For the longest time, finance has been an exceptionally desirable career path – mostly due to the higher salaries that it can provide.
The thing is, we all know that finance jobs typically offer more money – if you’re reading this, you want to know whether finance makes a good career.
For that, we’ve got to think long-term.
That’s why we’ve created this article. We’re not just going to repeat what everyone else does; we’re going to explore whether finance is a good career from the perspective of a business that’s worked in the market every day for a decade.
Firstly, what do we mean by ‘finance’?
Finance is an umbrella term that refers to a vast range of potential careers.
Think about this. Every business in the world needs to manage their finances, just like we do at home. This means there’s a huge demand for finance professionals across dozens of skill levels, specialisations and experiences.
There’s also no definitive structure around how a business tackles its finance team. A finance professional may work on their own, such as a financial controller at a smaller business, or as part of a much wider team, such as an accountant as part of an entire department.
It all depends on the business and the individual.
Some common sectors or industries you might hear about include: corporate finance, credit control and analysis, banking, wealth management, private equity, venture capital or payroll.
While these roles all require different skill sets, qualifications or experience, they all work to a similar goal – managing the financial interests of a business or client.
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Just to get the obvious part out of the way, finance runs the modern economy. This means that finance roles pay significantly more – around 20% higher than average salaries.
As mentioned above, finance is also relatively flexible. There’s plenty of consistent demand for skilled professionals, meaning there are always opportunities.
However, finance comes with its own drawbacks. Long hours, responsibility and in most cases, the need for qualifications to reach the higher paying roles, means it’s not always a path for everyone.
Is finance a good career path?
So, with all of the above in mind, is finance a good career path to join?
To answer this question, we need to examine the past and the future just as much as the present.
There’s no denying that between 1990 and 2010, finance was a massively popular path for students or young professionals entering the work force, mainly due to the compensation it could provide versus other industries.
This all changed following the 2009 global recession, where we saw a decrease in interest for finance roles as many professionals saw their bonuses, incentives and in some cases, job security, threatened by the economic downturn.
Today, however, the story is very different.
Finance is back to being the most desirable industry with Gen Z, driven by the renewed security the industry offers and a vast range of social media content that hypes up the value of working in finance.
At the same time, the flexibility that finance provides is also supporting the shift in attitude to changing roles we’re seeing amongst workers and employers. More and more people are moving between roles in search of either new challenges or upwards progression – something that was relatively unheard of across the finance sector during the 90’s or 00’s.
In terms of competition and pay, the gulf between finance and other fields has rapidly closed over the last decade, with industries such as tech and marketing starting to offer much higher salaries for top positions.
Tech particularly, has been a long-term competitor to finance, although it definitely doesn’t hold the same sway as it did in the mid-2010’s, especially as automation and machine learning continues to threaten certain roles or specialisms.
This means many skilled workers in tech are shifting to finance roles, where they’re able to utilise a range of similar, transferable skills in a much more stable market.
Ultimately, while the salary premium for finance jobs is much lower than it was, it’s still a factor to consider when looking at finance as a career path and ensures finance remains desirable.
This also means that yes, finance is still a desirable career path, it just might not be as lucrative as it once was.
At the same time, it all depends on the field you’re getting into and where you’re at in your career. If you’re just graduating and already studying in the field, you’re golden. Just focus on getting any relevant qualifications and looking at potential internships.
If you’re changing career, you’ll want to look at where you can utilise any transferable skills and start building new skills that are difficult to automate – this makes your move much safer in the long-term.
How hard is it to find a finance job?
Finance jobs exist at nearly every business in the world. Roles in finance can be relatively broad (such as accountancy) or incredibly specialised (such as investment portfolio management) and depending on what you’re looking to do, they’ll be plenty to choose from provided you put the work in.
Keep in mind that some financial roles are extremely specialised and as such, you might not find them on generic job boards.
Recruitment consultants or headhunters are excellent resources to use if you’re looking for financial job opportunities, as they have specific contacts in the right places.
Outside of working with a third-party, you might find success in attending industry conferences or networking events. Many people within the industry know each other and you may find a new role through your contacts.