I have been working in finance for quite some time now and regularly get inquires from the young ones seeking advice on how to break into this field. Trust me, I was never a finance person but today I think that If I can do it, you can too…

I have always been interested in a great many things – not just Finance, Film, logic, marketing, law, music, theatre etc. What made Finance so fascinating to me is how it crosses over so many of the disciplines.

To put this simply – How to break and succeed in finance-

1. Work harder than everybody else
2. Create something of value that others want
3. Be multitalented
4. Develop a specialty
5. Learn from people of same field
6. Read voraciously. Develop library
7. Be prepared for the opportunities
8. Excellent academic record
9. At last – LUCK

Remember, a career in finance is not just about money, but its close. Earning a degree is just the beginning. Real challenge begins, when choices needs to be done amongst the best available options.  Analyzing which industry has the best to offer and dearth of new professionals.

Finance Industry is multi – faceted, offering a variety of positions catering to a number of different skills and interests. The key to individual success is to research, locate and land into the job which has the greatest compatibility with your skills and interests. Here are some common paths with finance service sector:

• Corporate Finance : It involves working for a company in the capacity of finding and managing the capital necessary to run the enterprise. This is done while maximizing corporate value and reducing financial risk. It involves:
  1. Setting up company’s overall financial strategy
  2. Forecasting profits and losses
  3. Negotiating lines of credit
  4. Coordinating with auditors
  5. Mergers and acquisitions
  6. Roles offered: Treasurers, Financial analysts and internal auditors.

• Commercial Banking : These local institutions offer a range of financial services, from checking and savings account to returns and loans. Career options available in this sector include bank tellers, loan officers, operations, marketing and branch managers. Talented professional s can get promoted from branch jobs to corporate offices. This kind of promotions gives exposure to international finance.
• Investment Banking : Some of the most intense and glamorous financial careers are jobs in investment banking. It deals with facilitating the issuance of corporate securities and making these securities available for investors to purchase, all while trading securities and providing advice to both corporate and investors. Investment banking has a number of different divisions and groups with different objectives and responsibilities. Working in investment banking firm would help you to interact with issues of securities, mergers and acquisitions, professionals and traders who trade stocks, bonds and other securities.
• Hedge funds : These are private unregulated investments whose managers can buy or sell a wide array of assets and financial products. Since these funds also surrounds around such kinds of entity, the jobs offered and also somewhat Glamorous. Some typical hedge fund jobs are:
  1. Financial Analysts
  2. Trader
  3. Compliance officer
  4. Marketing manager
  5. Portfolio manager
  6. Quantitative analyst

• Private equity and venture Capital : These professional help business to find capital for both expansions and current operations. Venture capital professional mostly spend their time with the strategists and small and fast growing companies. They evaluate pitches by founders and small company leaders to determine if the firm will make an investment – referred as” venture capitalists”. The hope of the VC’s is that the small business in which they are investing will one day go public, where the failure rate is high and the rewards when realized, are huge.
• Financial planning : These job profilers are known as financial planners and help develop individual plans that will ensure their present and future financial stability. These people generate an appropriate plan for savings and investments that meet client’s needs.
• Insurance : These individuals help anticipate potential risks and protect them from loses. These jobs are with large insurance companies where you start your career as a sales representative or a customer service representative or as an actuary.
• Public accounting : It is broad field. These help business and individuals keep track of their finance using GAAP. These record business transactions, prepare financial statements, audit financial records, prepare IT returns and provide consultancy. New hires start as a staff accountant, then audit managers, and then tax managers and so on and so forth.

Financial jobs exist almost in every company and in every industry. It is always wise to consider the direction of the market before seeking a financial job. To effectively pursue jobs with high possibility of success, one must measure the demand of the position. Different finance jobs needs different skill set as discussed above. So, its best to select one that aligns with your long-term interests and abilities.

The Finance industry has long histories of attracting energetic and ambitious people who are looking for the best career opportunities. Some of the few significant selling points for prospective employees are:

• Compensation
• Career Advancements
• Bureaucracy
• Pace

The Finance industry is noted for its compensation Structures, which is much more generous than other sectors of the economy. Also, Compared to other industries, the finance industry tend to place less weight on seniority in judging the readiness of employees for advancement. High Performers can move ahead regardless of age, experience, making this industry particularly attractive for ambitious young people.

For an idea of how a career in financial services can be either a destination in life or a launching pad for high achievements in other fields, read about these people:

1. Mike Bloomberg – Wall Street – Systems guru to media mogul to mayor
2. Jim Cramer – From money manager to financial TV Star
3. Wayne Rogers – From Actor to money manager

Financial jobs exist almost in every company and in every industry. It is always wise to consider the direction of the market before seeking a financial job. To effectively pursue jobs with high possibility of success, one must measure the demand of the position. Different finance jobs needs different skill set as discussed above. So, its best to select one that aligns with your long-term interests and abilities…….

Contributed by Shilpa Aggarwal Gupta ( Class of 2005, IBS HYDERABAD )