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Thread: What kind of jobs with finance/credit major?

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    Default What kind of jobs with finance/credit major?

    I hope this is the right section for this, as I'm hoping for some input from our finance gurus I'm thinking of changing my major to finance and credit, and I'm wondering what types of jobs are available with this degree. Does anyone here have a similar degree? Or have info for me? Thanks!
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    Default Re: What kind of jobs with finance/credit major?

    have you talked with people in the career planning center of your colllege? Or do you have an advisor? Do you want to go to grad school?

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    Default Re: What kind of jobs with finance/credit major?

    I'm curious about what is prompting you to want to change your major. I'm a finance major myself actually.







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    Default Re: What kind of jobs with finance/credit major?

    I am told that the highest paying highest demand position in the banking / corporate finance sector right now (versus required length of study, anyhow) is 'forensic accountant' ... i.e. a CPA who 'reconstructs' true and accurate corporate/business 'books' which have been 'doctored', 'whitewashed'. 'cooked' etc. Unfortunately, I have no particulars regarding what actual course of study will lead to becoming a 'forensic accountant'.

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    Default Re: What kind of jobs with finance/credit major?

    More generally, the positions available with a finance and credit degree:

    Loan officer at a bank/finance company
    Accounting (all sorts, including the ones Melonie describes)
    Investment banking (big $$$)
    Investment management
    Potentially other finance department jobs in corporations

    Without stereotyping, I'd guess your INCOME potential will be maximized by switching majors. But I think many people don't find the nitty-gritty aspects of finance very interesting.
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    Default Re: What kind of jobs with finance/credit major?

    Well, I've had about 4 majors. I originally wanted to go to law school. That's still a possibility. However, I'm finding myself bored with the majors I've gone through (theatre, criminal justice, english, and psych) and want a degree that I'll actually be able to use if I don't decide to do law school.

    Em, I'm thinking of grad school, but not sure what program I'd go into afterwards...

    I've been a loan officer and an escrow officer, and I do well with finances, so I thought this might be interesting. Hmm...a forensic accountant huh? Sounds..er...interesting...
    I believe you Dottie and you have my support

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    Default Re: What kind of jobs with finance/credit major?

    I would elaborate on Lurker's comments that in the world of 'high finance' another factor comes into play when you start talking about investment banking, investment management, mergers & acquisitions i.e. the serious 'big money' aspects of banking. In this niche, it's not just what degree you have and what you know. It's also WHERE you got your degree and WHO you know !

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    Default Re: What kind of jobs with finance/credit major?

    Quote Originally Posted by Melonie View Post
    In this niche, it's not just what degree you have and what you know. It's also WHERE you got your degree and WHO you know !
    Ain't that the truth. lol.
    I believe you Dottie and you have my support

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    Default Re: What kind of jobs with finance/credit major?

    First of all, in my experience, it's pretty rare for people to follow their exact degree. Many companies will hire Finance Managers, Business Analysts,etc with any degree, as long as you have something. Don't feel like you have to pick something that you will end up sticking with forever.

    That being said, my company's Financial Analyst has a plain business degree and makes about 65K a year (he's 28 ). Basically what he does is prepare our annual operating plan, make sure every dept is sticking to budget every period (month) and doing a whole inventory / budget analysis every quarter. We're the largest facility out of a huge Fortune 100 company and he does a lot, but it's a pretty easy job considering the money he makes.






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    Default Re: What kind of jobs with finance/credit major?

    I have an accounting degree and am a divisional controller now. I was CFO, but the company got bought out and I have been demoted to divisional, but I got a pay raise. Go figure. People with finance degrees can end up anywhere in the business. Every plant has some accountants and finance people to work on the local costs and inventories, not to mention payroll and accounts payable and receivable. Finance majors tend to end up in plans and analysis. Business in this country tends to work with lots of paper plans. Every contract, every deal should probably have some financial analysis. Sometimes, we even go look at the plans and analysis after the fact to see if things worked out like we expected.

    Banks also have lots of loan officers who have finance degrees. In reality, loan officers are sales people and need only a basic understanding of finance. They really need more marketing and psychology training. Finance is just the base knowledge. Still, if you are good at sales, a finance degree should be a great way to get a banking job.

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    Default Re: What kind of jobs with finance/credit major?

    Finance is fun! International finance was one of my MBA concentration areas. Of course, then I went off and started a stupid business and went back to stripping instead of, as Melonie rightfully put it, went to the right places and met the right people. I would still love to go over to the European branch of my company and work in currency derivitives, and/or translation.

