₦airaland Forum

What do the techies think of this one last big push by google?  Will it be successful or are peoples social currency already over invested in facebook to consider switching to another platform.

Arrington has been sniffing too much sugar and hyping the apparent social media landscape war between facebook and google. Here are his latest pieces:

http://techcrunch.com/2010/08/04/war-patten-rommel-vic-gundotra-google-facebook/

http://techcrunch.com/2010/08/02/facebook-boasting-they-have-googles-social-strategy-product-documents/

Thanks Dr. T.

Fancy answering some of my questions?

If you read through http://pages.stern.nyu.edu/~adamodar/ you should get a good grip of modelling and valuations.Apparently he's a wizard who lectures wall street new recruits and he's also a proffessor at NYU Stern.

Modelling varies from firm to firm but this at least allows you get a grip of what it's about. Also good command of excel is very important.

lawuyi:
hey y'all, sorry i just went silent for a while there, my access to the net has been sporadic this week.
Wanted to attach the pdfs for valuation and modeling just now and just noticed that the attachment limit here on NL is 200Kb which is absolutely nothing cos these files are 8MB n 6MB respectively, so sorry but looks like i can't do it

You could use a file sharing site like http://sendspace.com it's free and completely legal. I'm sure there are lots who would benefit from the information. Thanks

Thanks Bro,_{(I see someone's a fan of Gecko)}

I really like the idea of leaving a day in between reading and answering questions.

I'll try and get the CFAI ebook asap (if anyone can help, that'll be great) and start doing the EOC questions. I plan on doing about 250 hours for just reading and another 100 for revision and practice.

We'll see sha, it's a bit tougher to get a 19 year old to buy into the whole future thing. Our yarns no even they reach those zones, she already thinks I work way too hard.  Anyhow, she has no choice but to put up with it.

This is going to be long but please do read

Hailing all those that passed their exams, to others, there's no shame in trying. Get ready to fire again.

Currently studying for the exams and depending on how far I get by mid September will register for L1 December or June.

Since I haven't registered yet, I don't have the CFAI books and I'm just reading schweser. 

Couple of questions for my ogas  in the house:

1. My current study plan involves reading 4 hours a day and a minimum of 5 days a week and a by product of that is finishing on average 1.3 study sessions every week. I'm rounding up on quants today and already half way through econ.

If I stick to this plan and register for December, is Mid October good enough to finish 1st reading? 

My plan was to use the rest of October to review my personal notes and end of chapter summaries of both Schweser and CFAI book. Use November to practice some 200 questions per study session, take the mock test and schwesers last 2 practice exams.

2. After each reading, I do the shweser concept checkers questions. I know they're not a good indication of the exam difficulty but how much confidence should I take away from them?

3. I learnt Scweser doesn't cover some topics well like ethics and it's best to just use the CFAI book. From your experience which other topics fall under this?

4. I find myself always wanting to go back to the  previous weeks topic to memorise one formula, one statement etc I feel this wastes a lot of time, should I just make sure I understand the concept and applicability without worrying too much about memorising formulas now as I'll probably be rote learning in November anyway.

5. I've heard a lot of L2 candidates bang on about the CFAI EOC questions being good exam difficulty level indicators. How important is it to start doing those now or can I wait till after 1st reading? 

6. Can anyone with an e-copy of the current/past CFAI book please send it to alexdnairaland[at]gmail.com (Can't remember the password to the yahoo one , God help me with the CFA formulas ). Thanks

7. How do you maintain a social life while studying for the CFA, babes are starting to complain. Restaurant and cuddling time have been virtually reduced to zero and I've only just started.

Thanks for reading my epistle, hoping to hear from you soon.

The belief that just having a foreign degree automatically puts you on a pedestal is laughable and at best naive.  

Don’t get me wrong, a foreign degree has its advantages; like being able to compete internationally right off the bat, you’ve got a better chance of working for McKinsey or Bain straight out of university than a Nigerian counterpart who will most likely need years of excellent work performance to do that. You also get more opportunities than in Nigeria to develop soft skills through numerous projects and extra-curricular activities which to my friends in Nigerian Universities only mean taking ICAN lessons and partying. A foreign degree also gives you credibility when you want to strike out on your own especially if you went to a top school and got top grades.

