~ A Career in Equipment Finance: What Do We Have Here?
Do not go blindly forward or else you’ll end up broke. With regards to equipment financing, it would be best to have someone who underwent financial management training to help out with the general finances. Having a career in equipment finance is something that is worthy to consider.
When we talk about equipment financing, we’re not limiting ourselves to leasing or renting huge cargo trucks or heavy construction equipment. There is a lot of equipment leasing being done out there and they are not limited to big units. Although, most of the equipment being rented or leased by companies in the industry include planes, landing facilities, even trains and railing equipment, smaller units like computers are also represented.
Even office printing equipments are being distributed for lease. If you can’t believe that, then be aware that different kinds and pieces of office furniture are also being rented and leased. All of these are considered part of equipment financing products and fall under equipment financing.
Equipment finance is not all about the equipment and details of the lease and contracts though; it is also about the end users. For the end users, they can choose among commercial financing, public sector financing, and small business financing as a means for equipment financing. These are usually the kind of financing schemes that people end up applying for.
Aspiring to be a financial career professional in the field of equipment financing and leasing, you may want to get familiar with these schemes as well as concepts of lenders, investors, manufacturers and especially the end-users of the equipment. It is certain that you will face all of these elements during your career as a financial manager of equipment leasing and financing company.
Moreover, with regards to the process of leasing and financing, knowledge on existing legal obligations and accepted practices is also a key factor in this business. You need to update your knowledge database and be sure to know the latest ruling, restrictions, etc. It will make your life a lot easier later on.
Furthermore, you should be able to identify the different kinds of leases and should have an easy enough time understanding the concepts and explaining them when needed. That is part of your responsibility when you build your career in equipment finance.
Among the various transactions that you would encounter in an equipment financing business includes conditional sales, transactions across borders and between governments, different operating leases, the so called single investor leases and many others. Keeping track of these kinds of transaction are part of the job description of a finance career professional in the field of equipment financing.
Providing innovative solutions to leasing problems and concerns is also part of the services that an equipment financing company offers. There are different kinds of work around to common problems. But at times, despite all the solutions that implemented a total recall or restructuring of the company would be the best solution.
In this regard, as part of the financial management team, you will definitely have concrete responsibilities and essentially help in improving the status of the company.
Having a career in equipment finance is not a walk in the park. You need to work hard on it to achieve your goals and be someone in this field. Every kind of career should be like that: work hard to become someone recognized in your field.
About Considering a Career in Finance
A career in finance is an honorable undertaking. There are a ton of accounting and finance careers to choose from, but each path must be examined before it is pursued. Studying college courses and online course both cost time and dollars. Knowing the careers awaiting a finance major right after earning his degree is never a bad thing.
Here are well-known examples of careers in finance that are quality positions with good pay. Take note for each position is different from the other, from the skills required to the tasks faced, and not all are entry-level positions.
Accounts Assistant. A multi-faceted entry-level position, being an accounts assistant can offer ideal opportunities in gaining experience and letting you decide on what particular field to specialize in. You can learn a lot, including about car career finance insurance rate.
Payroll. Needless to say, the most important department of any company as it is responsible for salaries and wages. Difficulty rises in proportion to the complexity and size of a company's structure. Substantial knowledge in payments and taxes is vital for anyone looking to work in this field.
Banking. One of the most popular choices, you can work either along the frontlines or in the background. This field offers a whole lot of options for any prospective financial employee. Big banking companies offer more reliable job security than those in other fields.
Credit Controller. Working with accounts receivable, credit controllers basically ensure the regular periodic payments of invoices by the company. Aside from this, the role may vary in different companies.
Underwriter. Insurance is a complicated field and underwriters are one of the most crucial job positions available. They are responsible for your premium and other things like car career finance insurance rates, so being one can really offer some interesting opportunities.
