[a_slew_of_mice]

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I have a few questions guys but I didnt want to start a new thread about it.

1) Do any of you have a background in finance/accounting (undergraduate or graduate degree). If not how difficult was it to go through the level 1 material.

2) Are you already employed in the financial services industry. if not what kind of opportunities are there for someone who has no background degree in finance/accounting but has passed level 1 (or say level 2 also) to get an entry level job.
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background:
I am planning to take Level 1 in June. But to find out if i could handle the material i ordered a pre CFA Level 1 prep book called CFA Fundamentals (by Schweiser). Just finished the Quantitative section of the book have 3/4 to go till end of the book. So far doesnt seem like something that i couldnt handle.

I am just worried about not having any degree in accounting/finance. I come from enggr./comp science background. trying to learn the basics of accounting from online tutorials, time value of money, basic stuff.

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I'm a recent graduate with a BS in Finance. I was a slacker in school and didn't really study to learn/retain anything from the classes I didn't like (Econ, Financial Statement Analysis, Fixed Income) so I've put in a lot of time re-learning those topics again. I would estimate that my undergrad studies covered about 80% of what is on the Level I test. The thing is, the topics tested aren't very complicated. The hard part is remembering the fine details for everything. Even though I was pretty familiar with most everything tested, I've still put a lot of effort into studying in order to retain everything (Do LOTS of practice problems as early and often as possible!!!). I'd liken it to taking a cumulative exam for every undergrad finance class at one time. I'm sure it's a lot easier for most finance majors, but this is the price I paid for being lazy in college.

The short-term job outlook is pretty bleak for the Finance industry. Obviously, passing Level I will help you stand out from most other applicants, but it will only really hold most of its weight in the buy-side of the industry. Also, I've heard that being passing Level II (even I for some cities) is more useful when applying to slightly smaller financial cities. It's unlikely to help you out in NYC - but you might have luck in Los Angeles or San Francisco, or even internationally.