Finance Today
The finance department is one of the most important departments in a business; similar to accounting in the sense that it deals with money. Financing deals with future as accounting deals with past. One of the financing departments primary responsibilities is to help the business receive the necessary financing to obtain the goals of the business. It basically makes sure that there is always enough funds to make everything work.
Careers in Financing
- Corporate finance - Working within a company and finding the basic mean to fund the company
- Commercial banking - Your basic banking situation, from checking accounts to loans.
- Investment banking - This is the more famous financing career. deal with facilitating the issuance of corporate securities and making these securities available for investors to purchase, all while trading securities and providing financial advice to both corporations and wealthy individual investors
- Hedge fund - Basically large investment funds who sell a wide variety of financial assets
- Private equity and venture capital - Help businesses find the funds necessary to expand and fund current operations
- Financial planning - Help individuals and corporations plan for future financial stability
- Insurance - helping businesses and individuals anticipate potential risks and protect themselves from losses
- Public accounting - Basically the accounts keeps track of assets vs. liabilities. See Accounting tab at the top of the page
Interview
Discussion with: Karl Meaders Date: 23 Feb 2012
Objectives
What do you really want to get out of this interview? What would make it successful for you?
To understand the basic workings of a career in financing careers.
Marketplace
What are your projections for this type of work or industry? Is it stable, growing, declining?
Financing is always needed, companies need to have funds…and that's why they pay us
What are the key trends or issues? New developments? Key challenges?
Right now some of the big issues is finding people who really understand how financing works. With all of the online institutions teaching different forms of financing, it becomes increasingly complicated to find people who know the right stuff.
What and where are the opportunities?
The opportunities are everywhere, if you market yourself well, someone, somewhere will hire you
What are typical salaries in this type of job, entry-level to experienced? What are the opportunities for career growth?
I would say right around 55K, 60K if you are really good.
Entry into Position
When and how did you get involved in this work?
Honestly, I took a chance and applied to WalMart and just got in their financing department.
What was your training and background? Is this typical for people in your position and in similar positions?
I've managed a laundry mat…but apart form that I don't have too much experience.
How important are specific credentials for entry or success?
Credentials are rather important, I would say even more important would be who you know, networking
Job Specifics
What’s a typical day like for you or someone in a similar position?
Well it's not like playing video games and sleeping all day but it is fun, I do enjoy my job
What do you like most about your work?
I really enjoy tracking the numbers, I feel that my contribution really matters here and that my job is not meaningless
What do you like least?
I would say the numbers. :D
What talents or skills do you think are the most crucial to success in this work?
You really need to organized in the line of work.
What attitudes or values are important?
You're dealing with money…so you need integrity
Who doesn’t do well in this type of work?
Stealing is really frowned upon in this line of work
How do you advance or get promoted in this type of work?
Hard work and time.
Recommendations
Would my background be appropriate for this type of work?
Actually, yes I think you would do rather well here
What would you recommend I do if I want to go into this type of work?
Work hard and get your name out there
Are there other jobs similar to yours that you would suggest I also consider?
Well, you can't have my job. But I will allow you to be my assistant.
Can you recommend other people I can talk to, or other resources I can check out?
I would recommend talking to Nathan Childs, he is a graduate from BYU-I and he has many connections.
Knowing what you do now, would you approach this career (or job) in the same way? If not, what would you do differently, and why?
….In all honesty, I wish I could have done some things differently. I waited too long to get really started. But I have been very blessed with the success that I have experienced.
Objectives
What do you really want to get out of this interview? What would make it successful for you?
To understand the basic workings of a career in financing careers.
Marketplace
What are your projections for this type of work or industry? Is it stable, growing, declining?
Financing is always needed, companies need to have funds…and that's why they pay us
What are the key trends or issues? New developments? Key challenges?
Right now some of the big issues is finding people who really understand how financing works. With all of the online institutions teaching different forms of financing, it becomes increasingly complicated to find people who know the right stuff.
What and where are the opportunities?
The opportunities are everywhere, if you market yourself well, someone, somewhere will hire you
What are typical salaries in this type of job, entry-level to experienced? What are the opportunities for career growth?
I would say right around 55K, 60K if you are really good.
Entry into Position
When and how did you get involved in this work?
Honestly, I took a chance and applied to WalMart and just got in their financing department.
What was your training and background? Is this typical for people in your position and in similar positions?
I've managed a laundry mat…but apart form that I don't have too much experience.
How important are specific credentials for entry or success?
Credentials are rather important, I would say even more important would be who you know, networking
Job Specifics
What’s a typical day like for you or someone in a similar position?
Well it's not like playing video games and sleeping all day but it is fun, I do enjoy my job
What do you like most about your work?
I really enjoy tracking the numbers, I feel that my contribution really matters here and that my job is not meaningless
What do you like least?
I would say the numbers. :D
What talents or skills do you think are the most crucial to success in this work?
You really need to organized in the line of work.
What attitudes or values are important?
You're dealing with money…so you need integrity
Who doesn’t do well in this type of work?
Stealing is really frowned upon in this line of work
How do you advance or get promoted in this type of work?
Hard work and time.
Recommendations
Would my background be appropriate for this type of work?
Actually, yes I think you would do rather well here
What would you recommend I do if I want to go into this type of work?
Work hard and get your name out there
Are there other jobs similar to yours that you would suggest I also consider?
Well, you can't have my job. But I will allow you to be my assistant.
Can you recommend other people I can talk to, or other resources I can check out?
I would recommend talking to Nathan Childs, he is a graduate from BYU-I and he has many connections.
Knowing what you do now, would you approach this career (or job) in the same way? If not, what would you do differently, and why?
….In all honesty, I wish I could have done some things differently. I waited too long to get really started. But I have been very blessed with the success that I have experienced.
Key Terms
- ROI - A performance measure used to evaluate the efficiency of an investment or to compare the efficiency of a number of different investments
- Net Present Value - The difference between the present value of cash inflows and the present value of cash outflows
- Stocks - A way for a company to raise fund. They sell small parts of ownership to individuals or companies.
- Bonds - A debt investment in which an investor loans money to an entity (corporate or governmental) that borrows the funds for a defined period of time at a fixed interest rate
- Stockholders - People who invest in a company who receive ownership in a small way. They receive a paper claiming their ownership on the company.
- Government Securities - A government debt obligation (local or national) backed by the credit and taxing power of a country with very little risk of default
- Mutual Fund - An investment vehicle that is made up of a pool of funds collected from many investors for the purpose of investing in securities such as stocks, bonds, money market instruments and similar assets
- SEC - Securities and Exchange commission, A government commission created by Congress to regulate the securities markets and protect investors
- Stock Markets - This is the place where stock are sold and bought. There are several stock markets in the world, but one of the more famous ones is Wall Street.
- Initial Public Offering (IPO) - The first sale of stock of a private company to the public
- Venture Capital - Money provided by investors to startup firms and small businesses with perceived long-term growth potential
- Interest Rate - On a loan the interest rate is the way the bank makes money on the loan. It is how much is charged additionally to the loan to compensate for the loaner for loaning out the money
- Dow Jones Industrial Average - is a stock market index that tracks 30 companies on the stock market and how they are traded
References
- http://www.dfpni.gov.uk/ (picture)
- http://www.investopedia.com/articles/financial-careers/08/financial-career-options-professionals.asp#axzz1nLBM3r2M (Careers in Financing)
- http://www.investopedia.com (Key Terms)