If I had my time at uni again, I would do this one thing to give me a way bigger head start with my career.
I would start a professional certification much earlier.
Specifically, the Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) certification.
Now, before you skip ahead, this post isn’t about finance.
It’s about momentum.
Let me explain.
When you graduate, most of your peers will be doing the same thing at the same time.
Same degree.
Same entry-level job hunt.
Same hustle to try to break through.
But what if you didn’t start from the same position?
What if you’d already knocked off two levels of a globally respected certification before you even sat your first graduate interview?
That’s what the CFA lets you do.
If you time it right, you can complete Levels I and II BEFORE you graduate.
You can then hit the ground running with an edge over everyone else, and knock off the final exam once you start work.
This isn’t just true for finance.
Each industry has its version of the CFA:
But what links them all, is that certifications are hard to do once you’re working full time.
They’re much easier to do while you’re studying.
So if you’re still at uni, ask yourself this:
What credential or qualification could I chip away at now that would make future me impossible to ignore from employers?
You might be competing against hundreds of other grads.
But if you show up as the one who’s nearly through a difficult and desirable certification?
You put yourself in a different league.
And if you’re already into your career and wondering whether it’s too late to get certified, it’s not.
I didn’t get my CFA certification until several years into my profession, and it continues to serve me really well.
I just wish I had gotten it much sooner.