I still have 2 years of school left, I'm currently majoring in finance, and I'm just wondering about my options when I get out of school.
What opportunities/entry level jobs are out there?
I was looking into marketing/advertising for a while as a major too... what has more potential/better future outlook?
I guess my reason for majoring in finance is that I have a problem having a set "income" my entire life, i'm a bit money hungry... not "wasteful", I would rather make investments then spend it as I get it and I think knowledge in the business field (my current major) may help me quite a bit.
Basically i'm just looking for opinions on what some good entry level careers may be, also, looking into investments, where could I put my money in the future (real estate, stock market, what kind of long term/lower risk investments are there? what else?)

...I guess i've just been doing alot of thinking in the future, and I want to do alot... I just need to get my feet wet somehow... so, just looking for advice from fellow S2Kers

 

i majored in economics with a minor in finance.

finance has many potential careers. you can go into the equities market, or you can go the corporate route.

finance and accounting in the corporate area have some disticnt differences. accountants report, finance people analyze and recommend actions.

I went the corporate route. there are many entry level financial analyst positions out there. you can also be a broker for equities.

Equities analysis is an option, too, but that field is very competitive. most jobs go to ivy league grads; that is just the way it is. Some go to those with the highest marks from top-tier, albeit not ivy league jobs. hate to say this, but if you don't meet one of those, entry level jobs in this area just won't be available.

as far as investing, the smart money is in stocks. real estate is for suckers now. it wasn't 3 years ago, but is now.

 

Fixed-income analysis is another route. Companies such as PIMCO look for finance majors, especially those with a strong mathematics background. I know; I worked there for five years analyzing mortgage securities.

 

I graduated with a Finance degree with econ minor two years ago. Back then there are NO jobs available anywhere, the only jobs there are related to finance or remotely close to finance are commission based jobs, like selling mutual funds and stuff. I don't know how comfortable are you when it come to a commission based job, but I wasn't into in at all. So I ended up working in a law office and it's been good.

I don't know about the finance job market now, hopefully it is better than what I faced two years ago. Good luck with rest of your school year, I would suggest if you can't find a job related to finance when you graduate, think about getting a MBA.

-Tommy

 

I was thinking about getting a job for a year or two before going back to grad school. I don't need a great job immediately, just what some good entry level jobs would be to gain experience after i graduate.

I guess alot of it would be knowing people (connections) as well...

Also... personal financial manager/asset manager? any thoughts?

 

I graduated with a degree in Finance last year and found it very difficult to find a job. All of the offers I was getting had to deal with commisson based jobs. Like selling mutual funds, mortgages, debt consolidations, etc. There are alot of really great positions out there but unless you have years of experience and or graduated from a top business school then your pretty much screwed.

If I could go back to school I would concentrate on accounting and get my CPA or major in MIS or some form of business imformation systems. It seems to me that their is always a demand for CPA and IS majors! Hope this helps.. goodluck

 

why not take the commission based jobs? i guess it really depends on who you're around, but everybody that i know who is on a commission based job right now makes so much money. my realtor for example, he made so much money during the last few years i'm almost jealous.

i'm currently a finance major at a state college (csun) and was thinking of changing it to accounting. would it be better for me to take accounting then finance since i'm not from a top business school?

 

How about this... what has more potential after say 5-6... or even 10 years of experience... an IS (BTW, what is MIS?) or accounting job (CPA), or a finance major going the corporate route...

Is there more potential to be a finance major down the line? or could you hold the same "corporate" positions in the future with an accounting major just as you could with a finance major?

 

finance and accounting both have similar potential for advancement. the accountant must know finance, but the finance person doesn't have to know MUCH accounting.

MIS doesn't have as much upward advancement IMO. Generally the technical people that do well in corporate settings are engineers.

 

If I were you I'd go the accounting route. That's something I wish I did in school. I went the Bus. Mgmt w HR minor route. I have found decent jobs however, if you do Acctng and get your CPA, you'll be set. There's a plethora of really great paying jobs with good future propects.

CPA isn't easy but nothing worth getting ever is...