It is no surprise that people who opt for jobs that require handling others’ money display some distinguishing traits that make them suited to their job. A career in finance is undoubtedly much more than just having an attractive transcript. Moreover, contrary to the belief that finance is a mono-directional field, it encompasses many career options. From accounting to book keeping, many pathways are available to people opting for a career in finance. While the overall goal of taking care of a company’s financial health remains the same, no two jobs in finance are entirely similar to each other.
Today, the role of finance personnel, let it be a finance manager or a CFO, is much more than just handling money or guarding the company’s financial health. Their job has expanded to incorporate other duties, including representing the company’s financial targets, making strategic and operational decisions, overseeing legal compliance, to name a few. On top of that, these are the persons you will go to when your company lands in money-related hot waters.
It takes the right skills and expertise to help you perform your job duties. People aspiring to land a career in finance. Including becoming a CFO, only focus on the educational side of their career. However, when exploring more about how to become a CFO or any other career, you realize the additional skills needed to create value, support business objectives, leverage financial and non-financial data in decision making, and much more. The same applies to other career options in this field; to perform above par, you must be a complete package having a combination of the right skills and qualifications.
If you are avid about a career in finance, make sure to hon the below-mentioned skills and have a relevant degree qualification.
1. Interpersonal skills:
Interpersonal skills are needed in most careers these days. But they are a fundamental requirement for having a promising career in finance. With changing work dynamics in finance departments, the employees are no longer glued to their seats, confined to their cubicles working on books only. Today, they participate in financial discussions, discuss their ideas, work, and establish fruitful relationships with their coworkers and peers from other departments.
Moreover, you might be communicating your department’s goals in all-department meetings, letting others know how the finance department helps achieve company goals. Therefore, if you want to outperform in this career, having exceptional interpersonal skills and being approachable is necessary.
2. Analytical skills:
The finance department’s job is to make patterns based on the massive amount of data available to them. Often this data is used to forecast the future, spot discrepancies, study trends, and make proactive decisions. Therefore, more often than not, the company’s finance department seeks employees with good analytical skills, number crunching, and developing meaningful, decisive patterns from information available through internal and external sources. Fortunately, regardless of the path taken for a career in finance, analytical skills are a must-taught competency owing to their importance in the workplace.
3. Problem-solving skills:
Today it might be difficult to spend one day on your job without encountering a novel problem. Every day brings new challenges helping you learn, but often putting you in a fix. Therefore, apart from knowing the systems and procedures of carrying out your daily tasks, one must be able to tackle complex problems if and when they arise. When you encounter non-routine issues such as tackling the client’s tax dilemma, that’s when your unique abilities come into place. Employers often rely on employees who give them solutions, pulling them out of a hole. So, a problem on the job can be a big opportunity for you to solve and shine, among others.
4. Tech-savvy:
No business these days works without relying on technology. Similarly, technology has gained significant traction in the financial industry. With innovative applications of technology, performing complex and time-consuming jobs has become a breeze. Increasing the overall productivity and output of the employees. Therefore, when it comes to having a stable career in finance, you must show exceptional tech skills. Today employers want employees to know the most up-to-date financial software and data programs. Therefore, you must be ready to learn with the changing pace, go above and beyond the minimum requirements to understand specialized tools helping you enhance your productivity.
5. Relationship management:
When it comes to a job that requires you to meet people and discuss their money issues frequently. You must possess professionalism and sensitivity towards their problems. Relationship management is also about making others comfortable around you and tackling their situation according to their personality. You must not be aggressive around a person already in a financial crunch. Similarly, you must know what questions to ask, how to solve their particular issue. And counsel and make them see the actual situation. Clients shy away from financial experts who seem like marketers offering them a biased analysis. Therefore, be sensitive to their predicament, and present your most objective opinion.
Conclusion:
Finance is a diverse career offering countless career options once you get into this field. But some people are more successful in their job than others, though both have the same qualification. This happens when people possess a winning set of skills that complement their educational qualifications. These skills make a considerable difference and help some succeed and excel more in their jobs than others. Anyone aspiring to make a career in finance needs to work on the above-mentioned skills to have a promising career in finance.