Auditor. Both internal and external auditors have the same basic function, but the difference is from who the employer is. External auditors work for city firms while internal auditors work within companies. Therefore, only a few companies are big enough to justify employment of internal auditors.
Management Accountant. The reverse of an auditor, management accountants fill the role of forecasting future finances, which provides information necessary for planning and strategizing.
Private Equity. Highly complex but usually found working on funding business start-ups, employees working in private equity look through portfolio of investments, siting risks and rewards. Industry experts and investors rely on private equity to offer them information and advise on managing portfolios and investments.
Business Analyst. Analyzing every tangible and intangible factor involved in a business, the business analyst highlights the problems and provides the options for substantial solutions. This position is crucial for companies that plan to survive the ups and downs of business.
Financial Director. As a top position in Finance, being a financial director means that great responsibility is bestowed upon. All forms of cash flow are managed by the financial director, so confidence and skill are crucial for continued operation of the company.
Career corporate finance is a lucrative career option that opens up a multitude of opportunities for go-getters and competitive workers. Skill and desire are the best tools for a career in finance.
A Career in Consumer Financing
What is consumer financing? Basically, this enables the customer to buy certain items either through their credit card or a loan. Some examples of these include purchasing a house, a car, college tuition or home improvement and given that these are necessities, you may have a career in consumer financing.
Your career will start by being a sales agent and offering credit cards to customers. Unlike debit cards that are provided by banks, the consumer can only spend a certain limit monthly and then pay these back when the bill comes.
Some of the people that are interested have never had a credit card before while others are getting another one.
If you know the features and benefits of the card you are selling very well, you may even persuade others to transfer their existing balance thus increasing the number of clients that your company is serving. This is better known as debt consolidation.
Other products that companies are offering these days include financing campaigns, interest free loans, installment loans and revolving credit.
Those who do well selling credit cards, your boss might let you handle something else like approve loans to card holders. This is financial institutions allow you to do more than just buy items from the store. You can use your credit card to pay for home improvement, tuition or buy a car.
The terms for these purchases vary and it is the responsibility of the person to pay the amount otherwise these will be repossessed when it is impossible to pay these back with the amount of interest that has been incurred.
But not everyone will be out in the field selling credit cards. There are those who work in the head office who analyze the behavior of the customer. If there was a sudden large purchase, that person is tasked to call the card holder and ask if a transaction was made or not given that identify theft is on the rise.
Some will be tasked to approve or disapprove the application of the customer for a credit card or a loan. The basis will be that person’s credit history. If it is good, then there won’t be any problems but if there is red flag, chances are this will not disapproved as the individual is a high risk individual.
For those who have been in the consumer financing industry long and want a new change of atmosphere, they can join organizations that help people get a good rating once again. They are tasked in counseling individuals who have spent beyond their means by helping them pay back the debt. This is better known as consumer credit counseling so that person will always have financial stability.
In fact, the information provided by such companies also used as basis whether or not to approve a customer’s loan. If everything is in good order, then there shouldn’t be any problems.
Consumer financing is expected to grow given that people don’t always have the cash on hand to buy whatever they want. Some of the companies that you can apply to if you want to start a career in consumer financing include American General Finance Inc, CitiFinancial, General Electric Finance, HSBC and Wells Fargo Financial.
You just have to apply for the position and hopefully be hired.
Accounting Finance Careers
For those who enjoy the challenge of working with numbers on a daily basis, an accounting finance career is right for you. With the tools that were taught in school, you will be able to help a company or a business run efficiently.
But what is the first step that you have to take? Most companies will require that you graduate with a bachelor’s degree in accountancy, business, economics, math or statistics and also obtain your CPA or Certified Public Accountant’s license.
Given that the job market is very competitive, you will also have to get a master’s degree and be familiar with the latest accounting software around given that most companies use the computer these dates to upgrade records or add new information.
For the most part, accountants do not go out of the office much when everything they have to do is in front of their desk. But if the accounting firm has a client, they will have to leave and perform an audit in the customer’s place of office.
