There will always be a need for finance professionals. After all, the financial industry in the US is estimated to be worth about $3.59 trillion. Whether you’re considering enrolling in a finance degree or about to graduate as a finance major and explore career options, it’s comforting to know that the industry opens numerous opportunities for you. Even at the entry-level, you’ll find many finance jobs that pay well!
Get a Finance Degree
Financial expertise can be validated by a finance degree. You could land a job even with an associate degree in finance and have more options when you have a bachelor’s degree or a master’s degree. It’s time to explore your selections of finance-related careers and assess whether you’re on the right path.
Jobs for Finance Majors
Finance majors have SO many career options!
Financial Investor
Becoming an investor is a great career option for finance graduates. Investing, in general, refers to placing money to work on a project or undertaking with the intention of generating profits. Contrary to what most people think, you can start investing with as little or as big money as you have.
Depending on your strategies and tactics, being a financial investor can be a full-time job or a side gig. Investing is the process of distributing resources, most commonly capital or money, with the goal of making a profit or achieving other objectives.
In investments, it’s crucial to understand the concept of risks and returns. You’ll have to study external factors and influencers that can impact short or long-term returns or losses. For instance, a financial product or asset’s yield varies. Some may give you profits or payments quarterly, yearly, or one-time.
Here are some types of investments to get you started:
Stock Investment
Many corporate businesses usually sell stocks to investors. Depending on their preferences, they may opt to sell exclusively within the company or open it to external investors. Upon purchasing stock in a corporation, an individual gains an ownership stake in that business.
A company’s shareholders are those who own its stock and have the opportunity to benefit from growth and success through monthly dividend payments. It usually comes from the profits generated by the company in a specific time frame.
Investment Trusts
Another kind of pooled investing is trust. Within this category, real estate investment trusts are a popular choice. A public limited corporation that invests in other businesses with the intention of making money is known as an investment trust.
Investing in a diverse range of firms can be achieved through the ownership of shares in an investment trust.
Bonds Investment
Another investment option is bonds. These are the debt liabilities of businesses, governments, and municipalities. When you invest in bonds, you most likely lend your money to these entities, and in return, they pay you interest (which can be profitable on your end), depending on the duration and terms of your bond.
Accountant
Accountants assist people and companies with financial documentation preparation, such as quarterly statements. There are different kinds of accountants, and you can choose to concentrate and practice in one field. For instance, those who specialize in accounting connected to taxes are tax accountants. They may work for financial and accounting businesses or any business.
As an accountant, you’ll be in charge of preparing reports and doing research and analysis on accounting data to supply management with financial information. In order to prepare capital, liability, and asset account entries, you will need to gather and evaluate account data.
Some other responsibilities of an accountant include the following:
- Executes database backups to protect financial data.
- Validates financial transactions through document audits.
- Ensures quality over all the financial statements and reports.
- Oversees all the accounting tasks and collaborates with other accountants as needed.
- Reconciles disparities in finances by gathering and examining account data.
- Ensures data security and protects all accounting information.
Budget Analyst
A budget analyst’s typical responsibilities include analyzing costs and budgets and determining if the company’s planned and current investments are financially feasible. Budget analysts examine several initiatives from a financial perspective in industries such as banks, government, private companies, education, and not-for-profits using their financial knowledge.
They also utilize their expertise to teach employees how to maintain different projects within the budgeted amount. The position requires a bachelor’s degree as a minimum requirement.
Auditor
Auditors examine the correctness of different financial documents while working for businesses or as freelancing auditors. Accounting professionals also collaborate with them so that financial records can be reviewed externally. By acquiring a bachelor’s degree in finance, you can start paving a career in auditing.
Auditors examine financial records and ensure accuracy and compliance with the law. Auditors are responsible for checking and configuring the financial records of their workplace or another company, and they may also serve as business or financial advisors, suggesting cost-cutting and risk-aversion strategies.
Auditors assist companies in improving the precision, effectiveness, or caliber of a certain area of their operations. Even though a large number of auditors are employed in the banking sector, these experts may have experience in other fields, and their job titles may change to reflect their areas of specialization.
