finance industries

Industries for Finance Students

Many finance majors opt for the banking sector or Wall Street, but these sectors are not the only available industries for those with degrees in finance. Maybe you’ve earned a degree in finance but aren’t interested in cashing checks or working in stocks. Or maybe you’re having difficulty finding a job in these sectors. Here are five industries that are worthy of consideration for finance majors.

Corporate Finance

As a corporation’s chief financier, an individual with a finance degree may find themselves not only raising but managing capital and angel investments for a new or existing corporation. They will also look at the bottom line to minimize financial risk and company debt. They may also oversee:

  • acquisitions
  • payroll
  • financial statements
  • assets allocation
  • mergers

The world of corporate finance may not yield the tens of millions you could earn as a chief hedge fund trader. But this industry typically offers excellent pay and an array of challenges for those who value variety in their work.

Financial Planning

Financial planners typically work with high-profile or wealthy clients to plan the best use of their wealth, such as:

  • investments
  • retirement funds
  • college investments for their clients’ children

They may also oversee estate tax planning and inheritances. Financial planners may charge either a flat fee or a percentage of of the wealth they are managing, either per month or per annum. This makes it a fairly well-paid position – particularly for financial planners who work for larger firms.

Education

While this industry may seem something of a non-sequitur for a finance major, higher education in particular offers a variety of positions to finance majors. A finance major working for a college or university may find themselves:

  • managing foundation funds for incoming or outgoing student eligible for scholarships
  • overseeing the university payroll
  • advising program investments for majors that may be lucrative to the college in terms of student recruitment

Those with advanced degrees in finance may also teach at the university level in a variety of programs, including:

  • business administration
  • accounting
  • entrepreneurship

Non-profit

An individual with a finance degree and a desire to serve their community may want to consider working as a financial analyst for a non-profit. Some of the largest non-profit organizations pay very well, such as the Bill Gates or Clinton Foundations. Even local organizations will usually offer a fairly competitive salary. A financial analyst for a non-profit may be responsible for:

  • locating and allocating grant funding
  • writing grant proposals
  • overseeing accounts, payroll, and program funding

Medicine

Hospitals, clinics, nursing homes and other medical entities will typically have a financial team. The team handles:

  • insurance billing and policies
  • investments that may be necessary for long-term and emergency care
  • payroll
  • patient billing

They may also – if the organization prefers to do everything in-house – oversee tax filing and write-offs for the entity in question. The role of finance in medicine is indispensable. As such, these jobs will typically pay very well, particularly for those who stick around for several years.

Each of these great industries offers well-paying and consistent work to finance majors. If the long hours of Wall Street are simply not for you – or the idea of working in a bank either bores you – consider one of these sectors. Each of these rewarding industries usually offer:

  • excellent salaries
  • benefits
  • a wide variety of activities in the day-to-day workflow

All will make excellent use of your finance degree.

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