CFA Society New York Launches Level II Candidate Mentorship Program with help from CFA Society Orlando
CFA Society New York Young Leaders Group focuses on engaging the millennial segment of its membership – university students, exam candidates, and recent CFA charterholders – and reached out to Steve Curley, CFA, Vice President of the Board, CFA Society Orlando, for some guidance on launching a Level II Mentorship program. Steve had developed a successful program in Orlando in 2016, which had gone from strength-to-strength, and he was more than happy to share best practices and documentation to help CFA Society New York establish a similar initiative. Steve said:
“This is the power of CFA Societies. We shouldn’t reinvent the wheel – we need to learn from one another.”
While the size of their membership is vastly different, CFA Society New York has over 12,000 members and CFA Society Orlando has around 170 members, the two societies share the same end goal: to support CFA Program candidates and increase engagement with the Society via the Mentorship Program.
The Societies’ programs focus on Level II candidates in particular, as it is much tougher than Level I and candidates can be discouraged by this. Mentors can provide support in preparing for the exam, help promote the mentees’ professional development and enhance their leadership skills. Ultimately, this helps to increase the number of individuals completing the CFA Program and joining local CFA Societies.
Maggie Wong, CFA, is vice-chair of the CFA Society New York Young Leaders Group and has been instrumental in the development of its Level II mentorship program, which kicked off in March 2019. Maggie said: “In total, we received 65 applications and admitted 27 mentors and 29 mentees to the program. Both CFA Society New York and the Young Leaders Group worked hard to recruit participants for the program and were delighted with this hugely positive response for the first year of the program. As we decided to make this opportunity a members-only benefit, we managed to convert 12 mentees into dues-paying members.”
CFA Society Orlando has always felt it is important to pair mentors and mentees on their career interests and location, so as to be as synergistic as possible. CFA Society New York Young Leaders Group has also endeavoured to best match mentors and mentees based on areas of interest, work experience, education, and location.
The programs follow a similar structure:
- Kick-off event: Launch the program with an exam strategy preparation and allow mentors and mentees to meet one another and share ideas, as well as network with other program participants.
- Meetings: Paired mentors and mentees meet a number of times (ideally in person) to discuss exam preparation tactics and how to leverage the CFA designation for career development.
- Post-exam event: Congratulate the participants at a closing reception and engage the mentees with the Society – CFA Society Orlando invites the program participants to its Annual Member Social and CFA Society New York will invite the program participants to its Summer Social.
The programs can be run at a low cost and both CFA Societies work with partners to help support and strengthen their programs. Kaplan has supported CFA Society Orlando with exam prep materials and an online review course. CFA Society New York has been able to form a similar partnership upon Steve’s recommendation, with Kaplan providing complimentary mock exams and discounts to review workshops. Steve is proud of the fact that the program only costs CFA Society Orlando the price of a pizza order, which they provide for participants each year!
CFA Society Orlando also hosts a two-day Level II Accounting Workshop, run by John Harris, CFA. Steve noted: “Accounting is typically the most difficult part of the exam so we think this partnership further helps program participants to pass.” In the future, Steve is hoping to add a career-focused strategic partner to help prepare candidate with the next stage. Indeed, both CFA Societies use the mentorship program to provide career counselling and help candidates to think about how to monetise the CFA designation once they have earned it.
The CFA Society New York Young Leaders Group organises a range of programs and events to target millennials, including university networking events, investment panels, social events, and women in finance events, and hopes that its Level II mentorship program will further engage this audience.
As CFA Society Orlando and CFA Society New York continue to develop their programs, they plan to keep in touch and share ways to improve these over time. This partnership will only help to strengthen their efforts.
At the Global SLC, Steve Curley participated in a session “Growing Membership through Candidate Engagement”. A number of other CFA Societies shared their candidate engagement initiatives, including:
- CFA Society Switzerland discussing its pilot program supporting local candidates who need to re-take the CFA exam.
- CFA Society Bahrain discussing its apprenticeship program, Mutamahin.
- CFA Society UK discussing how to facilitate apprenticeships locally.
- CFA Society Los Angeles discussing its Level I candidate program and other support.
For more information, please contact your Society Relations Manager.
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