Real Estate Agent
If you love the real estate industry, a finance degree is a good head start to enter this booming field. According to Statista, the real estate industry in the US is projected to grow by almost 5% in the next decade. Now’s the best time to pursue being a real estate agent.
Financial professionals in the commercial and residential real estate sectors collaborate with customers to determine the most effective way to finance the acquisition of a family home, office building, or retail mall.
As a Real Estate Agent, you’re primarily connecting real estate companies with homebuyers. And your responsibilities include guiding buyers and sellers through the listing process. For a real estate professional looking to grow their career, this is an excellent opportunity.
A real estate broker and an agent or salesperson have comparable responsibilities, but brokers are authorized to oversee their own real estate companies. Brokers and real estate agents must collaborate.
Business Development Specialist
Any business needs to innovate and grow. Business development is one primary department in the company that business development specialists manage. These finance professionals carry out a variety of tasks with the ultimate goal of expanding a company, including personnel training, sales and marketing, budget allocations, and customer retention.
It allows them to evaluate how well a business is performing in terms of achieving its primary goals. In order to be considered for a business development officer position, a bachelor’s degree in finance is sufficient. With the skills and knowledge you’ve developed through your education, you can be fit to be a business development specialist in many work settings and industries.
Insurance Agent
In this modern world, insurance is becoming a necessity for individuals, families, and businesses. A good insurance plan can protect your family, assets, and yourself from financial risks or losses.
Investing in insurance plans allows anyone to sustain financial assistance for emergencies and unprecedented situations that are likely to happen in time. With this, it goes without saying that becoming an insurance agent is a promising endeavor.
You may investigate a wide range of financial topics in one career by working in the insurance industry. There are many positions that the insurance industry offers, but you can focus on one subset of insurance, such as real estate, medical, investments, and so on. To enhance the amount of insurance policies an agency sells, insurance agents utilize highly developed interpersonal skills.
Some of the roles you perform as an insurance agent include:
- Assisting clients with their respective insurance plans and agreements,
- Expanding networks, leveraging referrals, and creating new funnels for potential insurance sales,
- Study the needs of clients and satisfy their requirements.
Chief Financial Officer
If you have a master’s degree in finance, it’s worth it to get promoted to a higher position like the chief financial officer. While this role entails heavier responsibilities, it does come with higher salaries and grows your credentials and career.
Chief financial officers monitor all of a business’s financial transactions and provide their knowledge when the organization needs it. You will have to make decisions that can make or break the financial aspects of an organization. Often, a master’s degree is required, but you can opt to have a doctorate to stand out.
Data Analyst
Data analysts are in high demand for almost all industries in the US. They are responsible for gathering and analyzing massive data sets for various purposes. Using commercial banks, investment banks, and hedge funds as a resource, they examine, filter, and analyze the data to find pertinent information that will assist them in making informed decisions.
Aside from finishing a finance degree, it’s essential or valuable to have a background in data administration or data science.
Commercial Banker
If you like to work in the banking industry, a finance degree is enough education to land you a stable job in this field. A job in commercial banking offers a range of financial services, including different loan alternatives, checking and savings accounts, and more.
Since many people in commercial banking start as bank tellers and advance to become branch managers, there is a lot of opportunity for progression in this industry.
As a commercial banker, you are expected to provide banking services to clients. It ranges from cash management, banking concerns, loan applications, capital investments, financial planning, and payment services.
Loan Officer
Usually employed by financial organizations, loan officers assist customers with loan preparation and application. They serve both people and businesses as clients. A bachelor’s degree is necessary for the position, along with soft skills in sales and communication, as loan officers frequently have sales goals.
Your role as a loan officer includes interviewing loan applicants, doing background checks, and ensuring all of their information and records are correct and accurate. You will also need to assist them in any way as their loans get approved or find alternatives when they get disapproved.
Key Takeaways
A Finance degree opens doors to numerous career pathways in the fields of investment, banking, real estate, insurance, and many more. The key is to choose something that you’re passionate about while factoring in career growth and salary ranges at the same time. Hopefully, you will find a great match on the list above.
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