INQUIRY

Career Profile
Prospect for Success Paper # 2

Submitted to
Dr. Daryl L. Kerr
Department of Management
Belk College of Business
UNC Charlotte

Submitted by
Rashon Mack
BUSN 1101-002
November 23, 2015

Inquiry-PFS Paper #2

In todays job market career planning and inquiry are important tasks required of any
prospective college student hoping to gain employment upon graduation. Once a student has
chosen a major the next most practical step is to search for specific careers within his or her
respective field. Throughout a students college career he/she should actively build professional
skills and gain insight into the professional world. By learning about the skills, requirements, and
daily activities performed by employees working in a particular career students can more
successfully market themselves to employers with the knowledge and abilities recruiters are
searching for. The career I have chosen based of my major (Finance) and college (Belk College
of Business) is that of a Financial Analyst.
Financial Analysts work within the broad field of Financial Services and specialize in
studying macro/microeconomic conditions to make financial predictions for businesses or
individual investors. Most financial analysts work for banks (commercial and private) to help
make decisions on how to allocate money but many also work for non-financial services
companies, for example Google, and perform the same task. The three major specializations in
the Financial Analyst field are investment banking, buy-side investment, and sell-side investment
although one can also choose to work in a specialization such as insurance. I plan to work at an
investment bank or for a major commercial bank while pursuing my career as an analyst.
The duties of a financial analyst include analyzing economy, monitoring company-specific
business conditions, creating spread sheets and other graphics to represent financial information,
interpreting transactions, and forecasting a companys finances.

Working in financial services or any other field of business can be challenging and
stressful and thus it is important to assess the working conditions of your prospective field. With
a career in finance one can expect long working hours, many traveling assignments, low base
salary, and large amounts of desk work as a new employee. The basic requirements for those
seeking to become successful financial analysts are a bachelors degree in finance or economics,
a competitive average GPA of 3.4 or higher, completion of the CFA program, and strong
technical/analytical skills. Successful analysts also possess personal skills which assist them in
carrying out their job efficiently; examples of these characteristics include good presentation
skills, persuasive reasoning skills, good time management skills, organizational expertise, and
great dedication to the job.
As an amateur financial analyst one can expect to earn about $39,000-$50,000 base salary
until tenure and experience are built at their company. A seasoned employee can earn anywhere
from $78,000-$106,000 median salary and even more based on other work-related factors. Job
outlook for financial analysts is favorable as most statisticians project that the field will grow
about 16% and add 39,000 new jobs between now and 2022. Opportunities for advancement as a
junior analyst are common as most employees work three to five years at a company before
being promoted to the position of senior analyst; from there most analysts work until they are
promoted to a managerial position, a partner position in an investment bank, or even as a CFO if
they are particularly skilled.
Researching a career in financial has helped me gain more knowledge and insight into
how I should approach my professional life and as to what my responsibilities would be on the
job. With this information I can begin to plan more efficiently for this field as I know the specific
academic requirements for employment, personal skills that will contribute to my success, and

time dedication necessary to be a good employee. By knowing how much I can expect to earn in
this career I can also begin to build my personal life in a way that is appropriate and fitting to my
job. In conclusion, this inquiry will contribute to my success in the business world and has
provided me the skills to set myself apart from other job applicants in the near future.

References
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