The working hours for most accountants on average are 40 hours a week. However, this gets longer during the tax season and towards the end of the financial year.
Your accounting finance career can go into one of the four major fields. If you want to be a public accountant, you work for corporations, the government, a non profit organization or one person. You can advise the client on tax matters, preparing their income tax returns and offering your consultation services when it comes to running their business.
If the accounting department you are working of is quite big, you are able to specialize for instance simply working on the employee’s compensation and benefits.
Management accountant is another and here, you will be responsible for asset management, budgeting, cost management and performance evaluation of the company. Your analysis of the financial information given to you is needed to help top level executives make strategic business solutions that will affect the company as a whole.
But a vast majority of accountants work in the public sector. They maybe employed on a federal, state or local level and their job is to make sure that all the money collected from the people through the form of taxes is accounted for.
The last option is known as internal auditing. Those who work here check and balance the company or the client they are working for in all facets of the organization so money is never mismanaged or wasted. They also recommend new procedures so incidents of fraud do not occur.
Graduates fresh out of college will not be handling an account or given an assignment on their own. They will be assisting accountants who are more senior to them and then after a year or two, be promoted to that position before becoming a manager or even a partner later on.
During this time, you will be able to specialize in one of the four fields mentioned or shift towards something else. Many professionals have gone from public accounting to internal audit or management accounting. But it is very rare that the opposite occurs.
Getting a college degree and your license can open a lot of doors to get you started on your accounting finance career. So, if you want to pursue this, it is yours for the taking.
A College Degree Is the Starting Point of Your Finance Career
If you want a career in financing, you have to get a college degree. To be more specific, you have to graduate with a bachelor’s degree in math, business, statistics or economics since you will be dealing with numbers and using these skills to make decisions and recommendations.
One study shows that there are currently 230,000 financial analysts and financial advisors in the US. You might think that there is no more vacancy in the market but there are because new businesses are established while old ones are still growing.
With a college degree, one thing you can try is financial consulting. Here, you are tasked on providing advice to business valuation, economic forecasts and analysis, treasury management, strategies for creating shareholder value and securities pricing.
Later on, you may be promoted to finance manager and instead of providing advice to clients, you will have the opportunity to invest their money in order to make a profit. Those who do well here earn somewhere around $73,000 to $145,000 annually and with the amount of money that is given, you better deliver.
Another field is corporate financing in which your job is to manage the client’s assets and if the opportunity presents itself, make acquisitions.
Those who want to serve their country may issue securities, enforce the law, manage assets and offer financial advice to people.
Similar to the finance manager are the money managers because they hold stocks and bonds for clients and at the same time buy stuff off Wall Street. For this job, you need to be proficient in various technologies as well as the latest qualitative methodologies. You will also need to be CFA certified.
Working for an insurance company is also a viable option. Here, you help prepare clients deal with catastrophes before they happen. It is a trillion dollar industry that is still growing so you can still get in the game.
Among the various opportunities, many find their way to commercial banking. You could be a bank manager, teller, the one in charge of approving loans or looking for new accounts. This accounts for the majority of those employed in the financial services industry.
In any of the positions mentioned, you must be good with numbers and have excellent interpersonal skills. Why? Because you are dealing with people and if the client doesn’t like your personality, chances are they will bring their business elsewhere.
After working for a few years, you can work for another company or be daring and start up your own company.
Aside from banking, the real estate industry is also looking out for finance graduates. This is because their training is useful when it comes to property management, real estate appraisal, brokerage and leasing, construction and real estate development. On one end, they sell property while on the other find ways to make it possible for the customer to invest depending on their budget.
A college degree is the starting point of your finance career because no company out there will hire someone who just graduated from secondary school or does not have the proper training when you are dealing with other people’s money.
So, if you are still considering what to take up in college or lost in your current course, shift over because this is very rewarding.
