Hi Tina,

I think that you are leagues ahead of most candidates for a research analyst position. Your skill set is exactly for what investment companies (called mutual funds here in the US) are looking to hire. For example, at the Davis Selected Advisers, my employer, we had several people on staff with almost exactly your career trajectory. We preferred folks that came from industry. Your skill set is the rarefied one, whereas the financial background is pretty vanilla.

My advice to you would be to contact a recruiter/"head hunter" and discuss your desires with that person. Relative to most candidates looking for work in the investment management business, I am guessing it would be fairly easy for you to land work (i.e. 6-12 months of looking). But of course the market for labor and your performance in interviews determines your actual success. To demonstrate to a prospective employer your financial (as well as hydrologist) skill set, I would craft a research report per the advice I have stated above. In your case, a report highlighting the why and how of your statement, "I have been shocked and surprised to see that on the whole, the investors who undertake the due diligence research interviews at mine sites, really don’t understand the nature of the business, they don’t ask the important questions, questions which I would expect them to ask." would be enormously instructive. This is especially true in Australia where mining is such an important part of the economy. I am guessing that your skill set would be valued in Canada, too (also part of the Commonwealth).

As for applying for the CFA charter. It is open to people of any university background. In other words, you may complete your charter without a finance degree. However, to be awarded the charter you need to have the requisite number of years of experience working in finance. However, we have thousands of charterholders that work in corporate finance roles, usually in capital budgeting or in pension fund management. The CFA charter would absolutely give you the necessary financial chops to take on the world and would serve as a near perfect complement to your hydrology/mining background.

I hope that helps!

Jason