finance and itOf the many fields available to graduates today, a degree with a double major in Finance and IT combines skills that will appeal to employers looking for workers with a set of values and capabilities that will make their resume a welcome sight.

 

Transitioning into an IT-based Economy via Education

In fact a recent article from the University of Washington School of Law shows that financial firms are distinctly changing structure due to a rise of information technology-based business changes. It might be said that understanding how these seismic shifts in business work, and how using education to adapt to this new framework, can benefit those who understand its many idiosyncrasies.

Both degrees use methods of analysis that shine light on deeper patterns within systems, and for employers this is an attractive method of thinking. An ability to quantitatively analyze your work from many different perspectives is a rare quality that can give an employee room to choose where they’ll be working in an office with greater ease as they make their foray into the job market.

Doing the Career Math

With much investment shifting to companies who work primarily online, knowledge of IT can give you a view of business that many professionals lack, namely the link between technology and innovation on a smaller and more intimate level. The many aspects of mathematics that you will study in both IT and finance courses will give you practice for real-life analysis, as well as give you a wider set of companies to look for a career with.

This is because of a recent movement toward workers expanding the number of the arrows in their quiver, so to speak, by taking on a sort of jack-of-all-trades role in companies. As businesses shift their focus outward to encompass the many opportunities that online sales can attract, for example, having workers who can work with IT departments to broaden sales and access to customers’ needs is an attractive quality. As a loan officer, consultant, or brokerage worker this series of qualities can put you in challenging and rewarding company.

Viewing Finance through the Prism of IT

It also works both ways, if you’re hoping to place precedence on your knowledge of information technology: If your career path possibly includes trading, such as in equity derivatives, for example, the skills you’ll learn studying finance will ground you in the basics of the job’s responsibilities, while knowledge of IT can help you on the quantitive side.

The sort of jobs available to double majors in Finance and IT encompass a broad array of subjects — from investment banking, to consulting, to research, to IT work with businesses whose main focus is computing, allowing you to see both sides of the business equation in a technology-based company — and knowing the kind of programming you’ll be using ahead of time will give you a leg up in whichever job you choose.

For these reasons it’s important to consider what sort of skills you’d like to bring to the table in your capacity as an employee as you choose the kind of degree you want to graduate with. The chances are out there for those with a strong work ethic and good values in regard to client trust, and increasingly many of those values when combined with the challenging field of finance as seen through prism of IT are making the brass ring of the working world certainly there for the taking by dedicated students.