergraduate years because I attended an institution that housed one of the best MBA programmes in the world, so I thought “perhaps someday”. My school’s career services instilled in us the [...]
GUEST COMMENT: How I passed CFA Level II only four months after passing Level I
In January 2009 I passed the CFA Level 1 qualification, using the method I elaborated for you before. This gave me around four months to prepare for CFA Level II. Needless to say, CFA Level II is hard. In fact, it is very hard. To be frank, I thought I’d failed. I was mistaken. So, [...]
The Runaway MBA: Here are four groups who will benefit from doing an MBA (most of them are people who like to party)
I realise that many of my MBA-related posts haven’t exactly been positive about the degree. I do love my classmates, but I don’t love the price tag that the MBA came with. For those of you whose dreams I may have dented, I want to offer a contrary perspective (at least in the first half [...]
Looking back, would I choose to take the CFA again? Probably not. It simply doesn’t justify the effort
Through sheer (read, brutal) discipline and some luck, I was able to pass all three levels of the CFA programme. Honestly, the course isn’t rocket science. The daunting task is really to cover the entire syllabus – six textbooks per level – and then remember the contents at least until you are through with the [...]
My Masters: Yes, taking time out to study IS worth it. Here’s why it’s working for me by boosting my financial knowledge
A blink of an eye and I’m halfway through my term at London Business School. A question that some friends ask me is whether my time here is really worth the expense and opportunity cost. My answer is an unqualified yes. One of my key goals in taking time out from the workforce has been [...]
The Runaway MBA: I calculate that I need to make 1,000 contacts just to get one good job offer, but I’m not giving up hope
It’s 11am and I have already received three rejection emails. I want to crawl back in bed. But I go for a cup of coffee instead to provide some comfort. Coffee is safer than a cookie. Sleeping in this morning would only waste a few valuable hours in which I can get hold of people [...]
With markets in turmoil, there’s no better time to do the CFA, says Ashvin Vibhakar, MD of Asia Pacific, CFA Institute
Ashvin Vibhakar, managing director of Asia Pacific operations, CFA Institute, talks to us about ethical investment, the importance of a global qualification, getting through all that study, and the remarkable popularity of the CFA charter in Asia. It’s all about ethics Vibhakar says the CFA programme is developed through “practice analysis”, which includes surveys of [...]
My Masters (blog 5): If your investment philosophy is radically different to your prospective employer’s, don’t take the job
The Russian-American novelist and philosopher Ayn Rand argues that all of us have a philosophy of life. Likewise, when it comes to investing, I think it’s really good to know what you believe and how you know it to be true. Successful investing requires a unique blend of attributes and ideas. A humble spirit, for [...]
My Masters (blog 2): I’m studying in London – what an awful week to arrive
There’s a saying that as a journalist, news follows you wherever you go. Except that, as you may recall from my first blog, I’m now an ex-reporter, having quit The Straits Times a month ago, and moved from Singapore to London to pursue my one-year Masters in Finance at London Business School (LBS). How ironic [...]
Why leaving investment banking was the happiest day of my life
Jeanne Chung, a Korean-American, set up boutique yoga studio Absolute Yoga in Singapore in 2004. She speaks to eFinancialCareers about why she went from high-flying investment banker to certified yoga instructor and managing director of her own business. I-banking wasn’t my first career choice, but I fell into it anyway I studied engineering at the [...]
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