This article contains information on what you can do with a banking and finance degree.
From time immemorial, Banking and Finance has remained one of the most recognized and prestigious industries. Like Medicine and surgery, banking and sector is one of the courses many students desire to venture into because of the common misconception that those in the industry are heavily paid.
However, there is no disputing the fact that Banking and finance is a lucrative profession and that anybody in this sector is open to lots of opportunities.
Banking and Finance is a field that deals with the study of financial services such as lending money, issue of currencies and debit cards, transaction processing, collection of deposits and the study of investments. It includes the dynamics of assets and liabilities over time under conditions of different degrees of uncertainty and risk.
As a person with a degree in this field, there are certain skills you should have, such as;
- Good all-round IT skills
- Excellent communications skills, both verbally and orally
- Good analytical and logical approach to problem solving
- Sensitivity
- Ability to work on your own initiative
- Math Skills
- Communications Skills
- Exceptional leadership
- Adaptable communication
- Humble confidence
- Self confidence
As one with a degree in this field, there are many career opportunities lined up for you. However, to occupy certain positions in the banking industry, you need more than just your degree certificate. Thus, if you must advance in the field, it is important to take up important professional courses. However, below are things you can do with a degree in Banking and Finance.
THINGS OR CAREER YOU CAN GO INTO WITH A BANKING AND FINANCE DEGREE
1. FINANCIAL ACCOUNTANT
No doubt that accountancy is a degree on it’s own but then, as a banking and finance degree holder, you stand a chance to assume the roles of an account.
Financial accountant see to the proper management of a company’s financial account. Accountancy jobs include roles such as auditor, tax accountant, forensic accountant, management accountant and corporate advisor
They are also responsible for ensuring that the financial records of an organization is up to date, calculating payroll, preparing tax returns, and ensuring that the company complies with all financial rules and regulations.
To become a chartered accountant, in addition to an undergraduate degree in mathematics or a related area, you’ll also need to gain further professional qualifications. Becoming a Certified Public Accountant (CPA) can be a big advantage to your career.
Accountancy is always a popular career path for finance graduates. Go for it.
2. FINANCIAL ANALYST
Financial analysts manage people and businesses in making investments. They look at the performance of various types of investment and advise people on future investments. They provide guidance to businesses and individuals making investment decisions. They also assess the performance of stocks, bonds, and other types of investments.
Whether it is through the stock market, bonds, or other investments, financial analysts are money experts. They analyze the information they get from the stock market, company annual reports and come up with plans for whether or not to invest. Financial analysts engage with company leaders and individuals, write reports and work with a broad range of people and financial institutions.
A financial analyst who can also be referred as a securities analyst, equity analyst, or investment analyst.
Basic duties of an Investment analyst include:
- Researching businesses,
- Analyzing companies’ accounts, cash flow information, and profit and loss sheets,
- Analyzing and interpreting complicated financial data,
- Writing financial reports,
- Regularly meeting with stockbrokers, fund managers, stock market traders, and company managers,
- providing advice and making informed recommendations,
The required skills of a financial analyst include;
- Exceptional research skills,
- Good presentation and report writing skills,
- Good understanding of financial markets, business and economics
- Good at working with numbers,
- Excellent IT skills, especially spreadsheet
- Good team player, but you will often have to act on your own initiative
If you are interested in financial markets and enjoy research and analysis, being an investment analyst may be your ideal choice with your banking and finance degree.
3. BUSINESS ANALYST
The skill set you gain from an Actuarial Science Degree also prepares you for a career as a business analyst. Here your work basically involves examining the operations, structure and policies of an organisation and recommending solutions to enable them to achieve their goals.
In this role, you will have to be able to analyse and evaluate complex data efficiently, display effective problem-solving skills and be IT savvy to succeed.
The business analyst, sometimes, is someone who is a part of the business operation and works with Information Technology to improve the quality of the services being delivered, sometimes assisting in Integration and Testing of new solutions. Business Analysts act as a liaison between management and technical developers.