Are You Planning On Picking A Career In Finance?
With the variety of jobs in the finance industry, you might at first be confused as to which particular careers in finance you would like to enter into. Of course, accounting and finance careers are traditionally started by one having a degree in either accounting or finance and while pursuing either degree, you are sure to have some encounter with finance job functions that might arouse your interest.
By the time you reach internship, too, hopefully you would already have an inkling of where to go. A problem, though, lies in the many overlaps between different career functions in finance jobs.
And still, there are questions you would again have to ask yourself. Would you like to work in a commercial bank or in an investment bank? Would you like to have for your career corporate finance functions or would you rather be a financial planner for individuals? Perhaps the best way to resolve some of the questions would involve asking yourself where your talents and interests lie.
Do you like having conversations with common working individuals and not just with fellow finance professionals? Perhaps a job in a lending institution would be right for you. You would be tasked to talk with people looking for loans and you could figure the maximum loans you could give out while keeping risks minimum for the lending institution.
And if you like traveling, perhaps a job estimating the value of real estate would be right for you. A huge percentage of the world’s assets lie in real estates and another talent could come into good use here involves having a bit of foresight regarding not just the current value of property but its future value. Take for example the Trump properties.
Are you interested in seeing the financial side of large companies’ inner workings? Then entering into corporate finance might be right for you. Here, you also have to know how to make sure that a company always has funds for its operations. You have to be able to create plans that make a company profit and know how to keep the company profitable. Other matters such as company mergers and new property acquisitions would rely on your company finance expertise to keep the company from entering into bad actions.
Do you have a talent for anticipating risks? Then maybe careers in finance in the insurance field would be where you belong. Often, businesses require the added stability that only a robust insurance policy could provide. The importance of insurance cannot be stressed enough, as businesses that lack security often have low stock values as it would end up lacking investor confidence.
Consider, too, the case of an entire country like Argentina recently experiencing economic troubles because of a lack of security in its banking system. A talent in anticipating risks is also a key in dealing with individual clients’ cases. This would involve dealing with individuals in creating policies for them that safeguard their lives and belongings. A critical eye is often needed in tailoring policies specific for each individual.
A car career finance insurance rate for an individual would vary depending on that individuals’ age, health and driving histories so a talent in micro-managing for each policy you write up is called for.
Banking and Finance Careers
We all use math daily. While many of us just use the basics to keep track of how much money we gave and the change we should get, those who want to purse banking and finance careers do more than that to keep their clients happy.
People who work in banking and finance are paid well for the work that they do. Four of the fields that many professionals get into include accountancy and tax, Insurance, investment banking and retail banking. Let’s talk about each of these.
For people to work in accountancy and tax, you need to graduate and get your CPA or certified public accountancy license. To learn more about what you will be doing, many have to complete an on the job training with a legitimate accountancy firm.
The training period is about three years and afterwards, you can continue on staying with them, working for another firm or going into private practice.
Insurers just like accountants need to be licensed. This varies from state to state so you have to study and then pass the exam. Once you do so, your career may get you to sell property or casually insurance and life or health insurance.
You should also take further classes in the future because although you have your license already, rules change and you have to be aware of them.
Perhaps the biggest challenge selling insurance is deciding whether to work for an insurance company or doing this on your own. There are advantages and disadvantages doing both. When you are employed, you get a basic salary while those who decide to work for themselves can only make money earning commissions when a sale is made. How well you do is entirely up to you.
Investment banking is different from regular banking because you are there to raise capital for a company by issuing shares or bonds. Later on, you may even work with a team that advises companies regarding mergers and acquisitions.
Also under investment banking is capital markets. Here, the professional is tasked with trading bonds stocks and other financial products to increase the portfolio of the client.
But before you get into that, most entry levels personnel start out doing research first about certain companies and who are their competitors. Their information is then passed on to the account managers who will then advice the client.
