Typical Financial Sector Jobs

Anyone entering today's job marketplace and looking to find a job in the financial sector will be happy with the diversity of opportunities. However, getting a job highly depends on your geographical location and level of education.

Traditional finance jobs are in banking. Starting positions are usually teller positions. You would be responsible for taking care of traditional transactions for clients. There are far less of these jobs in recent years, due to the ATM (automatic teller machine). Bank teller jobs are oftentimes stepping stones to higher positions, including loan processing and loan underwriting. Over the last 10 years financial institutions have become extremely computerized, resulting in numerous IT (information technology) jobs available.

All businesses require accountants and bookkeepers. A small business will probably choose to hire another business to handle their accounting requirements. A larger company may have a few accountants and bookkeepers on payroll. Corporations will usually have entire accounting departments with numerous employees.

The educational requirements for bookkeepers are much less than those necessary for accountants. If you have strong math skills and no work experience, you'll probably need at least a two-year degree to get a bookkeeping job in today's job market. If you have 4 or more years bookkeeping experience, your educational background probably won't matter, just as long as you at least have a high school diploma.

Landing an accounting job will require much more education. Accountants need to be familiar with cost based accounting, financial accounting, management accounting, and more. These accounting principles are typically not taught at the high school or community college level.

You will need to attend an accredited four-year university. For the most prestigious positions, where you obtain your degree is going to matter. If you're wanting to go far in an accounting career, attend a highly rated business college. The biggest corporations receive hundreds of job applications. When they are considering one application versus another, all other things being equal, the deciding factor will usually come down to which university each applicant went to.

Brokerage firms also offer additional jobs for people looking to work in the finance area. The most common starting job is a broker associate. Duties for this position include processing customer transactions. After a little time you may be promoted to a financial analyst position. This job requires researching the traditional investing opportunities, including stocks, bonds, commodities, and foreign exchange markets. Competition for these employment areas can be fierce. Top brokerage firms often offer little or nothing in terms of compensation. You will be required to work virtually for free. If you prove that you can produce revenue for the firm, you'll be promoted to a higher position with much higher pay. Additionally, the top brokerage firms are mostly located in New York City or Chicago, so you'll be required to relocate if you do not live in these areas.