Are Quantic’s MBA and EMBA Worth it?

Posted on December 1, 2021 by TheFinanceNerd

For those of you who are reading this post, chances are that you might have come across Quantic’s MBA programmes and that you are looking for what people are saying about it before you further consider it an option for boosting your career. This degree has been on my radar for over a year and despite still having some doubts, I recently decided to take a gamble and enrol onto their EMBA programme. I did a fair bit of research and I must say that the information that is available online is still limited and the quality of the reviews are poor. Most of the reviews that I came across were too one-sided; on one side people claiming that this is another degree mill, on the other side people advocating that the Quantic MBA was one of the best career decisions that they had ever made. In the following months, as I start my studies with this institution I am hoping to add my take on this programme.

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Taking the Tableau Desktop Specialist Exam

Posted on October 4, 2021 by TheFinanceNerd

Over the years, Tableau has become a very popular BI tool for companies. The software allows users to easily connect to a number of data sources and create a wide range of visualisations; it is very intuitive to use but also comes with a lot of features which allows users to create very cool looking dashboards.

Candidates can also get certified so they can show employers and clients that they have attained a certain level of mastery in using this product. In this post I will be writing about the Tableau Desktop Specialist exam which is the foundational exam. Details regarding this certification can be found here. The exam is aimed at candidates with at least 3 months of experience in using Tableau and it costs $100 to take which is relatively low. The certification also has no expiry (compared to the other Tableau exams). Taking into account the cost and preparation time, I think this certificate is a good investment and could be an added bonus to a candidate’s CV as more and more companies are starting to implement Tableau.

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Exam Preparation Tips

Posted on July 4, 2021 by TheFinanceNerd

Dear Reader, if you are reading these words, chances are that you have an important exam coming up and that you are looking for some helpful content online. Or maybe you are just looking for a good excuse to put off your revision. If you have been kind enough to read other posts on this blog, you might have seen that I have sat a number of finance exams so I hope that you can let me get away with me referring to myself as a self proclaimed test taker. The whole point of this brief post is sharing what I’ve learned through years of test taking, hoping to make these 5-10 minutes worthwhile for you.

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What I blog about when blogging about blogging

Posted on June 19, 2021 by TheFinanceNerd

Last month was TheFinanceNerd’s three year anniversary. The blog originally started as a way for me to share my thoughts and experiences about financial qualifications in the hope of providing useful information to people thinking of levelling up their skills. However, over the months, this theme evolved to include broader topics such as personal development and education. This post is a summary of this blog’s journey and outlines some of the key lessons that I’ve learned over the years.

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I tried Time-Boxing for 8 months, here’s what happened

Posted on March 1, 2021 by TheFinanceNerd

Time-boxing has been one of those buzzwords that I have been hearing very often lately so I was very keen on giving it a go. For those of you who are not familiar with it, this is a technique for allocating a fixed period of time during the day for working on planned tasks. Time-boxing, as the name suggests, is a way of taking individual tasks and finding chunks of time in your calendar to plan them in an organised manner.

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Overcoming the Fear of Public Speaking

Posted on November 16, 2020 by TheFinanceNerd

It is very common to hear that public speaking ranks high among the list of things that we might fear. Some studies have also looked into claims about the fear of public speaking ranking above the fear of death[1]. The purpose of this post is not to discourage you with more facts about how much we dread talking in front of people but is meant to give you some ideas that you can act on so that you can overcome your anxieties and become a successful speaker. This post is a summary of what I have learned from reading books on public speaking, observing and learning from professional speakers but more importantly things I have learned from my own mistakes.

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Working with recruiters (as a candidate)

Posted on September 7, 2020 by TheFinanceNerd

As a financial professional, you will reach that stage in your career where you start getting emails and calls from recruiters regarding new job opportunities. What do you do? How can you best maximise your interactions with recruiters to achieve your career goals? I am writing this post as someone who who has benefitted a lot in landing jobs via recruiters, so I am keen to share my experiences with you.

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My Experience in Joining a Toastmasters Club

Posted on July 9, 2020 by TheFinanceNerd

This is a post for those people who are considering joining a Toastmasters club.
If you are not familiar with Toastmasters, I would summarise it by saying that it provides a structured format and friendly environment for people who want to improve their presentation skills. Toastmasters also allows its members to get hands-on experience in organising and conducting meetings so time management and hosting skills can also be developed. This official Youtube video provides a general overview of how these sessions are planned and what responsibilities each member can take during the events. I only joined two months ago and I would like to share my experience with you so that you can evaluate if this is something that you might want to get involved with.

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