Advice Column

This post is intended to give advice to individuals pursuing the same career path as I am. I wanted to give you my outlook on what I think is necessary to get a job in this economy. A general requirement for pursuing a career is to figure out what degree you need to acquire to be able to attain that job someday. Once you have figured this out, you map out all your classes and eventually get your degree and jump into your career, right?? To be honest that is what I used to think for quite some time. Just last month a thought came to mind, “why is a job going to want to pick me over everyone else that applies”? I am not the smartest person out of everyone else in my field, according to grades, I do not have much experience when it comes to finance, other than taking a few classes, and I do not have too much networking going on. Think about it, a degree in any major should indicate that you are very inclined with all material in your field. But how well does school really prepare us for our future careers? It is my belief that many jobs require you to learn the way they do things, and once you learn you are fit to do the job.

In this tough economy it is difficult to get a job. Many people do not like to believe in the saying, “it is all about who you know” but let’s face reality this is very true. Let’s say you do not know anyone in your field how would one get a job? First step is to take advantage, preferably while you are still at school, of all the internships available. This will be the creation of your network. An internship gives you experience needed to pursue a career right out of graduation. So many jobs we are interested in require 2 years of experience in a related field. So by interning you might be offered a job there, cross your fingers, or you can always just use 
it as a reference for experience.

I wanted to share with you the job requirements to become a financial analyst.  I found a general description of the requirements from Google. To become a junior financial analyst you need a bachelor’s degree in a business field, such as finance, accounting or economics. This webpage also stated that to become a junior financial analyst 2 years or less of experience is required. To become a senior financial analyst you need 3 to 5 years of financial planning and analysis.  Many analysts want to move up so they get their MBA, this allows them to become a senior analyst. Once you have become a financial analyst you want to strengthen your abilities. Many analysts take a series of tests, if you are lucky your employer will pay for them, including the Series 7 General Securities Representative Qualification, Series 63 Uniform Securities Agent State Law Examination, Series 65 & 66 Uniform Investment Adviser Law and State Law Examinations and the CFA exam. Now the purpose of these tests is for employers and clients to recognize the variation of knowledge you have attained.

I hope my post helps those of you considering a job in my future field. The main idea is that you need to figure out what you want to do in life. Lay on the table the requirements necessary to reach your goal. Once you have done that just follow the steps, and always try to network and get as much experience possible.