    Now I've been starting from scratch at a large financial firm for the last year selling financial products and advice, basically. Its been a roller coast, but I've made as much as I ever did dancing, and should break $100k next year.

    You should go for it! But working at a bank is lame. Banks don't really require much finance knowledge, and you'll be making $40k a year with a few small raises. But you can go home at 5pm and get lots of holidays.

    Commissons are where its at baby! Sales!

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    Default Re: What kind of jobs with finance/credit major?

    Where do you plan to live?

    I don't ask this sarcastically, but your details say that you are in Utah. I'm no expert, but Wall Street and Utah aren't in the same place are they? If you want to go for the really big bucks and prestigious jobs, you need to be in NY, London, Frankfurt, Zurich or Geneva, Singapore, or maybe KL.

    I'd also agree with Melonie. Networking is essential.

    To comment on Katrine's thoughts. There is a lot to be said for being in sales. It is hard work, but can be very rewarding. However, if you do like her and I and become a financial adviser there are many pitfalls.

    One that I am finding is that I am too qualified. Clients want qualifications, it reassures them. Employers do not. I have tried to find a new job over the last 2 years and had terrible trouble. Why? In part because I am now more qualified than the people who are interviewing me. I am also younger, more intelligent, more handsome, more widely travelled and more adventurous, but that is a different story...

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    Default Re: What kind of jobs with finance/credit major?

    I agree with what Melonie and Stuart are saying about the really, REALLY high-$$$ arenas of finance being somewhat hard to enter and very location-specific. However, if you're an ex-dancer you may be pretty enough to break into that inner circle on the basis of looks, and then make your way (a la that Melanie Griffith movie) to the top. The realities are that A) men in upper management often hire on the basis of eye candy (I remember one of the guys at Tiger Management explaining to me back in the day that all their admins were day-jobbing fashion models "for morale reasons") and B) a lot of very high-paying jobs in finance mostly rely on being pleasant and responsive (for example, being an institutional salesperson for stocks). A dancing background is probably a very good one for being a high performer in that kind of environment.

    I also agree with Katrine that by and large you want to be in sales/commissions jobs to maximize your income, but this is of course true in just about ANY industry.
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    Default Re: What kind of jobs with finance/credit major?

    Quote Originally Posted by Lurker View Post
    I agree with what Melonie and Stuart are saying about the really, REALLY high-$$$ arenas of finance being somewhat hard to enter and very location-specific. However, if you're an ex-dancer you may be pretty enough to break into that inner circle on the basis of looks, and then make your way (a la that Melanie Griffith movie) to the top.
    That's a movie. No reputable financial institution is going to promote a secretary to a lucrative position based on her comeliness. Now, if said lady had the education, the licensing, etc, she could get her foot in the door in an actual financial position, even if its at the entry-point.

    There is a lot of money in finance, even salary positions. But you aren't going to make millions off the bat. It takes time and training......

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    Default Re: What kind of jobs with finance/credit major?

    Of course there is one side benefit being overlooked. Get any good at finance, get some study in, get some experience and you'll be able to manage your own money more than adequately for decades to come. That is worth more than gold.

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    Default Re: What kind of jobs with finance/credit major?

    Quote Originally Posted by StuartL View Post
    Of course there is one side benefit being overlooked. Get any good at finance, get some study in, get some experience and you'll be able to manage your own money more than adequately for decades to come. That is worth more than gold.
    Exactly. I really want to understand investments better. I am considering NYU for grad school if I go that route (and if my grades stay at their current level), and if I go that direction I will probably look into working somewhere in New York. Otherwise, I'll probably stick around Utah.

    I know i DO NOT want anything to do with working as a loan officer. I already have my l/o license, I could do it now if I wanted to, but it's not my thing. Investments interest me, even if I'm doing it at a small (non wallstreet) level.
    I believe you Dottie and you have my support

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    Default Re: What kind of jobs with finance/credit major?

    Quote Originally Posted by Katrine View Post
    That's a movie. No reputable financial institution is going to promote a secretary to a lucrative position based on her comeliness. Now, if said lady had the education, the licensing, etc, she could get her foot in the door in an actual financial position, even if its at the entry-point.

    There is a lot of money in finance, even salary positions. But you aren't going to make millions off the bat. It takes time and training......
    Oh, right...It IS a movie!