Lastly is retail banking which many of us are aware of because these are the people we meet in the bank from the teller to the bank manager when we need to deposit or withdraw cash and apply for a loan.
Unlike accountancy or insurance, you don’t need to get a license to do this kind of work. You just have to be customer oriented with strong interpersonal and communication skills since you will be dealing with people.
Tax and accountancy, insurance, investment banking and retail banking are the four basic types of jobs for anyone that wants to pursue a banking and finance career after graduation from college. Career progression in any of them is excellent and this can only happen with additional training and at times a license.
This can be achieved by part time study so all you have to do now is weigh your options and then go for it.
Career in Numbers, The Finance Majors
If you’re good with a pen, go get writing courses. If you’re good with pencils, brushes, or palette, go get arts studies. And when you’re good with numbers, then there are a number of courses you can take in college where you can develop your full potential. College has the sciences but basing on the smugness of your face, it is not what you want. Then this leaves us with another option where mathematically skills are quite necessary: finance majors.
That’s right, a career in the finances is a career that is worth thinking about. Students with special affinity with numbers should think about exploiting their skills and enter a field were numbers will become mostly their life.
We could classify major courses in finance into three big categories: the corporate finance, investments, and banking. When we talk about corporate finance, we’re talking about analyzing a company’s level of profitability. It involves finding out present market values and how the company can remain afloat which means studying debts, company’s equity, present earnings, among other things.
Investments, on the other hand, handle just that: investing money to improve the company’s standing within its industry. Analysis on the capabilities of the company to invest in stocks, bonds, other corporations, on various properties, other businesses, etc. is a process that requires knowledge and skills to interpret present market values and utilize those values to come up with the best decision that would help make more money for the company, stabilize its status in the industry, and ensure a solid future.
Another major category of finance courses would be banking. Knowledge on banking, banking laws, intermediary financials, and other banking elements will be part of your curriculum.
Courses in college that revolves around finance include studies in accounting, business economics, and marketing. Graduating from these courses will open the road towards becoming finance career professionals. The knowledge you will gain in studying finance in college will help you learn how to access and process the financial information.
The good thing about becoming finance professionals is that employment opportunities in this field seems to be increasing and according to statistics will continue to increase in the upcoming years. One has the option to enter the field of corporate and financial management or the area of investment services.
Financial graduates will have options to enter corporations or manufacturing industries, health care services, the banking system, as well as insurance and financial intermediary companies. Even organizations and institutions like the academe require the expertise of financial major graduates.
One can also work as financial consultants giving advice on securities, stock strategies, business valuation, economic forecasts, analysis of market trends, and treasury management among other things. Or one can also be a finance manager where the management and strategies involving investment activities will be his main concert and responsibility. Both government and private entities are looking for guys like these.
There are opportunities in the area of corporate finance as well. Corporate finance will see you working in corporations and specifically looks at how the company can get money, harness it, and make it grow to improve the status of the company and plan for its future. Liquidity of assets, flexibility of funds, and the company’s compliance with present laws and obligations will be part of your responsibility as an officer in corporate finance.
There are also opportunities to specialize on a field, like becoming financial trade analysts or credit analysts or money market analysts. There are numerous career paths that one can take when they graduate as finance majors in college.
Career Opportunities in Accounting & Finance
Career opportunities in accounting and finance are endless. This is because when you have either a CA or CPA license with you, it is possible for you to work for a large firm that has offices both here and abroad. Given that every company needs ones, it will not be that hard to find a job.
Some of things that you can get into include actuaries, auditing, banking, chartered accounting, corporate finance, corporate recovery, stock broking and taxation management.
One report shows that employments prospects for these professionals is quite high over the past 5 years and this is expected to continue until after 2010. You will also be handsomely rewarded with a good salary but long hours come with the territory especially when companies and individuals have to file their income taxes and towards the end of the financial year.