Below are skills required of a business analyst;
- Oral and written communication skills
- Interpersonal and consultative skills
- Knowledge of business structure
- Analytical thinking and problem solving
- Being detail-oriented and capable of delivering a High level of accuracy
- Stakeholder analysis
- Costs benefit analysis
- Processes modeling
- Organizational skills
- Understanding of networks, databases and other technology
4. LOAN OFFICER
With your degree, you can work as a loan officer. Loan officers help individuals and organizations in practicing for loans, evaluate the individuals’ creditworthiness and help them decide the most suitable type of loan for his/her requirements. Employers usually demand that loan officers have a bachelor’s degree in finance, economics or a similar field. Loan officers will find expertise in banking, lending or sales and knowledge of computers as unique skills to enable them to stand out from the competitive market.
5. TRADER/STOCKBROKER
As a stock trader, you can either work for yourself or for a firm, buying and selling stocks. Traders may also buy and sell bonds and other financial instruments. Trading is a fast-paced , competitive and high-pressure career, best suited to those with bold, dynamic personalities. Those in this field have very little supervision so this career will suit you if you’re self-disciplined and motivated.
6. MANAGEMENT CONSULTANT
Management consultants help organizations solve problems, create value and maximize growth and improve business performance. They identify solutions for business troubles and make suggestions for changes to implement.
Management consulting can be a very rewarding career. Competition in this field is high , and applicants with higher degrees find it easier to get into the field. Therefore, if you must advance in this career path, get a higher certification to complement your degree in Banking and Finance.
7. FINANCIAL MANAGER
A financial manager also known as a CFO (Chief Financial Officer) is responsible for providing financial guidance and support to clients and colleagues. Employers come from a wide range of industries in both the public and private sectors.
With this, the job role is dependent on the type and size of the company. In larger companies the role may be more concerned with strategic analysis, while in smaller businesses you might be responsible for the collection and preparation of accounts. Other responsibilities can include managing budgets, arranging new sources of finance and liaising with auditors to ensure annual monitoring is carried out. The position of a Financial manager is a senior position with more delicate roles. The more experienced you are, the more chances of advancing.
8. EXTERNAL AUDITOR
External auditors examine financial records and other data to provide businesses, investors and regulators with a clear idea of how they’re performing as well as recommendations for improvement. Their work can be divided into two distinct areas; a financial audit, examining a company’s financial statements and records, or a corporate/non-financial audit to help companies solve specific business problems.
9. PERSONAL FINANCIAL ADVISORS
A financial advisor is often responsible for more than just executing trades in the market on behalf of their clients. Advisors use their knowledge and expertise to construct personalized financial plans that aim to achieve the financial goals of clients.
Personal financial advisors provide advice on investments.
These plans include not only investments but also savings, budget, insurance, mortgages and tax strategies.
Advisors further check in with their clients on a regular basis to re-evaluate their current situation and future goals and plan accordingly.
Hence, as a financial adviser, you’re not only a planning partner to your clients but also an educator .
10. ACTUARY
An actuarial scientist is a recognized mathematical professional who has the skills to demonstrate and manage uncertainty and financial risk.
They play an integral role in the areas of business, commerce, government, stocks, and insurance and a host of industries. However, Actuarial science is the science/art of arithmetically and scientifically assessing the risk present in a situation, be it a business investment, an insurance investment, or a stock/bond investment.
The actuarial field is one of the most common industries in which banking and finance graduates find work. Actuaries specialize in evaluating financial risks in order to manage and advise clients. They combine risk analysis skills with in-depth knowledge of Probability, Economics, Mathematics , Finance, Computer science and Statistics to calculate and manage risks for companies. Actuaries ensure sound investments are made and commercial/business goals fulfilled.
Actuaries also work in the public sector. In the federal government, actuaries may evaluate proposed changes to Social Security or Medicare or conduct economic and demographic studies to project future benefit obligations. At the state level, actuaries may examine and regulate the rates charged by insurance companies.
The study of uncertain future events by actuaries are of special concern to insurance and pensions companies, but actuaries can work in a wide range of sectors. They are highly skilled individuals and as such are often in high demand. Work is high-pressured and you may be expected to work overtime frequently.
11. ENTREPRENEUR
Entrepreneurs are the managers of business enterprises who develop and assume complete responsibility for the outcome of an organization’s efforts. Entrepreneurs handle the financial, decision making, strategic planning, and managerial operations of most dynamic organizations today.
