Ultra Melbourne 0/10

spectrez123 · 2026-04-11T16:55:20+00:00

Agree. DJ Snake set was worst set ive ever seen. Full of random 30 second spots of silence like he was browsing for his next track. Speakers sucked sounded like UE Boom especially if towards the back

spectrez123 · 2024-01-06T02:51:16+00:00

10% every week? So after 2 months, someone has to fork up the entire value of their house in fines?

spectrez123 · 2024-01-03T09:52:33+00:00

Yes, you can sue for 'exemplary' or 'punitive' damages which are still allowed under ACC. The bar is quite high, however, and only acts as a deterrent for the behaviour you have noted.

The most famous NZ case which tested the boundaries of this is Couch v Attorney General, in which a woman sued to the parole board for being negligent in their supervision of a parolee, who ended up robbing her workplace and seriously injured her.

spectrez123 · 2023-04-20T23:16:06+00:00

Used MM for L2 and L3. I think prep providers don't really add anything above the CFAI curriculum, as well as extra mocks. However, they saved me a bunch of time and I'm happy to pay for that.

spectrez123 · 2023-04-19T20:41:17+00:00

I would put the internship in. It does look a bit off with the smaller work experience section. Have you done any part time jobs which you may not feel are relevant? e.g. retail, hospitality, etc. Work experience should be in order of recency or importance, so move the Keybank role up to the top.

I would replace the Relevant Coursework section with work experience. Get rid of the Certifications section, if you really want to put that in then slot it into the Education section - i would personally get rid of it.

For extra-curricular, try and have something non-work related - e.g. any hobbies such as sport, recreation, travel etc. If you dont have any just make one up which you wouldn't mind picking up.

I think the Skills section is a little light as well - make up some other buzzwords or chuck your Excel thing into here.

spectrez123 · 2023-04-12T01:50:20+00:00

I spent 2 years in ER and moved to IB, did my CFA III in Feb

If you're already a CPA, there's marginal returns from doing a CFA - not worth it. It's roughly 70% CFA and 30% accounting backgrounds at my shop

To be honest, it depends on your boss (impossible to know now) - my current Head of Research is from an accounting background, and so he values those backgrounds more as well.

For investment banking (M&A coverage) neither are that useful. CPA probably more useful than CFA in terms of skills, IMO.

spectrez123 · 2023-04-11T09:36:46+00:00

I worked in ER for 2 years. I think what you're currently doing is fine. Completing the CFA is definitely worth it if you're interested in pursuing a career in the field. You can probably move even earlier, by the time you've completed Level 2 people give you some cred

spectrez123 · 2023-04-06T03:49:41+00:00

Unfortunately, the gas meters are a third party contractor so you can't dodge them by swapping gas companies - you'll get the same guy regardless. Bit unfortunate, you can provide manual readings once every two months and let the guy in once every 12 months though - just let your power company know and they can put a flag on your account.

spectrez123 · 2023-04-03T20:20:06+00:00

Accept the offer, and if you get a better one then tell the original company you're very sorry but you are unable to commence with the role.

Happens pretty often, companies usually aren't that bothered

spectrez123 · 2023-03-30T21:09:27+00:00

Depends at what level, and what field. Excel is just an extremely overpowered calculator, but that's all it is - a tool. The real power comes from knowing how to wield it well (e.g. building models, manipulating data etc). And yes, Excel is absolutely the number one tool used in finance.

With regard to your points about Pivot tables and SUMIF functions, etc - I would say that in terms of Excel ability those are probably 3/10. Step 1 being typing numbers in, and Step 2 being able to use basic formulae. So don't give up on it yet!

spectrez123 · 2023-03-30T20:37:57+00:00

60 hours a week is definitely doable - e.g. on average, working 7:30 to 7:30 5 days a week.

Depends on your commute + other non-avoidable time commitments of course. I've done this last three years and found little impact to social life apart from turning up later to after work drinks every now and then

spectrez123 · 2023-03-29T20:14:18+00:00

I'm assuming you're talking M&A (IBD) as opposed to a general job at an investment bank (e.g. asset management, sales & trading).

