The financial markets across the globe have become incredibly complicated and complex over the past few decades. To help ensure that they are making good financial and investment decisions, many investment banks hire financial engineers. Financial engineers that are the most successful in their career often possess five of the same personal skills.
Resource: 25 Great Master of Financial Engineering Programs
Strong Math Aptitude
The most important part of a skill set for financial engineers is to have a very strong aptitude in mathematics. Financial engineers spend a significant amount of time each day reviewing numbers, trends, and other financial reports. While computers are used in very aspect of a job today, those that are able to quickly identify patterns and are good with numbers will have a much easier time succeeding in the field.
Analytical
While financial engineers will have to be good at math, they will also have to be good at analysis. Engineers will need to be able to spend a lot of their time reviewing reports and making predictions about the future. The better that they are at using critical reasoning to analyze the predictions of any given company or investment, the more likely they are to predict correctly. Ultimately, this will lead to the firm making a considerable amount more money.
Creative Thinker
While there is a lot of analytical skills that are necessary to succeed in the field, a financial engineer will also have to be able to think creatively. Financial engineers will be tasked with finding new ways to invest and come up with new techniques. In order to do this successfully, one will have to be able to think outside of the box. Most financial engineers will spend a considerable amount of their time using creative thought processes to develop new investment strategies and consider less known risks to their proposals.
Computer Programming
A growing number of financial engineers are also becoming involved in the development of technical algorithms. These algorithms will often make investment choices and trades automatically for the investment firms. The financial engineers will often be involved in the actual development and review of the underlying program. The vast majority of these programs today utilize a complex set of technical computer code, which makes some level of computer programming a practical necessity for any engineer.
Interpersonal
While the vast majority of the skill set necessary to be a financial engineer will revolve around being good with numbers and analysis, they will still need to be able to deal well with other people. Most engineers will work for large investment banks and hedge funds, which will often employ hundreds of people. They will also spend time talking with clients and other people outside of the firm. Because of this, being able to communicate well with other people is very important. Those that have this skill set will also be more likely to advance further into executive management.
In conclusion, the financial markets have continued to become more and more complicated over the past few decades. Because of this, many top firms want to hire people that excel in analysis and mathematics. For those that are interested in this field, becoming a financial engineer could be a great career choice. Those that are in this field will be the most successful if they have five specific sets of personal skills.