Just to give you an idea, newly grades who work in banks earn from $35,000 to $50,000 annually while financial managers earn almost double that amount. Professionals who soon become partners for the bigger firms earn more than $100,000.
But in order for you to get a higher position, you will also need to go back to school. Most financial experts pursue an MBA after a few years in the corporate world. While some return to their employers, others apply elsewhere.
Before you can see yourself up there, you have to work from the bottom going up. While some decide to make it big in Wall Street, you too can also succeed wherever you decide to apply.
The first thing to do is conduct some research. This will make you understand how things work and how news in business affects the industry, the country and the world as a whole.
If you want to get the job, aside from being knowledgeable, you need to have connections that are already there so you are given the position instead of someone else. This means building your network from school and then using it to your advantage.
Associating yourself with those who have done well may give you pointers so you too can be just as successful as them.
But you shouldn’t wait until graduate before you start looking at the various career opportunities in accounting and finance. The best way to get your foot in the door is to apply for a summer position or an internship because most companies hire those who have worked with them for a short period of time compared to those that sent in their resumes. Believe me; you already have an edge right there as you already have an idea about the internal workings of the company.
Just in case the company you worked for does not have an opening right now, you should prepare your resume and yourself for interviews with other companies that do similar activities with what you used to do during your internship.
The average professional who works in either accounting or finance leaves after 2 years. They may apply for reassignment to another department or find employment doing something else. When this happens, there are job openings around for fresh graduates as well as those who already have experience in this industry.
Indeed, there are career opportunities in accounting and finance. You just have to build your network and get it.
Choosing Your Accounting and Finance Careers
The best way you can do if you’re thinking about your future is to choose the best college course with great career opportunities. Accounting and finance related courses will give you plenty of opportunities to have a career in finance. Accounting is considered as the language of the business industry and an accounting degree is one of the top courses in the world you can earn. If you’re looking for the best job, then you could be looking for a career in finance.
Choosing a career in accounting will give you plenty of things to learn especially in the finance industry. One of the main purpose of accounting and its studies is the methods on how to keep record of income and assets of specific dates. How businesses and other companies work is one of the most relevant learning you’ll get from accounting.
Before you get the chance to grab career corporate finance opportunities, you have to weave your way through the entangled world of accounting and finance careers first and learn as much financial knowledge as you can along the way. With so many opportunities at hand, you can use it to climb the corporate ladder and work your way up.
There are many ways for accounting graduates to start their careers in finance. The first one is through public practice. Becoming a certified public accountant will gain you multifaceted experiences in the business world. Job description includes auditing, taxation and management advisory services. You can have a job working as a certified public accountant in business firms offering your services to businesses, governments or individual parties.
Government service is also one of the many choices available to you. With the myriad of opportunities offered to you in the world of accounting and finance careers, you can always try your luck for government service either in state or federal level. Administrative positions are just within reach for accumulative work experience in government service and having an excellent employment history is the easiest way up for a promotion.
Working for so many years in a particular accounting group that involves businesses in the commerce and financial industry will also gain you the much needed experience for you to become a finance director or a chief accountant for instance. Being the finance head of either big or small corporations have the biggest responsibility regarding financial matters, however these responsibilities will differ depending on the company size.
Education is also one of the key choices you can make if you want a career in finance. This career path can lead you to become a researcher, a reviewer or a professor perhaps. With advanced researched regarding accounting, results to emerging accounting problems are easier and much faster to solve.
These are just some of the career in finance choices you can make in connection with accounting and there are plenty more available to you. Working in an insurance company will not only gain you the knowledge of car career finance insurance rates, home insurance rates or other insurance rates as well.
But the knowledge and work experience that will help you reach your highest goals in life. The key to making it to the world of business and financial industry is to start your way from the bottom and work hard to make it to the top.
Could A Career In Finance Be Just What You Are Looking For?