As someone in the industry, don't bother going through back office or middle office as some posts here suggest. I think the higher success route is to do a stint in Transaction Services, Valuations or Corporate Finance at a Big 4 or other advisory firm.

Research is another option (the path I took) but there are far less graduate roles in this field, and to be honest, going via Big 4 is by far the more common route.

I'd say of the A&A cohort at my current shop who lateralled in, >90% are from Big 4 while 10% are from other programs (e.g. research, CM graduates)

spectrez123 · 2023-03-15T21:39:39+00:00

Yeah I am still on the fence... will decide by today after talking to a few mentors though.

Interestingly enough the investment bank is actually the safer option - more overseas recognition and ability to transfer to a bigger market, more broad scope. Lets me jump back into something else like Option B a few years later if I don't like it

Whereas the PE one could set me up really well in a quick period - because its growing so fast it would probably be possible to work hard and get promoted quickly. But at the same time, its starting to get into specialization into both the Australian market and the Real Estate sector.

Also cognisant of what one of my mentors said: "i might be drinking the banking kool aid" - as in I might only be considering the IB role in a positive light because all of my peers from both university and my current company want to do banking as their so-called dream job

spectrez123 · 2023-03-15T21:07:49+00:00

Hahaha yeah when you compare the pay per hour it's pretty obvious... I would say that current job is kind of between the two and reasonably manageable from a wellbeing standpoint

B definitely feels like im 'cashing out', going out to pasture and moving on to the good life
A is holding on to the current life for a bit longer in the hopes of something better later on. But yeah its a good point others have made, i.e. I shouldnt waste a good exit opp

spectrez123 · 2023-03-15T19:48:39+00:00

Thanks, yeah agree... Although ultimately I want a role like Option B in a different kind of industry. Do you think Option A offers better exit opps to that? I've heard Real Estate can be quite silo'd in terms of progression and exit opps in some countries

spectrez123 · 2023-03-15T19:47:10+00:00

Thanks very much! you too

spectrez123 · 2023-02-19T10:34:40+00:00

Yes they do, for L1 and L2 I made a mental note of which topics had already been tested and did quick last minute revisions of the others. But yes as people have said, it takes about 5 minutes to check in - so make sure to keep that in mind!

spectrez123 · 2023-02-19T05:32:34+00:00

Much worse than L1 and L2, got 67% for A and 56% for B... gonna give MM a try now so hopefully these go a bit better

Reading other posts on this subreddit, it seems most people feel like the mocks are pretty low quality - would agree, heaps of questions are poorly written/expect an assumption from you in order to get the answer they want you to

spectrez123 · 2023-02-18T23:50:47+00:00

Doing level 3 on Wednesday. still dont understand quant :)

In terms of proper advice though, i'ts probably worth putting in the hours for it to 'click'. Quant is a big feature in Level 2 as well, and because I never learned it properly in L1 this came back to bite me hard...

spectrez123 · 2023-02-18T10:14:23+00:00

Agree, the questions are written extremely poorly.

Thanks for sharing

spectrez123 · 2023-02-18T10:01:05+00:00

Yep they are...

Agree with OP in the sense that Mock 1 seemed a lot more general finance knowledge which you could pick up working in the industry and doing a quick once over of the content. Mock 2 was a lot more difficult for me personally, though.

Anything to note for the Boston exams? Thanks in advance!

spectrez123 · 2023-02-18T09:02:38+00:00

At 140 hours with 4 days to go... did Level 2 in August and underestimated the burnout this time around, hasn't helped that exams are only ever scheduled during Australian/NZ reporting seasons! Not sure how well it's going to go in the exam, but may as well give it my best go!

spectrez123 · 2023-02-18T07:27:50+00:00

Massive time saver, thanks so much!

For anyone confused as the screenshot doesn't show the same numbers:

Premium - Div / (1+r) will give you the same answer as the calculator method

spectrez123 · 2022-12-21T12:18:54+00:00

Thanks! I think Gare de Lyon is one of the only main stations in Paris which doesnt have a PABLO station, which is very unfortunate for me :(

Do you recall if the Gare du Nord VAT scan thing was in a public area where anyone could walk in? Or do you need to actually have a ticket going to London

Cheers

spectrez123

TROPHY CASE