Choosing this career path requires little or no special degree in most cases . Thus, with your degree in Banking, this is a thing to consider.
A lot of people have turned the challenge of being rejected by business owners into a motivating factor that helped them to build empires. You can do it too.
There are so many factors that will make you succeed as an entrepreneur. Above all, doing what one is passionate about is a motivating factor as regards choosing a career in entrepreneurship.
12. MARKETING MANAGER
Marketing involves the use of any available strategy to persuade and convince people to buy a product or service. There are different ways in which marketing is done these days. It has gone beyond the traditional method of carrying goods from one location to another, in search of buyers.
Now, marketing has taken another shape. All thanks to technology, marketing can be done in any location via online medium and different social media platforms has made building a career in this field very rampant and easy.
However, Marketing Managers are responsible for planning, organizing, estimating and promoting businesses based on customer, competitor, and company analysis. Marketing managers assess and determine the demand for an organization’s products and services and develop ways of increasing profits, investments, and shares.
Marketing managers utilize a number of advertising and public relations techniques to promote sales and maximize profit. Marketing managers primarily must have a minimum of a bachelor degree in marketing, public relations, or a related field to gain the specialized skills and knowledge necessary to establish careers.
If you’re a person with a convincing power, ability to communicate freely with people you barely know, analytical, strong numerical background and ability to think out of the box, then choosing a career in marketing is certainly a wise choice.
13. HUMAN RESOURCE
Big or small, local or International Organizations/companies are in search of people who will take up these roles and they look out for those who have had prior experience in human management.
The role of Human Resource personnel in an organization includes managing the work force and putting in place any event that will enhance the growth and development of employees in such Organizations.
The interesting thing about most people who work as Human Resource Managers is that they did not have study related courses in school. Building a career in this field is easy because ,daily we relate with humans of different calibers and behaviour.
In other words, human resources managers offer strategic planning to improve productivity and the overall efficiency of an organization. Human resources managers also attract, motivate, instruct and improve the morale of an organization’s most valuable employees.
Many human resources managers also specialize in handling employee benefit programs, incentive programs, and attend to issues.
Are you a good communicator, writer though not professionally, someone who can mediate effortlessly, approachable, can understand human behaviours? This is for you. Your degree in Banking and Finance makes you highly qualified for this option.
14. FINANCIAL EXAMINERS
Financial examiners ensure that companies adhere to financial, investment, and real estate regulations in all business transactions. Financial examiners ensure authenticity and accuracy of records while maintaining the legalities involved in all business activities and operations.
They also carry out internal and external audits, offer supervisory and managerial support. A bachelor’s degree in accounting, finance, or business administration provides the educational foundation required to build a career as a financial examiner.
15. TEACHING
Not all with a banking and finance degree must end up in a banking Environment. This is why there are many career paths available.
Numeracy is always a high priority within primary and secondary education systems, this however, makes highly numerate graduates with an interest in teaching highly sought-after. If you enjoy the challenge of making math understandable to students of different ages and abilities, you might be cut out for a career as a high school math teacher.
You could help young learners master the concepts involved in algebra, geometry, and calculus. Inorder to pursue a career in teaching, one is required to have a formal teaching qualification, but some states allow people who already have a bachelor’s degree in another area to take a fast track to certification and begin teaching immediately but if you must teach at university level, a postgraduate degree is highly required. Your degree can earn you much in this field especially with a higher qualification.
Conclusion
Graduating with a Degree in Banking and Finance doesn’t automatically make you a qualified banker. To be a certified banker you will need to further your studies by taking professional exams. This will give you an opportunity to advance in your chosen field.
If you want to grow with your degree, you can explore career opportunities at financial institutions. Take an account of the above emerging careers to create a position in an exciting field.
Despite being a lucrative line of study, there’s no doubt that the skills you learnt during your degree will make you an invaluable asset to any company, regardless of the field. So, these are beautiful areas or fields you may desire to go for as a banker. All businesses and firms have a connection with money and this degree makes you an asset . I hope this article has effectively helped you in your decision and confusion regarding what to do with a banking and finance degree.