Careers in finance remain very lucrative and very exciting jobs in the corporate world but what exactly is needed to become a professional in this field? First, having a degree in financing or accounting remains a very valuable step in getting hired by most companies that deal with finance.
Accounting and finance careers can be jumpstarted by having a good knowledge of where exactly in financing you would like to find yourself in. You should thoroughly consider the many fields in finance wherein your particular expertise or interests may lie.
There is corporate finance, which involves working for companies and handling the financial side of their operations. A company’s growth often depends on the long-term stable handling of their finances and acquisitions, steady business growth as well as in the more short-term aspects of handling the company’s current available funds. As a career corporate finance professionals are responsible for making a company profitable and keeping it profitable.
You could also consider one of the many jobs in banking. Again, you have to find the right position to get into depending on what you’re interested in. There are a variety of job functions ranging from a bank teller to bank manager, to working in either commercial banking or in investment banking.
If you are more of a people person, then you could find work that involves talking to people, finding out their needs and how to help them. If number crunching is more in line with your interests, then you could work in investment banking and assist firms in raising funds or creating projections regarding business mergers.
Perhaps working in real estate could be right for you. Real estate is particularly valuable because banks and other financial institutions use land as collateral. Real estate-related jobs typically entail being a good judge of the value of land and properties. This could also mean a lot of travel for you and seeing new places as well as talking to the people in those places.
Would you like to work in the area of insurance? Job functions in insurance involve helping companies and individuals maintain security and prevent losses to their properties. Security is such a valuable commodity especially for large companies. Even other areas in finance require insurance of their own. Banking, for instance has its own risks and thus banks usually require the security provided by insurance firms. This security itself can be prized as a solid commodity.
Banks, even though they might not be suffering a risk of collapse could indeed collapse if its clients construe the bank as lacking security. For individuals, the field of insurance gives a measure of security through a variety of policies like life insurance plans, fire insurance plans, as well as sets the car career finance insurance rate for the family and house insurance rates. In insurance and in the other fields of finance, you might be able to find the perfect career path for you.
With the great diversity in careers in finance available and actual new job functions being established all the time as dictated by the constantly varying needs of the clients, then surely there is a spot in this field just right for you, your talents, skills, and interests.
Finance Careers A Continuous Demand in The Future
Your decision to have a finance career can be a start of something big for you. According to latest employment and business trends, the growth of the world economy plus the increasing number of people retiring in the next decade will create a demand for finance professionals.
If you’re already in the industry, then it is possibly the best time to take post graduate courses to increase your chance of landing better opportunities when the finance career employment peak kicks in. And if you’re just entering college, a career in finance may be something that you should really consider.
Before even thinking of a career in finance, the field does require a certain level of skills and knowledge which you can learn. Finance professionals are expected to organize, analyze and interpret numerical and financial data. They are expected to arrive at sound decisions based on the data that they have. They should be meticulous and show attention to details.
It is also expected from them that their oral and written communications skills are beyond average since they will be expected to present data and information to others. Having knowledge of financial and economic history, practices, laws, trends, as well as having economics and accounting background is often an advantage.
In a career in finance, you can either go to private, public or non-profit organizations since all those three needs some levels of financial management and control. Finance professionals often find themselves employed in commercial banking, financial planning, money managing, corporate finance, investment banking, insurance and, of course, in real estate. These are the fields that finance professionals are often in demand.
Commercial banking means having an opportunity to work in the areas of financial management, accountancy and auditing, securities, commodities and financial services sales. There’s also an opportunity to work in the area of financial and credit analysis since commercial banks are there to provide banking services to individuals as well as small and large businesses and organizations.
When you work in commercial banks, you may want to take the opportunity to learn more about businesses. Interacting with bank clients should be taken as an opportunity to build a people network. And because commercial banking is more diverse now that before, you can start as a bank teller and move up in areas like leasing, credit card banking, international finance and trade credits. Once you’re inside the commercial banking system, it would be nice to keep your eyes open for better opportunities within the industry.
