If you have a finance degree, then you’ve set yourself up well for the future. Finance degrees are remarkably versatile. There are all kinds of career paths down which you can venture once you have this crucial prize from an accredited university.
Let’s look at a few of the possible careers you might consider with your finance degree.
When Should You Get a Finance Degree?
Before we look at the careers you can get into if you have a degree in finance, let’s first discuss what your interests should be if you want to go this route. Financial degree students:
- Like to think about numbers
- Have analytical mindsets
- Often have a fascination with how stocks, bonds, and other investment vehicles work
Finance majors should know how to appraise a company’s financial standing. They should also understand how to dissect financial statements and evaluate the implications of various actions that a corporation or other business entity might take.
Credit Analyst
A credit analyst is one career that you can get into with a finance degree. Credit analysts:
- Evaluate loan prospects based on their financial standing
- Assess the potential risk of offering them financing
As a credit analyst, you need to learn how to appraise the financial viability of various enterprises. You’ll get access to their financial data, and you must use that to extrapolate whether it’s worthwhile to back them in their endeavors.
You need to have an investigative mindset to pursue this career path. You also need communication skills, since you’ll be talking to prospective clients. You should know how to analyze industry trends correctly.
Accountant
It would make sense for someone with a finance degree to become an accountant. While earning your degree, you learn how to critique, interpret, and construct financial statements. That’s precisely the kind of skillset an accountant needs.
You need to learn how to analyze business problems if you want to become an accountant. When a company or individual comes to you, and they’re in financial trouble, you need to know how to guide them out of danger.
You must know how to present financial information to clients in the form of graphs, charts, and similar visual aids.
Attorney
The law and finance often go hand-in-hand. You can become an attorney if you have a finance degree and you also have the patience to study the law. You might get into securities law, corporate, labor, civil litigation, product liability, or divorce.
As an attorney, you’ll have steady work if you can identify financial irregularities. If you’re interested in civil cases, then your ability to estimate appropriate settlement compensation will make you a real asset.
Analytical skills and research ability are common to both lawyers and finance students. You’ll also be in great shape if you can sharpen your presentation skills. When you’re a master of delivering arguments and preparing exhibits for court, you should find plenty of work.
Actuary
An actuary plays a crucial leadership role in financially-oriented businesses. That might include working for an accounting firm, a rating agency, a bank, or an insurance sales office.
You’ll need strong mathematical skills if you want this to be your career. You must be able to calculate how likely various events are. You also need the ability to assess the financial consequences of what you predict.
Actuaries must have excellent software and computing skills. You’ll be using that software when you make your predictions based on advanced modeling. If you work for a firm, you can present your conclusions to your bosses, and they will make decisions based on your recommendations.
Budget Analyst
One more thing you might do with a finance degree is to work as a budget analyst. There are several sectors where you might ply your trade. You can get into government, non-profits, business, or education, among others.
Your job is to analyze budgets and evaluate the viability of new or continuing ventures. You must have excellent communication skills because you’ll be interviewing plenty of individuals to gather information having to do with the proposals they’re putting forth.
You must also enjoy teaching since part of your job will likely involve training staff in complex budget development processes.
You can also look into careers such as investor relations associate, or you might be a financial planner or analyst. One thing to remember is that most of these are growth industries, and they pay well. Getting a finance degree is probably sounding better and better to you now.
Interesting related article: “What is an MBA?“