    Seriously, a very common move (over 5+ years) on the trading desks at Wall Street firms (I refuse to vouch for whether those firms are "reputable") is Trading Assistant (basically clerical)-->Junior Salesperson (making $250k plus)-->Senior Salesperson (making seven figures). I have seen it happen all the time, and those Trading Assistants run the gamut from Ivy League grads who missed the recruiting cycle and are desperate for a job where the action is to (yep) cute finance majors whose attractiveness pushed them to the front of the line through the HR process. I've had plenty of salespeople in my time who started out that way. I'm also well aware of marketing people in other areas of high finance who started out in secretarial jobs.

    The point being, sometimes the entry level job IS a clerical function. And often a finance degree is the right starting point. It's not a guaranteed career path by any means, but you can get There (huge salary) from Here (cute with finance degree). Which I think is what you're really saying, too, aside from the pot shot at me for my throwaway line about a movie.

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    Default Re: What kind of jobs with finance/credit major?

    God, at CBOT, most trading assts that I knew made in the 50-60K range. And that was NOT starting out. In addition, most of the female trading assts in the pit were never taken seriously and were hired for eye-candy only. I only know 1 woman that lasted for more than 10 years, she was the only one who wasn't f*cking her boss or doing coke with her boss. She was making good money and if her boss was having an excellent year, she (and his other employees) would get like $10K xmas bonuses, but she never cleared 6 figures.

    Before anyone goes and gets all pissed off and offended by what I said, please know that I'm mostly talking about the girls on the floor, in the pit. There are plenty of women I know that have become successful and moved up the ranks, but they mostly worked for the major clearing firms and/or large brokers and had desk-type jobs there. The female on-floor trading assts are a joke there.
    Last edited by Hello_Kitty27; 11-29-2006 at 09:23 PM.






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    Default Re: What kind of jobs with finance/credit major?

    Katrine, when you say you plan to work in a European branch, do you mind me asking which firm and which country?

    Unless you plan to work in London or Dublin, you will need a 2nd fluent language as a minimum and preferably a 3rd.

    One of my best friends over here works on a forex desk for a Belgian bank. He speaks English, French and Portugese mother tongue, his Spanish is excellent but still the bank is insisting he learns business Dutch. It is just unreal. If that wasn't enough, he has a business / economics degree and an economics master.

    Certainly in Belgium, Nederlands, Luxembourg, Germany, Switzerland, Paris and Milan almost ALL the staff you are competing with for jobs will be similar to that. On continental europe, the standards for competition are just unreal.

    Personally, I don't stand a chance!!

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    Default Re: What kind of jobs with finance/credit major?

    Of course there is one side benefit being overlooked. Get any good at finance, get some study in, get some experience and you'll be able to manage your own money more than adequately for decades to come. That is worth more than gold.
    In my case, that's "more gold' not 'better than gold' LOL !!!

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    Default Re: What kind of jobs with finance/credit major?

    Re ^^^ Ha!! Love it. For me, it's worth more than silver...

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    Default Re: What kind of jobs with finance/credit major?

    Quote Originally Posted by StuartL View Post
    Unless you plan to work in London or Dublin, you will need a 2nd fluent language as a minimum and preferably a 3rd.

    One of my best friends over here works on a forex desk for a Belgian bank. He speaks English, French and Portugese mother tongue, his Spanish is excellent but still the bank is insisting he learns business Dutch. It is just unreal. If that wasn't enough, he has a business / economics degree and an economics master.

    Certainly in Belgium, Nederlands, Luxembourg, Germany, Switzerland, Paris and Milan almost ALL the staff you are competing with for jobs will be similar to that. On continental europe, the standards for competition are just unreal.
    Yep. Here I am sweating away trying to get up to speed in German, which is further complicated by the fact that what people here in Switzerland speak outside of formal meetings only remotely resembles German (the dialect sounds more like Dutch or Sewdish). OTOH when they do speak standard German they tend to speak rather slowly with a thick overpronouncing accent which helps a lot. German is going to be my fourth language after Portuguese, English, and French.

    As for the OP, I would suggest she look into specializing in quantitative finance. Not only does that guarantee the best long-term earnings potential, working on a derivatives/structured products desk she can also be sure that she'll never have to deal with any aspiring trading assistant encroaching upon her position, no matter how enticing the eye candy.

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    Default Re: What kind of jobs with finance/credit major?

    A report by New York State Comptroller Alan Hevesi found that the average—the average!—salary of a finance job in New York was $289,664 in 2005.

    http://www.slate.com/id/2154673/
    wow

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