FINANCE

The finance major is designed for students who want to pursue careers in financial management, investment and   portfolio management, and/or management of financial institutions. Finance is a way of managing money in order to ensure that decision-making entities meet their investment goals. Career opportunities for graduates in this major exist in the areas of financial services, managerial finance, banking, investment, real estate and insurance.

Financial Firms

Strategies—What Can I Do To Prepare?

•  Gain good mathematical and analytical skills
•  Develop good interpersonal and communication skills
•  Get sales experience
•  Conduct an informational interview or job shadowing with a professional in the field
•  Discuss coursework with your advisor and register for accounting courses, business and computer science classes as well as your core finance curriculum
•  Consider co-op program or internship
•  Plan on obtaining an MBA if you are interested in professional advancement

Professional Associations
The American Bankers Association
www.aba.com
Association for Financial Professionals
www.afponline.org
The American Finance Association
www.afajof.org

Job Options

Credit Analyst
This is a common entry level job which requires that you evaluate business and consumer loan applications made to your bank. Your duties include projecting a company's future cash flow, evaluating its current financial soundness, visiting and interacting with financial people at    businesses and dealing with lenders. You will learn a lot about business in this job. Your success in this job will depend on how detail-oriented you are, your knowledge of accounting and your ability to communicate.

Treasurer
Duties involve supervision of Treasury department which involve financial planning, raising funds, cash management and acquiring and disposing of assets. This is an upper management job which requires both analytical skill and the ability to manage and motivate people.

Financial Analyst
Duties involve determining financing needs, analyzing capital budgeting projects, long-range financial planning, analyzing possible acquisitions and asset sales, visiting credit agencies to explain firm's position, working on budgets, analyzing competitors, implementing financial plans, monitoring the market price of your firm's securities analyzing of leasing agreements and determining needs and methods of dealing with derivatives. Often you will be assigned to a specific area such as revenue, planning, capital budgeting or project finance. This challenging job requires good analytical skills, computer skills and a broad understanding of finance.

Trading
Some of the most desirable jobs in investment banking are in sales and trading. Your responsibilities would involve undertaking transactions in equities, bonds, currencies (referred to as Forex or FX), options orfutures with traders at commercial banks, investment banks and large institutional investors.

Mutual Fund Analyst
Many mutual funds and large pension funds require analysts to do the analytical work required before an investment is made. Is a particular municipal bond safe? What is its interest rate risk as measured by duration and convexity? What other features of the security are important to understand before purchase?

Loan Officer
This is a highly desirable job in banking which involves making loans to businesses and consumers. Being a loan officer requires that you have good selling skills, an ability to understand a business and a solid understanding of how banking works. Most people in upper management at banks were once loan officers.

Controller
Duties involve financial planning, accounting, financial reporting and cost analysis. Also, will get involved in property, revenue, benefits, derivatives, lease and joint interest accounting. May need to develop forecasting models to project revenues and costs. May be called on to implement or work with a complex costing system, efforts at financial reengineering, transfer pricing issues or interface with auditors.

Areas Where Finance Majors Work

Commercial Banks
Commercial banks are in the business of providing banking   services to individuals, small businesses and large organizations. While the banking sector has been consolidating, it is worth noting that far more people are employed in the commercial banking sector than any other part of the financial services industry. Jobs in banking can be exciting and offer excellent opportunities to learn about business, interact with people and build up a clientele.

Corporate Finance
A career in corporate finance means you would work for a company to help it find money to run the business, grow the business, make acquisitions, plan for it's financial future and manage any cash on hand. You might work for a large multinational company or a smaller player with high growth prospects. Responsibility can come fast and your problem-solving skills will get put to work quickly in corporate finance.

Financial Planning  
Financial planners help individuals plan their financial futures. How are you going to cover your retirement needs? What do you have to do today to put your children through college? This work can be  personally and financially rewarding and requires excellent interpersonal skills. A good financial planner understands investments, taxes, estate planning issues and knows how to listen.

Insurance
Did you know that some of the hottest jobs in finance aren't on Wall Street at all? These are jobs in insurance. Insurance is a trillion dollar business that employs more than 2.5 million people in the United States alone. As the population ages and wetitleh grows, the demand for insurance professionals will increase dramatically. This is great news for you if you are thinking of going in to the insurance business. Jobs in insurance involve helping individuals and business manage risk to protect themselves from catastrophic losses and to anticipate potential risk problems.

Investment Banking
Help companies and governments issue securities, help investors purchase securities, manage financial assets, trade securities and provide financial advice.

Money Management
Do you like to look behind the numbers? Do you like to analyze market trends? Do you get an adrenaline rush when a stock takes off? If so, then money management may be the career for you. Money managers hold stocks and bonds for institutional clients and are on the buy side of Wall Street. Some money managers use the latest sophisticated quantitative techniques while others do very well using simple intuition.

Skills and Talents Required

•  Explain complex financial data to others
•  Lead, supervise, and direct others
•  Make sound judgments and decisions and to solve quantitative problems
•  Operate and use information serviced from computers
•  Organize, analyze and interpret numerical data
•  Ability to work alone and concentrate for long periods of time
•  Aptitude for accuracy and details
•  Effective writing and oral communications skills
•  Plan and administer budgets and prepare and organize records

Education Required
A bachelor's degree in finance, accounting or a related field is necessary to get into this field.   However, many companies are increasingly seeking those with a master's degree preferably in business administration, economics, finance, or risk management.   Employers are looking for people with knowledge of the latest financial analysis methods and technology. 

Professional Licensure
Series 7 —The Series 7 Exam is the National Association of Securities Dealers (NASD) license for general securities representatives.   The Series 7 provides an individual with the qualifications necessary in order to make different types of trades with all types of corporate securities, except commodities and futures. http://www.investopedia.com/professionals/series7/
Series 63 — The Series 63 is the exam administered by the North American Administration Association (NASAA).   The Series 63 gives an individual the necessary qualifications to become a securities agent who solicits orders for any type of security in that particular state.   http://www.investopedia.com/professionals/series63/
Certified Financial Planner (CFP) - Must have at least three years work experience.   Qualifying experience includes delivery, direct supervision of individuals and the teaching of the personal financial planning process.

Finance Websites

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