Designation value: FRM or CRM?

[robe]

Hi,
I'm now a level 2 FRM candidate and am quickly beginning to worry this designation is a massive waste of time and energy since NO employers (even for job posts specific of risk managers) site the FRM as a requisite or even a desired qualification. ((At least within BC Canada)) There are lots of opportunities for CFA (of course) and in jobs specific to risk the desired qualification is CRM.

So quesion is, is the CRM a higher level of qualification than FRM?
I'm kind of feeling like I got "snowed" here... like I just took a flyer on this one. Any insight or advice from someone with a CRM would be great.

Thanks,

 

[joacogimeno]

Hi robe,

From your comment I take that it varies among countries. I live and work in Spain (PwC), and here the FRM is the preferred risk related certificate (by far).

In any case, this is the firt time that I hear about the CRM, so I cannot answer the question whether it is a "higher level of qualification", but a quick google search did not leave me that impression.

Regards

 

[Pflik]

It even varies within a company. For example, I seen examples where it was highly regarded within one risk department but not highly regarded in a different risk department (but did show a clear interest in the subject, which is also a plus).

But let's be honest. Don't expect too much from the qualification. It's not a university degree and often the topics discussed in the FRM and how things apply in practice are very different.

Also CRM is Risk Management... not Financial Risk management. They focus on any type of risk.

 

[BlackSwan]

Remember the FRM certification is still in its young stages and it will take some time for it to get the same recognition as the CFA it just needs to get its name out there. Most people who deal with the areas related to the FRM should have heard about the certification and if that area interests you this certificate is a huge stepping stone towards a professional career in that area.

 

[Meredius]

I work in the banking sector in Canada and it is starting to appear in risk related positions as banks and other institutions beef up the risk departments as well as the profession itself starting to creep up on an enterprise-wide basis. What I've seen is FRM, PRM and CFA designations but for risk specific ones, the CFA drops out.

I see it somewhat as what happened with IT 30 years ago; there's going to be internal power and political struggles for risk managers to sit at the Board table and have the culture of the enterprise risk-aware and educated on the issues related to the business. Don't forget that information is power.

And as BlackSwan said the designation is gaining traction and there's only 25 000 holders globally.

Finally, having the FRM exposes you to a lot of tools, techniques and an analytical toolbox that I would not call a waste of time in any way. Just as a software engineer doing business analysis and projects can foresee a lot of issues (technical and physically related to IT for example) that people without that education would not.

Nothing is ever done for nothing!