The CFA Designation: Overview and How to Become One

Are you considering accountancy as a career option? There are multiple pathways to becoming a finance professional. If investments and investment strategy interest you, consider becoming a Chartered Financial Analyst.

A Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) is an investment professional who has successfully completed the Chartered Financial Analyst certification program overseen, operated, and administered by the CFA Institute. This means a Chartered Financial Analyst:

• sat for and passed all three CFA exams;
• has relevant professional work experience, and
• is a regular member of the CFA Institute.

Obtain the CFA qualification if you want a wide array of career options, generous pay, and global opportunities.

Earning the CFA designation takes three to four years, including the time it will take you to study for each of the three CFA exam levels. While reviewing for the CFA exams, you must also work on putting in the requisite 4,000 hours of relevant on-the-job experience, which you must accrue in at least three years (36 months).

Follow these steps to earn the CFA designation.

1. Meet the eligibility requirements and register for the program.

You must have an international travel passport and reside in a participating country. You can check the CFA Institute website to see where it cannot or will not operate. You must also be proficient in English, as the CFA exams will be administered only in English.

Furthermore, you must have a bachelor’s degree or at least be within 23 months of graduating from a bachelor’s degree program before you can sit for the Level 1 exam. Meanwhile, you must be within 11 months of graduating to sit for the Level II exam.

If you are neither a bachelor’s degree holder nor a college undergraduate student within 23 months of graduation, you can still get admitted to the program if you have a combined 4,000 hours of higher education and paid work experience; the work may or may not be investment-related.

2. Sit for and pass the CFA exams and associated practical skills module.

Once you have been accepted into the CFA program, start studying to become a Chartered Financial Analyst. You must pass three CFA exams.

Level I: This is a multiple-choice exam. It will test your familiarity with the terms, concepts and formulas you’ll need as an investment professional.

Level II: You can take the Level II exam only after passing the Level I exam. This will ask you multiple-choice questions based on situational vignettes to test your analysis skills.

Level III: You can take the Level III exam after passing the Level II exam. It is a mix of item-set and constructed-response questions, and it will test your ability to integrate all that you’ve learned and apply them to real-world scenarios.

At every level, you must also complete at least one practical skills module (PSM) before you can obtain your exam results. Practical skills modules are designed to help you develop specific skills. You may start taking any of the available module topics after registration. Every PSM is a combination of video lessons, multiple-choice questions, case studies, and guided practice and will take you 10-15 hours to complete.

Note: Registering for an exam requires two steps. First, register for the exam you’re taking (Level I, II, III). Next, choose your preferred exam schedule.

3. Satisfy the professional work experience requirement.

While preparing for your CFA exams, take the work experience self-assessment to log your professional work experience. To become a CFA, you must have 4,000 hours of relevant professional experience accumulated in a minimum of 36 months. Log all hours spent on work that is directly related to, adds value to, or informs the investment decision-making process.

Any work done before, during, and after CFA Program entry may be eligible. Part-time, full-time, and remote work can all qualify as long as it is relevant to the work of a CFA. Every work entry must be descriptive and indicate the type of work done and how it impacted investment decision-making.

4. Submit reference letters from professional references.

If one of your references is an active regular member of the local CFA society you will elect to review your application, you’ll need two professional references. Otherwise, you’ll need to submit letters from three professional references.

The best references are work supervisors. However, anyone who may attest to your work responsibilities and their impact on the investment decision-making process may serve as your reference.

5. Apply for regular membership to CFA Institute.

To become a full-fledged CFA, you must apply for regular membership with the CFA Institute. At this time, you will apply with a local CFA society; there are 160 local societies worldwide. That local society will be the one to review your application.

CFA Institute regular membership application and approval are necessary to earn the CFA designation. In other words, you can only become a CFA charter holder once you have become a regular member of the CFA Institute.

If your membership application is approved, you may join the local society you nominated in your regular membership application. Local society membership is optional.

Become a CFA

A CFA is an investment professional, and earning the CFA designation is a good option if you want to become an equity analyst, work as an investment banker, or hold a similar investment-related post. To become one, register for the program, enroll in CFA courses to prepare for the exams, take and pass the exams, earn the required work experience, and become a member of the CFA Institute.

Of course, the CFA is not the only path to a career in finance. If you’d rather focus on accountancy, taxation, business reporting, and financial management, consider earning the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA) designation. Enroll in an ACCA course instead.