Strong work ethics
Excellent written and verbal communication skills
Ability to work in a team
An individual opting for a finance career can choose from the following basic career paths:
Managerial finance
Financial services: This path offers four routes:
Banking
Securities
Insurance
Real Estate
The employment outlook in the banking industry seems favorable. Banks prefer:
Graduates with degrees in finance or accounting with a marketing emphasis
Finance graduates with a technical background in management information systems and computers
Credit Analyst: This common entry level job would require you to evaluate business and consumer loan applications made to the bank. You would be:
Projecting a company’s future cash flows
Evaluating the company’s current financial soundness
Visiting and interacting with financial people at businesses
Dealing with lenders
Loan Officer: As a loan officer, you might need to specialize in commercial, consumer or real estate loans. The commercial loan officer:
Develops and monitors credit relationship between the business customer and the bank
Monitors the firm’s financial condition
Evaluates the creditworthiness of an individual or a business
Negotiates credit terms
Cross-sells the bank’s corporate services
Acts as a financial adviser to individuals and small firms
Branch Manager: In this position, you would beresponsible for:
Overseeing all the activities at your branch office, such as the opening of new accounts, loan originations, resolving customer issues and exchange of foreign currency
Supervising programs on installment loans, mortgages and checking, savings and retirement accounts, as well as other financial products offered by the bank to its customers
Establishing relations with customers
Many bank managers start as tellers or customer service representatives. Key skills to have for this position are:
Customer service skills
Empathy
Quantitative ability
Strong work ethics
Solid understanding of banking
Some of the careers in the securities segment are:
Financial Planner: A planner advises his clients on budgeting, securities, insurance, real estate, taxes, retirement and estate planning. He also devises a comprehensive financial plan to meet the client’s objectives.
Stockbroker: Stockbrokers or account executives act as agents for people wishing to buy and sell securities. They provide:
Advice to customers on financial matters
Supply the latest stock and bond quotations and latest analyst reports
Respond to customer inquiries