Financial Sector & the Underlying Opportunities

Yash Negi
3 min readMay 20, 2015

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Everyone would agree that finance is one of the most prosperous and flourishing careers in this era.

However, to get your foot in the door of finance jobs one needs to know what to expect. The opening up of the economy and to reap the demographic dividend the government is making efforts to emerge as a global business destination. As new businesses get setup new opportunities in the domain of finance are set to rise.

When choosing a career in finance, there are career paths that one has to choose from, which could be business analysis, financial analyst, investment banker, financial planner or a stock broker. Other than roles in the finance industry you can also choose to work as a finance and accounts controller, auditor or as a finance manager for an organization, to monitor its financial health.

The critical aspect of finance jobs is that, as the industry grows on a year-to-year basis as a finance professional you would need to keep your insights on finance accurate and up to date. This holds the key to success in finance jobs.

Coming to the responsibilities that finance jobs come with, largely includes, creating financial strategies, risk management, project analysis, short and long term financial planning, investment decisions and charting the framework for the financial policy of an organization.

However, these responsibilities are branched into several specialized roles where a finance professional has his or her niche skills. So let us see some of the roles that come under the umbrella of finance jobs.

Corporate Finance: In this job role, you would be employed with an organization to help them attract investments and funding to ramp up the business, supervising mergers and acquisitions, making projections for the future, monitor the financial health by ensuring that there is enough cash in hand for sustenance.

Corporate finance is further branched into sub-roles, like, credit manager, investor relations officer, controller. These are the roles that cater to specific aspects of financial management of an organization.

Investment Banking: Investment banks are the units which provide their consultation of businesses, individuals and government to issue securities, advise investors to buy securities, manage financial health and conduct trade of shares, bonds and securities.

As a fresher in this domain, you would start off as an analyst and would be involved in writing reports, creating spreadsheets, trading stock options and conduct research. A post graduate degree in management from a premier institute is what employers prefer.

After spending a considerable amount of time as an analyst, you would need to develop your niche in a particular industry, economy, or a sector.

Retail Banking: In the retail banking sector, you would be dealing with large corporations, small and mid-sized businesses, and retail customers.
Finance jobs in retail banks are highly specialized and confined to one particular aspect of banking operations. Some of the leading finance jobs in banks come with the job title of; leasing agents, priority banking, forex management, and trade credit specialists. A graduate degree and a passion to deep seat your career in the banking industry is what employers look for when hiring for open positions.

Conclusively, the career progression offered by finance jobs is fast paced and lucrative, as the industry grows, you also grow as a professional. Hence, pursuing a career in the domain of finance is a sure shot means to ensure life long professional growth and a secured future.

Image Source: kent.ac.uk

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