Everything you Need to Know to Become a Finance Analyst in 2021
Everything you Need to
Know to Become a Finance Analyst in 2021
With the economic instability and unemployment on the rise throughout 2020 and the beginning of 2021, one of the reasons that students are continuing to pursue their education is to help improve their chances of finding a job after graduation. Higher learning has become one of the simplest ways to remain competitive in a world where more and more jobs seem to be replaced by Artificial Intelligence.
As most students are hoping to find employment in a field that they are
passionate about, most graduates will be stuck searching for jobs that will
provide just enough income to survive, but not enough income to be able to pay
down their student debt or to begin saving for retirement immediately. Most
graduates will have the burden of student debt for many years and will begin
looking for higher paying jobs in the hopes of becoming financially stable. One
of the positions that can provide financial stability is that of a Finance
Analyst. Although it is not an easy job, it is one that is highly sought after
as it provides an incredible salary right from the beginning and can be a job
for life.
Finance
Analyst Salary
As
a Finance Analyst, your average yearly salary can vary drastically due to many
factors such as experience, education and location. Usually, an individual who
works as a Financial Analyst in Canada can expect to earn approximately
$160,000 per year. The range in starting salaries vary between $86,000 to $240,000.
After a successful 20+ year career as a Finance Analyst, it is quite common to
have individuals making well over $1 million.
There
are also performance-based bonuses that are usually given out yearly, that can
vary between 10% - 100% of your base salary, depending on your performance and
how the overall market did that year.
So
What does a Finance Analyst Actually Do?
Basically,
a Finance Analyst will perform an in-depth analysis of a publicly traded
company by analyzing and reviewing multiple financial metrics to gain a better
understanding of the company’s profits, costs, revenues, debts, liabilities,
and potential future growth. The Financial Analyst will then be able to make a
valuation of the company and provide a recommendation to future and current
shareholders whether this company is a good or bad investment. Typically, a
Financial Analyst is well paid because they provide an outlook on profitability
of a given company based on current trends and financial metrics. This allows
them to predict if a company will be profitable in the future and allows
shareholders to profit through the years. If a Financial Analyst can predict a
company’s value at $50/share that is currently only trading for $15/share, then
there is a potential to make a large profit of $35/share for shareholders.
Education
To
become a Financial Analyst, a university degree is a prerequisite as it
provides some form of formal training that will help prepare you for this
position. Most Financial Analysts also have an MBA and/or a CFA (Chartered
Financial Analyst) Designation. It is very rare to find someone in this field
that does not have a CFA designation as this designation is an industry
standard today. To become a Finance Analyst, you are expected to pass all three
levels of the CFA and receive your CFA Designation.
Job
Prospects
The
amount of positions for a Finance Analyst tends to be in line with the
profitability of the stock market. When markets are doing well, there is an
increase in Finance Analyst positions. When the markets are not doing as well,
there is a decrease in positions available. Keep in mind that although there
might be more positions in good years, this is still a very competitive
industry and therefore landing a position is not necessarily easy and requires
a strong educational background and a strong understanding of financial
instruments.
Challenges
Some
of the biggest drawbacks that come from being a Finance Analyst is the stress
and the long hours that you are expected to work. You are expected to work long
hours because you have the potential to make a decision that can put a lot of money
at stake and making this decision requires many years of analysis to become an expert
in this field.
Why
Being a Finance Analyst is Worth It
Even
though you make a lot of money as a Finance Analyst, this is not a job that you
do for the money. You truly need to enjoy crunching numbers and analyzing
industries and appreciate the big picture as you will be doing this day over
day for many years. You truly have to love this type of work as it is a job for
life and there are many people counting on your findings to make accurate
financial decisions. At the end of the day, it is both interesting and exciting
work and it can be an incredible opportunity for the right person.
Comments
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me know what you think! Would you change anything? Let me know in the comments!
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Thanks for sharing this wonderful info about finance management and the role and scope of this field, I am also doing my Online MBA course in finance and this was very informative post for me.
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