Career in Finance

Usually, students get into finance as they are always told that finance careers means good salary and yes that is true but they must always know that what they are getting into. Finance is a broad term and involves a lot of sub-industries so just deciding to make a career in finance is not enough but deciding the industry and the job profile is important.

To make this decision making process a little easy for you, below are some career path in finance that will help you to make it big in the field of finance.

Corporate Finance

Corporate Finance mainly deals with:

• Allocation of financial resources of a company
• Arrangement of funds for various projects with lowest possible cost of fund
• Maintenance of the capital structure of the company. 

Some of the job roles in corporate finance include financial analyst, cost analyst, treasurer or some business development profile. Opportunities in corporate finance are available in all sizes of organization whether it is small, medium or large.

Check job profiles and skills required for corporate finance

Investment Banking

Investment banking is one of the most sought after careers because of the glamour and obviously the fat pay cheques. Some important investment banking job types include Mergers and Acquisitions , Underwriting, Private Equity, Venture Capital etc. If you are an investment banker you will be dealing with investors for purchase of securities, providing financial advice to both corporations and wealthy individual investors, issuing of corporate securities etc.

Commercial Banking

Commercial banks serves to large organizations, small companies and even to the general public and therefore it provides a large amount of job opportunities as compared to others. Some of the common job roles in commercial banks are Loan Officer, Branch Manager, Bank Teller, Programmer and Trust Officer. If you are willing to go an extra mile you will be exposed to other areas as well like international finance.

Project Finance

Project finance helps organizations in forecasting and structuring the project finance deals, while mitigating the risks that are associated with the project. If you choose the career path of project finance you’ll be probably working in one the below mentioned domains:

• Origination/Relationship Management
• Project Appraisal/ Project Advisory
• Project Syndication/Debt Syndication

To get into project finance, you should be good at Financial Modeling, you should have a decent understanding of legal matters and you should have knowledge about various sectors.

Risk Management

Every business irrespective of its size has certain risks and to eliminate them it requires a risk management team. Risk management is all about formulating strategies that will eliminate the risks. As a risk manager you’ll be making a lot of decisions and you’ll require a lot of knowledge about the market trends.

Private Equity

Every business needs capital for expansion as well as current operations and as a Private Equity professional you will help the company to find that capital. If you plan to make a career in private equity you’ll be performing any of the below mentioned four duties:

1) Analysis of spreadsheet of the economics for a potential leveraged buyout.

2) Carrying out industry research and screening of potential buyout candidates for sourcing of new deals.

3) Preparing the materials for a senior partner on a potential investment target or company already subject to investment.

4) Coordinating the diligence and research items required to carry out a transaction.

Equity Research

Equity research is the study of stocks and equities for the purpose of investments. Equity Research Analyst takes care of the Equity Research. As an Equity Research Analyst you’ll be advising the clients about the best companies for investment for which you’ll require a lot of information for:

Investors – That will help them to decide which company to invest in

Traders – That will help them to know when to enter and exit market.

Financers – That will help them in evaluation of companies.

Courses that will help you to make it big in Finance

For making a career in any of the above mentioned fields it is important to have the right kind of training and certification. A lot of course options are available in finance but only few can help you to achieve the desired success. Some of them are as below:

Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA)

Chartered Financial Analyst or CFA is a professional credential offered by the CFA institute to those who are interested in making a career in the field of finance or investment. CFA offers a lot of career options some of which include working as a portfolio manager, Research Analyst, Financial Advisor, Investment banking analyst etc. To get the CFA Charter you’ll need to clear CFA Level 1, CFA Level 2 and CFA Level 3 exams and require 4 years of professional work experience.

MBA in Finance

One of the most common options for finance students is MBA in finance. With more and more students pursuing MBA, the competition is rising and so is the number of unemployed MBAs. If you want to pursue MBA then it is always advisable to pursue it from some reputable institution. After clearing your CAT, MBA is a two year program after which you can easily get a job into financial service sector.

Financial Risk Management (FRM)

Financial Risk Management or FRM Certification is a globally recognized professional certification for finance and banking professionals by Global Association of Risk Professionals (GARP, USA). After pursuing FRM, you can get into Trading, Risk Management, Modeling, Structuring etc. To get FRM certification you’ll need to clear FRM Part 1 and FRM Part 2 exams and require 2 years of professional work experience.

Financial Modeling

Financial Modeling is one of the most sought after skills in the finance industry and pursuing the course will only increase your chances of landing a good job. Financial Modeling is an art of building models of real life financial scenarios that helps the company to carry out financial and investment analysis which lead to decision making. Financial Modeling is used for valuation of security, forecasting the future need of raw material, to know the benefits of merger and many other things.

Certified Financial Planner (CFP)

Certified Financial Planner or CFP is an internationally recognized financial planning certification. Pursuing CFP can provide you job opportunities in various finance domains like banking, insurance, financial planning, wealth management etc. You can give your exams as per your own convenience as exams are carried out everyday. You can pursue this course after your 12th or graduation.

Certificate in Investment Banking (CIB)

If you have decided to make your career as an investment banker then you can go for the investment banking program by EduPristine . This program will not only give you knowledge and training on investment banking but will also cover other financial topics like Financial Research, Private Equity, Credit Research Valuation etc.

I hope that I’ve given you a little food for thought. Before getting into any field or pursuing any course make sure you consider the factors like demand for the job profile, skills required, your long term goals and the industry demand. Make a wise decision and if you have any doubts or question do mention them in the comments box below and we shall get back to you at the earliest.