Careers Within Finance
Written By: Melanie Sporn (W’24) and Michelle Rubinshteyn (W’24)
Financial Planning
Financial planners work with individuals and review their finances to ensure they have long-term financial stability. They come up with both savings and investment plans to put their clients in the most secure financial position. Oftentimes, these plans are oriented towards investment growth or wealth preservation.
Financial planners have the ability to work in both large and small firms, giving them the option to pick their preferred work environment.
Venture Capital
Venture capitalists analyze small businesses and firms and determine if they will ultimately invest in them. These businesses are oftentimes startups or small businesses without the means to expand independently. If these startups grow to be successful, venture capitalists earn large profits. Because of the risk associated with this career, many venture capitalists ultimately fail.
Budget Analysts
Budget Analysts review proposals for businesses and the financial obligations associated with them. They also analyze companies’ ventures and determine how best to approach them. After performing their review, the analysts must communicate with the company how best they should use their financial resources to optimize their profits.
Budget analysts also have the freedom to choose what sector they work in, whether that be business, education, or government.
Hedge Funds
Hedge funds are largely unregulated private investment funds whose managers can buy or sell a wide array of assets and financial products. Hedge fund jobs are considered by many to be “glamorous.” Typical hedge fund jobs include:
Financial analysts
Traders
Marketing manager
Portfolio managers
Investment Banking
Some of the most intense financial careers are jobs in investment banking. Investment banking jobs facilitate new issuance of corporate securities and bring them to market for investors to purchase. Investment banks also trade securities and advise both corporations and wealthy individual investors.
Investment banks have numerous divisions with different responsibilities. Working in a traditional investment bank would allow you to interact with issuers of securities, and M&A professionals. You might even work on the trading desk, trading stocks, bonds and other securities in the secondary market. Or, you could become a qualitative research analyst in either stock research, corporate bonds, or other fixed-income securities.
Corporate Finance
Corporate finance jobs involve working for a company in order to find and manage the capital necessary to run the enterprise. This is done while maximizing corporate value and reducing financial risk. The duties and tasks in the corporate finance sector include:
Devising the company's overall financial strategy
Forecasting profits and losses
Negotiating lines of credit
Preparing financial statements
Coordinating with outside auditors
More sophisticated corporate finance jobs might involve mergers and acquisitions (M&A) activity, such as calculating the value of an acquisition target or gauging the wisdom of spinning off a particular division of the company. Corporate finance positions exist in companies of all sizes, from large international entities to small startups. The roles of financial analysts, treasurers, and internal auditors also come under the umbrella of corporate finance.
Making the Right Choice:
Different financial jobs require different skills and present vastly different work environments, so it's wise to select one that aligns with your long-term interests and abilities. Someone with solid interpersonal skills, for example, might do well as a financial advisor, while someone who enjoys crunching numbers might do better in public accounting.