A foreign degree isn’t an end in itself, it’s the leverage and opportunities it provides to build your skill set that makes it valuable. Spending £20,000 a year just so you can get a foreign degree is so not worth it, a strategy has to accompany it. I’ll rather employ someone from OAU or Nsukka than a graduate from a D-level UK  university with no experience.

My personal opinion is with a foreign degree, work abroad for a few years, get a strong track record, get professional qualifications which you can do while working and then think of jumping into mid- positions in Nigeria with a fast-track to C-level exec.

sharp man:
Meanwhile. . . . .

In terms of a foreign degree. . . . . . .u can't go wrong with an Havard MBA . . . . . . . and money should not be a consideration before you apply.

I’ve got a rule of thumb that you should only take 2 years out to do an MBA if
i) you've plateaued at your current job and want a fresh challenge
ii) that’s the only thing stopping you from being considered for a management position
iii) you are guaranteed a job after. No use having CFA, MBA, ACA and still be stuck in back office.

For high flyers, taking two years out to study what you can learn on the job or for the network is not worth it, it could mean up to $500,000 in forgone earnings. Instead of a Harvard MBA, I’d prefer to get the company pay for one of Harvard’s comprehensive leadership programmes, that way you get the Harvard prestige, the teachings, don’t take years off work and get an even stronger network as everyone in the programme is already a high achiever and executive bound in large organisations.

Bagged a national award  and was announced an organisation I just transferred day to day management of has been shortlisted for another award, so today has been b-e-a-u-tiful. Now the pressure sets in, you can't flaunt awards from a previous job and not perform in new role. God help me. 

@Tmoni: At the risk of over generalising, in Nigeria we don't value human life. Lots of deaths that could have been easily prevented.

Accessibility is a different kettle all together, non-existent.

Thanks Tolu just received it.

Tolulop001:
guy, are u doin level half?
but really what are u doin with level one and two, its charity we do here o, not reuse

Haha you got jokes. I know it's charity and it's purely for personal use. Writing level 1 in Dec or June depending on how my time commitment plays out but figured I might as well get all the materials I can lay my hands on. Any help is appreciated. Thanks

@ C_Jay, Tolu, Ac, Deeptouch

Would appreciate any level 1 or 2 materials you have.

Cheers.

Exams and new role have kept me busy, glad that's out of the way.

yodiyokun:
@Alex_D

I think a Law degree is okay if thats what you want, but remember that there are differences between the British Legal System and Nigeria's Legal System. That something you need to research.

True but most students with a British law degree fix that by attending Nigerian law school.

However, I do know a lot professionals in Business add an LLB to their qualifications because understanding the law helps in the business world.

That was the original thinking, the understanding of law and broadening of my core skills are more important than the qualification in itself.

I'm not sure how an Msc in Economics will enhance you except you want to work in policy development, central bank, world bank or become a professor. Their is another economist on this forum, he may have more insight.

Also subscribe to this opinion, will be good to hear an alternative perspective though.

Never do a master degree for the sake of it!, Work experience trumps Msc anyday for a fresh graduate.

True. I do feel I have an extensive amount of work experience especially for someone my age which is why I didn't factor it into the decision making process.

I'm most likely going to jettison the idea of spending two years studying for a BA in favour of a law conversion diploma like GDL/CPE which is just a year, less risky, way cheaper and gets you to the same point. Talking to some of the Magic Circle lawyers I know, outside of studying in oxford or Cambridge they don't really differentiate between an LL.B, BA or Graduate Diploma.

@Topic

Interesting couple of weeks, recently got appointed as a trustee and executive of a charity and director of its commercial arms. The charity turns over £8m a year with annual surpluses of about 600k.

Balancing the responsibility of being the charity trustee with my fiduciary duties as a director of the commercial arm is quite tricky as often aims are conflicting. Being a charity, the default position is to provide a service for associates at a very cheap rate but fiduciary duties of maximising the profit of the commercial arm conflicts with that more so when the discount can't be justified as a sales boosting/profits increasing move.

