Online/self-study qualifications worth obtaining

[merkur]

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[intent]

Cannot tell if serious.

 

[imschatz]

CFA is self study (need a bachelors degree though) - high value in Canada, heard mixed opinions in the US.

 

[imageWIS]

Adding to the OP's line of questioning: Google certifications, worth it?

 

[ginlimetonic]

Originally Posted by imschatz

CFA is self study (need a bachelors degree though) - high value in Canada, heard mixed opinions in the US.

if you don't have 4 yrs U.S. Bachelors or equivalent, you can still enrol in the CFA program if you have a few years of work exp.

 

[Carlisle Blues]

Depends if it is specific for a job such as : casualty lines insurance examiner, then yes. In this case the study and the test are sanctioned by the State in which the license is administered. If the online study is in lieu of actual in class study for a four year program or masters level program I think not.

There are more than 400 diploma mills and 300 counterfeit diploma Web sites, and business is thriving amid a lackluster economy — doubling in the past five years to more than $500 million annually, according to estimates kept by John Bear, author of Bears' Guide to Earning Degrees By Distance Learning. He studies degree mills and gives tips to the FBI and other federal agencies on detecting degree fraud. "(Diploma mills) used to be mom-and-pop outfits. It's now a professional criminal operation," says Allen Ezell, a retired FBI agent who investigated diploma mills in the 1980s. "It's gone high-tech and global in nature. That's something we've never had to deal with before.

http://www.usatoday.com/money/workpl...edegrees_x.htm

 

[East2West]

You can purchase a Ph.D online for a few hundred. They even come with transcripts

 

[Canadian]

I'm taking a course of studies through a seminary. I have the option at any time of physically traveling to the seminary to finish the degree, or I can do most of the work by correspondence.

It's not an MBA or CA designation (I'm working on an MTS) and at best, I'll end up doing the lecture circuit or living under a tree preaching and living off mangoes in the underdeveloped world, but I find the courses to be extremely valuable in other fields.

For example, I had no idea half the adult population of Swaziland was HIV positive. I had no idea where Swaziland was, but now I am in a far better negotiating position when I deal with people who are Afrikaner and appreciate that I understand some of their history and also why they left South Africa for Canada. As a native born Canadian, I sometimes forget that not everybody has it as good as we do, and that not every product should be sold to the target market where it will profit most, if there are deliberate and definite human costs.

Thomas

 

[intent]

Originally Posted by imschatz

CFA is self study (need a bachelors degree though) - high value in Canada, heard mixed opinions in the US.
I just Googled CFAs. WTF makes them so valuable with such high salaries?

 

[GQgeek]

Are you actually in IT? Or are you just bumming around looking to do "something?"

 

[imschatz]

Originally Posted by intent

I just Googled CFAs. WTF makes them so valuable with such high salaries?
Somewhat challenging cirriculum, covering a lot of the fundamentals to function as a financial/risk/business analyst.

And a 30% pass rate on the first two exams, makes it much more selective then an MBA from some 3rd rate school.

 

[merkur]

..

 

[ginlimetonic]

CFA wont' get you a job. It'll add value if you're working in the industry.

Why don't you try to get a job first, or move to your desired field.