转CHAK今早发的信：Those who are determined succeed. Those who set a limit for himself

dreamspy

Dear all,



Thank you for your trust in joining our program.



Many students asked me about finding jobs in Hong Kong.  Bad news for you.  Barclays just announced 15% job cut, with more to come.  With the implementation of the new regulation, more job cuts are expected.   Is it difficult to find jobs when you graduate?  Difficulty is going to be an understatement.



Who are your major competitors?  Not the graduates of other schools, but the experienced financiers laid off over the past several years who are still finding jobs.  If there is a position, who do you think an employer like to hire?  Someone who can do the job right away, or you?



In this difficult year, we still have many students being able to do the impossible, finding jobs in Hong Kong.  How? By doing what others consider impossible.  How can you prove that you can do better than an experienced person?  By having more qualifications, by working harder, and being cheaper.  Is it bad? Yes.  You can choose to walk away and be a failure.  Or you can choose to fight and be an example for others to look up to.



How can you prove yourself?  Internationally recognized qualifications are some of the best ways.  CFA, ACCA (CIMA, CPA or any other accounting qualification), FRM, CMF, Java certified professional, VBA certified master are good qualifications to have.  CFA, ACCA (or CPA) and FRM are a must in the difficult time.  Tomorrow is the last day for early bird registration for FRM.  You should do part 1 and 2 on May 18.  ass CFA level 2 in June, finish 8 papers of ACCA in June, and the rest 6 papers in Dec.  Is it difficult?  Yes.  Is it hard? Absolutely.  Is it for the average person? No.  However, an average person will NOT find a job next year.  Even a good student probably will not find a finance job next year.  You have to be the outstanding, the one with a strong will, doing what others consider impossible, just to survive.



How difficult are these examinations?  You have studied most of the materials during your undergraduate study.  In the last year, a few part time students finished all these examinations.  If a person working 12 hours day, doing our master program  at the same time can do it, you can do it.  For the three examinations, roughly you have 4000 pages of material to revise.  You can read on average 30 pages to 40 pages per hour if you focus.  You have to read the books twice to memorize them well.   In other words, it takes roughly 300 hours of study, together with another 100 hours of test practice.  400 hours of revision is what it takes.  If you study 4 hours a day, it takes 100 days, i.e. about 3 to 4 months.  Even if you are slower, being able to read only 20 pages per hour, you can still do it if you study 6 hours a day for 3 to 4 months.  I believe you had worked a lot harder during your GaoKao time.



Furthermore, make sure you register for IELTS and obtain at least 7.5 in writing and speaking.  This is absolutely crucial for finding a job in Hong Kong.   This is practically the minimum standard for any finance job in Hong Kong.  If you don't get this, you are wasting your time and money.  Ensure that you can understand Cantonese before coming to HK in July as well.  Your success depends entirely on how well you have prepared before July.    



I tried to find a job right after the Asian crisis and the Russian default, with Goldman Sachs firing 2 out of 3 employees on the fixed income trading floor.  My girl friend wanted to stay in London.  London had no other jobs other than finance jobs. It was about surviving and having a wife or nothing. I knew nothing about finance.  I didn't even know what a call option was.  I had two months before the interview season started.  I sat down and read for two months.  On average I read 40 pages per hour, 8 hours a day, finishing a book a day and worked out the exercises.  For the difficult mathematical stochastic calculus textbooks, I was reading roughly 3 to 5 pages per hour.  It took me a week to finish the book Bjork: Arbitrage in Continuous Time, and worked out all the exercises in that book.  I taught myself stochastic calculus, mathematical modeling, corporate finance, fundamental analysis, accounting, risk management, Michael porter competitive analysis, industry analysis, M&A, etc.  I read about 40 books in that two months.  I worked out the exercises of the books I read as well.  I more or less taught myself finance in that two months.  Though I am teaching you finance now, I have never studied finance formally in my life.  It was a sh* life.  I hated it.  But I got a job in the end, despite the horrible job market.  



Those who are determined succeed.  Those who set a limit for himself fail.  It has nothing to do intelligence.  You just have to sit down and do it.



Best regards,

Chak

hangli2

Chak的老风格。。。一如既往的诚恳+成功学

当代《劝学》~

zkylby

感觉这个Chak被论坛众人已然神化了。这样不太好。

号码是空号

感谢分享，对于今年被cuhk msf拒的人来说，能看到chak的经验分享也是颇受鼓舞，心向往之~

iveeeeey

唉，这种成功学，仁者见仁了

liujaney2003

在这个缺鸡血的时候看看这信觉得挺振奋的。

jessnie

对今后几年的job market分析得很到位
现在真不是一般的大牛能找到一份decent的工作了

miss绿光

Chak总是很encouraging的感觉啊。。。

咖啡猫daniel

CFA, ACCA (or CPA) and FRM are a must in the difficult time
make sure you register for IELTS and obtain at least 7.5 in writing and speaking
给跪了

zoewood123

鸡血满屏