--------

Had a number of trustee/board meetings already, so hard to convince people to change the way they operate especially when you are the youngest and some of them have been running it before you were born. Anyways still feel privileged to be in the position I'm in at this time in my life, steering an organisation larger than most people work in their lifetime.

Might have to revise the tactics, make friends and suggest changes bit by bits but things do need to be different, the organisation has lost focus for years. Anyone else experienced problems trying to change an organisation? Was it worth the hastle?

Alex_D signing in.

Paying due respect to all the fathers in the house.

A student, aspiring entrepreneur (currently run a textile/logistics outfit - production in far east, sales in UK), dabbles into politics here and there and great believer in individual capitalism. Hopefully I'll post about new business ideas, my journey taking them to market and ultimately transferring (lose excitement quickly), and my journey discovering what I really want to do in life.

Got a bit of a dilemma and would appreciate the advice of those in the house,

I am currently doing a double major in Economics and Finance at a UK university and barring any major catastrophe will finish with a 1st class. I intend on coming back to Nigeria to work but everyone keeps going on about the importance of getting a Masters.

I personally believe doing an Msc  just for the sake of it doesn’t give you that much of an advantage for entry level positions and wouldn’t have bothered except my sponsor is willing to pay for a year of further studies, an opportunity I don’t want to miss and considering I graduate before my 20th birthday, I can afford a year or two of further studies and still be younger than most people entering the job market.

Now, I’ve looked at a few Economics and Finance Masters programmes at top universities and none is getting me really excited. What I do find really exciting though is the chance to study law and I can come out with an LLB or BA Law with senior status (Both qualifying degrees) after two years. I wouldn’t be studying the law degree necessarily to practice but I love the course and the challenge it throws at you (love challenges). My take is if I’m going to spend time doing a second degree anyway I might as well do it in something that tests me, gets me excited and vastly improves my knowledge base.

The law degree will cost more and is a year longer than the standard Msc. I will have to finance the second year of the law degree myself which isn’t a problem as I run/ran a number of small businesses and should be able to afford it.

From a personal point of view, the Law degree adds more to me but my question is

1) How much more would a top employer in Nigeria value the diversity of adding a Law degree to an Economics and Finance one as opposed to an Msc in Economics? or would they see it as just another degree piler 2) Is the premium (if any) big enough to justify committing an extra year of rigorous study and tens of thousands of pounds? and 3) Do companies operate fast track programmes

Decided to post this here as opposed to the education sector as I would really appreciate some advice from an employer’s point of view.

I am currently doing a double major in Economics and Finance at a UK university and barring any major catastrophe will finish with a 1st class. I intend on coming back to Nigeria to work but everyone keeps going on about the importance of getting a Masters.

I personally think an Msc doesn’t give you that much of an advantage for entry level positions and wouldn’t have bothered doing it except my sponsor is willing to pay for a year of further studies, an opportunity I don’t want to miss and considering I graduate before my 20th birthday, I can afford a year or two of further studies and still be younger than most people entering the job market.

Now, I’ve looked at a few Economics and Finance Masters programmes at top universities and none is getting me really excited. What I do find really exciting though is the chance to study law and I can come out with an LLB or BA Law with senior status (Both qualifying degrees) after two years. I wouldn’t be studying the law degree not necessarily to practice but I love the course and the challenge it throws at you. My take is if I’m going to spend sometime doing a second degree anyway I might as well do it in something that tests me, gets me excited and vastly improves my knowledge base.

The law degree will cost more and is a year longer than the standard Msc. I will have to finance the second year of the law degree myself which isn’t a problem as I currently run a number of small businesses and should be able to afford it.

From a personal point of view, the Law degree adds more to me but my question is

1) How much more would a top employer in Nigeria value the diversity of adding a Law degree to an Economics and Finance one as opposed to an Msc in Economics? 2) Is the premium big enough to justify committing an extra year of rigorous study and tens of thousands of pounds?


Thanks