A career in finance is both about working with money as well as making it. If your child has a head for numbers and is good with managing money, a career in finance could be his or her calling. Teaching financial management skills can be as simple as letting your child buy the weekly groceries from a list, while staying within a budget.
A degree in finance is just the first step in your child’s career path. The finance industry is multifaceted and hence requires individuals with different skills. Within this broad spectrum, there are also some niche areas where specific skill sets and knowledge are required.
The typical entry point at a bank for a college graduate with a Bachelor’s degree is an analyst level position, while graduates with a Master’s degree (MBA) start at Associate level jobs. An analyst will typically work for 3-4 years to become an associate, and the associate with 3-4 years experience will typically get promoted to Vice President.
However, an education in finance does not mean that your options are limited to working at a bank. In fact, it opens up a myriad of options for you to select from. These can range from working in corporate finance to commercial and investment banking roles, working at hedge and private equity funds, or in various accountancy roles.
There are a few things to keep in mind when planning for your child’s career, including gauging his or her aptitude. Is your child good with interpersonal skills and hence better suited for a role such as a financial adviser, or is your child better at number crunching and therefore better suited for a role in public accounting? It is also prudent to keep track of market demand. What are the current and future growth areas?
Some of the most well known global brands like Sony are holding companies. The many businesses in its portfolio range from TV sets to mobile phones to medical equipment and gaming solutions, to name a few. The parent company that started out as an electronics brand is today a collection of many companies across a diversified portfolio of activities.
The M1 group is holding conglomerate of diversified businesses based out of Beirut, Lebanon. The group is headed by Najib Mikati, who is a two-time prime minister of Lebanon and the founder of Investcom, a telecom company he started in 1982. In June 2006, South African telecom giant MTN bought Investcom for $ 5.5 billion. Today, some of M1’s interests include telecommunications, real estate, travel, fashion and energy. M1 has a global footprint and is always seeking financial talent to work in a high growth empowered and enabling environment. You can find out more by reading Najib Mikati’s bio.
In addition, academic learning recruiters are increasingly looking for some soft skills in candidates. These include the ability to network for visibility and an interest and skill in some related vertical market, for instance, autos, oil trading, risk management, and even nanotechnology.
A career in finance can provide financial stability for your child over the term of his or her career. If finance also happens to be an area of aptitude, so much the better.