narshad - Firstly, welcome to GS! – hope you’re going to be with us as a regular member.
Pertaining to your query, ultimately it’s going to be your decision and you’re probably going to get a variety of opinions here as well as your own social circle.
Looking at your list of options, unfortunately I have to say that I’m vehemently against your first option… not because it’s a bad option but because in the current economic context and job market conditions, it is going to be extremely difficult for you to gain entry into computer networking. I know of many well qualified individuals who have years of related experience who are worried about their jobs, and many companies have hiring freezes in the IT department. That being said, if you do wish to explore the computer networking career area, I would advise an alternative route of proceeding with Cisco certification tracks as opposed to going with a college diploma. Not only is it a faster track, it will also lead to an industry endorsed qualification that is extremely well regarded if you proceed to the CCNP level or beyond. Also, after completing the first level (CCNA), you’ll get a better sense of what to expect in the field, and in case you feel this isn’t the field for you, you can always stop at that point. So you won’t be investing time and money unnecessarily in an area which you know little about. Seeing as how you’re in Toronto, I’d suggest contact WinNET Systems – they’re the leaders in Cisco certification. You can consult with someone there in more detail before deciding what you want to do.
Option 2 sounds somewhat appealing, but might I ask what your objectives are with a CFA? Again, it’s a very intensive program and is not to be taken lightly. The failure rate in CFA exams is pretty high and based on my recent conversations with various people in the financial sector, there are alternatives that they are starting to recommend over the traditional CFA route. My own brother has opted to diverge from the CFA route, and he’s now pursuing an MBA along with the CMA option. He also has a background in Economics.
Somewhat related to option 2, I’m not sure if you’ve considered the various career certifications offered by the Canadian Securities Institute, including iBanking, Portfolio Management, Risk Assessment etc. – I’m not sure of the current market, but a couple of years ago, there was a recognized demand for professionals in these areas. Again, opting for any of the CSI tracks won’t be as demanding an investment of your resources that you can’t pursue this along with your regular job.
For option 3, my comments are similar to option 1 in that it will be somewhat difficult to get a break in the banking sector fresh out of grad school. Remember that in Canada, people often pursue a graduate degree after several years of work experience, so you’ll probably be competing with other candidates who have Canadian work experience as well as an undergrad and grad degree in their fields.
I hope I’m not too discouraging in my remarks above – again these are just my comments based on what I observe as a business school professor and my interactions with people from the industry.
One last thing which I wanted to ask was whether in your years of experience in the A/P field, have you worked with ERP systems at all? If not, then looking into SAP qualifications related to FI/CO will be something to consider. I see great synergies between this area and your current work experience. Also, there’s still great demand for SAP professionals in this area.
Hope this long post helps you in some way – Best of Luck with everything!