will MBA help me better than CFA in this goal?

Question

i study accounting and finance in greece (aueb) focusing in accounting ( i still take 5-6 finance classes though)
The career i am aiming for

3-4 years auditing in big 4=> banking
or just start in banking
generally i wanna go into banking at some point and i wonder

will MBA serve me well? or CFA will help more?
also my university offers 3 mbas, the international (which i propably wont attend, cause its more expensive and it is on english language) is accredited by AMBA, but the executive isnt, does that mean that in case i travel to europe, it wont have much credit?

i am good at maths (calculus 1, statistics 1, linear alg 1, regression not so good)

so in that case, for banking, cfa or mba

galan · Answer

I don't know much about Greece but at least in the US CFA is basically useless for investment banking. CFA is valued in asset management, biggest space for it is buy side mutual funds.

vasilist · Answer

mostly i care for an entry job in bank as a financial analyst, then i am willing to go further education
i just dont wanna lose time/money for something that wont help me break into it

CriticalSquare · Answer

Hi there,

If you're looking to get into a financial analyst position, you have to go the MBA route. The firms you're looking to target focus on MBA grads to fill the ranks of their classes. A CFA simply isn't the same structure and the recruitment is what you need.

So, short answer, MBA.

Bhavik

vasilist · Answer

thanks for the answer
what if i cant hit a nice mba? 
should i choose a lower lvl mba? go for ms in finance? or an mpa maybe?

generally, should i do an MBA even if i dont know about quality?

MBAPrepAdvantage · Answer

I would still suggest an MBA as financial analyst jobs are not the most competitive positions (compared to private equity, investment banking, sales and trading, etc.) and an MBA will give you the most flexibility as your career progresses.

An MPA is a Masters in Public Administration degree which would take your career in an entirely different direction involving the public sector.

Best of luck,

CriticalSquare · Answer

Hey there,

Sorry for the delayed response - still stick with the MBA. I think, when you refer to an MPA, you're referring to a Masters in Public Accounting? Not Public Admin right?

See, with either of those two degrees, you end up becoming more and more specialized in something. What an MBA gives you is the broad based degree to support your work in Finance. The other two degrees will teach you how to do certain things very well while an MBA will allow you to specialize while also giving you a foundation in everything else too, which can be key.

I hope that helps! If you'd like to chat in more detail, don't hesitate to reach out and set up a chat with me (click  here ).

Bhavik

vasilist · Answer

i was refering to public administration
i heard they share pretty much the same core courses 
so my point is
"if my mba isnt known well wide, and it is limited on the spot, i can get the mpa, hoping to give me the edge to start with and if it doesnt work as i wanted i could jump to public sector consulting"
what i say
a good mba obviously will do the job
but if i cant afford any good mba?
what do i do then?
mpa? cfa? master in fin? or still do the mba even if not top one

CriticalSquare · Answer

Ahh - my apologies then! Public Administration, as Michael mentioned, really takes you off in a completely different direction.

The simple answer is yes, an MBA is still a better choice. Even if it isn't a top 10 one. You want options here. An MBA gives you options.

Bhavik

vasilist · Answer

ok, thanks

will MBA help me better than CFA in this goal?

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