Best non-related career options for Finance major? (employed, credit, apply)

[nj21]

Okay, so I've decided to take a different approach towards my job search by broadening it and seeking out jobs other than Finance.

I've decided that I will look into Accounting as well, for starters.

I've also decided that I don't necessarily need to work in a Corporate environment or a financial organization. Most companies (actually all) have a finance department.

Anyways, what are some non-related career options that a Finance major would be good at? Project management, marketing, etc?

Thanks!

[Randomdude]

Ive been doing accounting most of my life out of neccessity. Finance is fairly interchangeable with that. The only problem you will meet is when it comes to getting anywhere past the staff level, when you need a CPA. You will find that you probably wont have remotely enough accounting credits to sit for it.

You also might want to look in to business analysis. From what Ive seen, outside of Wall Street, many financial analyst jobs are being replaced flat out by "Business Analyst". What they pretty much do from my experience, is write computer code to basically replace the human functions of what Financial Analysts used to do. They are often from a computer science background, but can be from finance, and have extensive experience with database mining and report coding.

For the most part, I think the classic "financial analyst" is done.

[nj21]

Originally Posted by Randomdude

Ive been doing accounting most of my life out of neccessity. Finance is fairly interchangeable with that. The only problem you will meet is when it comes to getting anywhere past the staff level, when you need a CPA. You will find that you probably wont have remotely enough accounting credits to sit for it.

You also might want to look in to business analysis. From what Ive seen, outside of Wall Street, many financial analyst jobs are being replaced flat out by "Business Analyst". What they pretty much do from my experience, is write computer code to basically replace the human functions of what Financial Analysts used to do. They are often from a computer science background, but can be from finance, and have extensive experience with database mining and report coding.

For the most part, I think the classic "financial analyst" is done.

Thanks Random.

Being a FA was exactly what I wanted to do with my degree, but I actually found out the bolded part myself, so I do agree with you. I don't really have any interest in being a Business Analyst and a lot of those jobs I've noticed are extremely popular among Asians with Engineering degrees. Stiff competition.

In terms of Accounting, I was basically going to apply for a couple of Clerks positions and see what the outcome would be. Maybe even Bookkeeping positions and hopefully work my way up.

In regards to the CPA exam, could you be sponsored by the organization you are employed by? In terms of preparing and even extra coursework as well? Just wondering. I know nothing about the CPA exam.

Thanks.

[Randomdude]

Originally Posted by nj21

Thanks Random.

Being a FA was exactly what I wanted to do with my degree, but I actually found out the bolded part myself, so I do agree with you. I don't really have any interest in being a Business Analyst and a lot of those jobs I've noticed are extremely popular among Asians with Engineering degrees. Stiff competition.

In terms of Accounting, I was basically going to apply for a couple of Clerks positions and see what the outcome would be. Maybe even Bookkeeping positions and hopefully work my way up.

In regards to the CPA exam, could you be sponsored by the organization you are employed by? In terms of preparing and even extra coursework as well? Just wondering. I know nothing about the CPA exam.

Thanks.

In most states, if not all of them by now, the CPA exam requires, at minimum, two things

1. 150 credit hours. This is about the equivalent of a masters degree. If you were ever planning on pursuing accounting as a career, you pretty much need a masters degree. You could take about 10-12 additional classes at your local community college, and meet that requirement "technically", but according to the Virginia Board of Accountancy, ...."They should seriously consider incorporating at least some graduate level study of accounting into their educational plans. The Board believes that the increased rigor and the strategic focus of graduate level courses can be valuable in preparing future accounting professionals to meet the increasing demands of the marketplace and to excel in the practice of public accounting."

2. A certain number of those hours have to be in accounting. In Virginia for instance, 24 hours of those 150 need to be in accounting. This largely makes most degrees outside of accounting, practically useless for purposes of getting a CPA, since most business degrees, including finance, usually only require 2 or 3 accounting courses, which wont even get you half way there.