I have alot of respect for those who do CFA as its a hard slog....

I have alot of respect for those who do CFA as its a hard slog. But its not a necessary qual for a markets job. Great for Corporate finance but trading jobs, its not such a risk/reward play. Lots of study for not such a great markets intro. Most of the people on our desks have either your basic finance or econ. degree or a masters of Fin. The only people who have CFAs are the quants or research desk guys.

Most of the new guys we take on the trading desks come from middle office backgrounds as they know the risk points in the books. If you want to get into trading as a paid career, I would avoid CFA.

Please note I am not dissing CFAs, just going on my experience and what I see around me at work. Good luck to you.