Centre for Career and Personal Development Degree Profiles

These degree profiles look at potential jobs, key skills & atributes, associations & professional development and great books which relate to each degree and its potential career path.

Finance

Financial management is concerned with making decisions about pursuing uncertain investment opportunities and deciding how to finance these investments. The details of the decision-making environment change over time and across organizations, but the basic principles are quite stable.

The Finance area provides a strong foundation in these basic principles so that finance students will be able to adapt to changing environments throughout their careers. Basic principles are taught in a theory framework, but many courses include cases and current news events to illustrate the theory.

Many finance courses use spreadsheet and statistical software on personal computers. The Finance area maintains several databases of security prices and returns, and corporate financial information. These databases are often used in industry and several courses introduce students to them.

Key Skills & Knowledge

Specific application of these skills is dependent on the role:

Analytical Ability
Ability to Communicate
Broad Knowledge of the industry
Ability to Reason
Out-of-the-box thinking
High Interest in Financial Markets
Humility
Inquisitive
Mathematical Aptitude
Ability to organize organizational and client goals

Sample Job Titles

Please note some of these positions may require further training, certification or education. Check out the occupational profiles to review the full details for the occupations that interest you at alis.alberta.ca/occinfo

Account Manager, Commercial Markets
Budget Officer
Capital Budgeting Analyst
Commodity Trader
Compliance Officer
Equity Research Assistant
Financial Accountant
Financial Analyst
Quantitative Analyst
Credit Manager
Financial Services Representative
Investment Banking Analyst
Junior Treasury Analyst
Sales Analyst
Mortgage /Real Estate
Research Associate
Underwriting Assistant
Bank lending Officer
Corporate Analyst
Management Consultant
Security Underwriting
Investment
Joint Venture Analyst

Potential Industries

Corporate and International Financial Management
Personal Financial Planning and Investment Firms
Law Firms
Oil & Gas
Brokerage firms
Retail
Wholesale & Distribution
Telecommunication Firms, Software and IT
Marketing & Media
Commercial and Investment Banks
Government Departments
Money Management Firms
Insurance Firms, Real Estate
Construction Firms, Manufacturing, Engineering firms
Health Care
Not-for-Profit Organizations

Associations & Professional Development

Note: For sales, stocks, bonds mutual funds, insurance and real estate additional professional licenses maybe required

Job Sites

Additional Resources

Student Clubs

Calgary Portfolio Management Trust
Haskayne Finance Club
Women in Business
Note: Finance area also selects a team of four students to compete in the annual Rotman International Trading Competition, which uses simulated trading cases that closely mimic different aspects of real world markets.

Aligned Majors

Did you know?

Formal Career Assessments like the Strong Interest Inventory and the Myers Briggs Type Indicator can be helpful tools for your career development. These assessments have been used for decades to help individuals choose a major, explore career options during and upon completion of a degree and to further understand yourself in relationship to the world of work. Inquire with Career Services if you are interested in these formal assessments.

Featured Books

The Management Consultant by Richard Newton
ISBN: 0273730878
Publication Date: 2010-03-18
Case Interview Secrets by Victor Cheng
ISBN: 0984183523
Publication Date: 2012-04-01
Issues in Money and Banking by George Macesich
ISBN: 9780275967772
Publication Date: 2000-06-30