Introduction
The financial sector has always been popular among young entrepreneurs, but after getting a degree in finance what are some of the available options for the new graduate? The financial degree gives the person a variety of employment positions that can vary in required skills, tasks, and benefits.
Financial Career Options
A degree in finance provides a person with a focused list of career options. For example, a college graduate can become a personal financial advisor. They provide financial advice on a large variety of topics for individuals and families. Social skills are valued among financial advisors due to their work with clients. Taxes, investments, as well as issues of estate planning, are some of the main topics that concern financial advisers. This line of work presents multiple options for employment. Firms often have a financial adviser among their staff but a self-employment is always an option if the resources are provided. Most employers require at least a bachelor’s degree from the graduate. On-the-job training is often provided to ensure fast adaptability to the workplace. Depending on the type of advice, financial advisors might have a license from either the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) or the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). An experienced financial advisor could be invaluable to a company dealing with investments (Robb et al., par 5).
One of the more popular careers chosen by graduates with a degree in finance is financial management. In broad terms, financial managers evaluate investments and raise funds to finance them. Financial managers deal with three main issues about the business: long-term business investments for the firm, this is usually called capital budgeting; raising money for these investments, this is called capital structure decisions; and managing the rise of cash flows in the day-to-day operations of the company, this is called working capital management (Petty et al., 3). The financial manager should be creative and know how to manage the team to make sure the work is productive and efficient. A bachelor’s degree is required to gain employment in this field, as well as at least five years of work experience. A master’s degree is more desirable and could give a large advantage to the graduate. Although certification for financial managers is not required, a Charted Financial Analyst (CFA) certificate from the CFA Institute or status of the Certified Treasury Professional could provide proof of the graduate’s managerial ability. The value of a financial manager could be quite high due to its focus on long-term decisions and day-to-day operations. The creation of the first Apple iPhone was one such decision, and it not only brought a new life to the electronics company but changed the way people use phones in their everyday lives (Petty et al., 655).
The position of a financial manager seems to be one of the more sought after positions in the financial sector. United States Department of Labor estimates that as of May 2015 there are 531,120 financial managers employed in the United States. This makes it the most popular position in the financial sector. It is not hard to see why that is the case. A mean hourly wage of $64.58 with a mean annual wage of $134,330 can be very appealing to a graduate (“Occupational Employment And Wages”). The potential to help manage an important product or company can also be very enticing. With the popularity of current electronics brands, there is a certain prestige that becomes attached to work in this type of firm.
Conclusion
Although a financial degree provides a relatively limited amount of options to the graduate, these options can be very varied and appealing.
Works Cited
Petty, William et al. Financial Management: Principles and Applications. 6th ed., London, UK, Pearson Higher Education AU, 2015.
Robb, Cliff A., Patryk Babiarz, and Ann Woodyard. “The Demand for Financial Professionals’ Advice: The Role of Financial Knowledge, Satisfaction, and Confidence.” Financial Services Review 21.4 (2012): 291.
“Occupational Employment and Wages”. Bls.Gov, 2017, Web.