Job opportunities for Certified Financial Technicians (CFTe)

What is Technical Analysis?
Technical Analysis is a specific method of charts analysis, using diagrammatical analysis, assessing the hypothesis tested, in order to use the results as a forecasting tool to determine future price movement on the majority of financial instruments such as Foreign Exchange (FOREX), Contracts for Difference (CFDs), Future Contracts and Options. Technical analysis forecasting is based on simple and complex statistical and quantitative analysis models.

Why should someone obtain the professional qualification of the Certified Financial Technician (CFTe)?
Every person chooses to invest both time and money in order to follow a correct and promising professional career with growth prospects. There are however, two important factors which need to be considered and evaluated before that choice is made which are as follows:
First: How much will the total cost of this investment-choice be? By the term investment here, we refer to both money and time.
Second: How much will the maximum time of payback in monetary terms of the investment be? This is crucial for someone’s decision. For example, a student studies in a university abroad and spends 3 to 4 years to obtain a Bachelor’s degree and then another year to obtain a Master’s degree. The total cost of tuition fees on average is in the range of €25,000-40,000 and this cost always varies according to the academic standard of the chosen university. With the current market conditions in the employment market, in the majority of market sectors, the minimum time for payback of the initial investment is about 10 years. This means that the time required for a student to be able and repay a loan made for university studies purposes will be 10 years (given that the student will be employed within one year after his/her Master’s or Bachelor’s degree completion) and this calculation excludes any interests derived from the loan.
Why, then, should someone should obtain the CFTe. There are two main reasons:
First, the employment opportunities and future career prospects. According to data published by a well-known human resource agency in Cyprus, the hiring numbers in the sector of Investment Firms and FX Brokerage Firms has been rising at a rate of 13% annually in Cyprus, at the same time that hiring rates in all other sectors show decline or deceleration. Thus, the particular industry is still booming and outperforming all of the rest market sectors despite the existing hard economic conditions.
Second, the average monthly salary for the employment positions of the Technical Analyst, Trader or Dealer. The current average monthly salary for these positions for someone without any experience is about €1,800.

What is the employment rate of successful candidates who become qualified technical analysts?
For the fifth consecutive year we enjoy a high employment rate of 82% among the participants who qualify for the CFTe. This means that from our total number of 70 qualified technical analysts in the last 5 years, 57 are currently employed! A large number of those are employed in FX Brokerage Firms mainly based in Limassol while three of them have managed to get Technical Analyst positions in major Investment Banks in Europe, mainly in Frankfurt and in London.

When is the next training programme to obtain the CFTe?
The next training programme starts on of October 14 and will last for 6 months.

What is the maximum number of participants for the training programme?
The maximum number of participants accepted is 7! As a Technical Analysis research center and not as a university, we prefer to keep this number low because we want the majority of our graduates to find jobs quickly and also avoid oversupply of professionals in our sector. That’s why we have a large employment rate at 82%. Also, due to the increasing number of applications we receive each time, all the decision factors to allow someone to enroll are subject to a particular process.

What is the cost of the programme?
The program has duration of 6 months and the cost is €5,850 which is the tuition fee. The examination cost is not included in this price and it varies accordingly depending on the choice of location that the student wishes to take the exams, whether in Cyprus or in the UK.

What are the minimum entry requirements for CFTe candidates?
This particular qualification is not suitable for everyone. CFTe is a professional qualification and as it is widely known, for obtaining any professional qualification there are no particular requirements. The main requirement that we require is a good knowledge of the English language since the exams are in English. Also, another major criterion is the passion and enthusiasm of the candidate to enter the particular sector. We do not prefer candidates who are not willing to be employed in the particular sector.