If you’re not fond of commercial banks, you might want to look at corporate finance. In this area, part of your responsibilities as a finance professional is to find money for the company, plant for the future, make acquisitions whenever necessary and whenever there’s an opportunity, and help manage the company’s present finance. Fast problem-solving skills will be hand in this area of finance.
The good thing working in corporate finance is that it pays well, you get to travel and meet with lots of people, make business decisions that matters, and can hone your decision making skills.
Other areas where you can grow as finance professional include financial planning which involves helping individuals organize, manage, and plan their financial futures. You are expected to guide clients on their retirement needs, planning for their children’s education, etc. Your knowledge on investments, taxes, and listening skills should be exemplary.
You can also carve your career as a finance professional in the field of insurance. Helping individuals and businesses prepare for emergencies or disasters that would otherwise result to big losses would be the main course of your job.
Investment banking is yet another area where you can be good at. This time, you will be helping companies and even governments issue, purchase or trade securities, manage financial assets, and provide sound financial advice.
You can also be a successful money manager. As money managers you will be holding tocks and bonds for institutional clients. You’re expected to be informed and know how to analyze market trends using either quantitative techniques or simple intuition.
And finally a career on real estate is always something that you might have seen coming as a career in finance professional. You can get employment opportunities in areas like brokerage and leasing, in title insurance, in mortgage banking and even in construction and property management.
Real estate appraisals are also an important aspect of real estate work that you can take full advantage of.
Finance Careers In Health Care
If you think careers in the field of finance is limited to having jobs in manufacturing and other more “business” like companies, then it’s time to widen your perspective and look beyond the business districts. Finance professionals like accountants, auditors and finance analysts are needed in every field, including, and perhaps even more so, in the field of health care. A finance career in health care is a worthy profession.
One can also view the health care industry as an advantage with regards to advancement in their career. For starters, the industry will always be in need of finance managers to tackle issues like accounting, budget, insurance claims, health benefit claim, etc. Jobs will always await those who are qualified.
Another thing is that it seems that amidst erratic economic instability, the health care services is and will always be among the most stable industry out there. With the increasing number of older people, and the advancement of technologies that help improve healthy living, more and more people will need health care services in the future.
Stable as it is, though, the health care industry is not without its set of problems. However, moving into health care is still a good move if you know what you’re getting yourself into. Not to scare you or anything, but advancing your financial career towards health care is not something that you should underestimate.
If you think that your background on corporate finance management is enough to help you move easily about in the world of health services, then you’re wrong. The first step when moving your career to the health sector is that you need to be prepared.
Even though one would argue that accounting is simply accounting wherever you go, there are certain concepts and ideas in the health care industry which can be confusing. Mathematics and numbers can be considered as the universal language but applying those numbers and the kind of mathematics into a comprehensible and usable system requires knowledge and skills that can be highly specific to a field of study. Health care is one of that area.
In advancing your finance career in health services, it would be wise to stack up on knowledge on HMO, home health care, managed care for patients, PPOs, and similar medical terms, concepts and the like. Studying these health related issues and concepts will keep you on your toes and will help you make sound decisions.
You need to prepare yourself to battle head-on various government imposed regulations on health services, lots of house or hospital rules and not to mention existing regulations being handles by organizations from both the medical profession and the finance industry themselves.
Don’t get me wrong. My aim is not to discourage people from moving to health care from manufacturing and service oriented business. But rather, the intention is to inform would be finance professionals of the needs of the health care industry to give them time to prepare themselves towards the transition.
Another way to prepare is to begin browsing job listings and similar materials. These job postings will usually have descriptions telling people who wish to apply what to expect from the job, the responsibilities and other details.
In summary, having a finance careers in health care is a good career move. Just be certain that it is something that you want and your motivation to learn remains high. The profession is a good one and the industry will stick around for a long time.
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