Become a Financial Analyst

Financial analysts look at market trends and date to help people make smarter investments. For this job, you need a background in finance. More education, such as a master's degree or certification, would help advance your career.

Steps

Getting an Education

1. Apply to undergraduate programs. You need an undergraduate degree in finance for this career.
2. Complete your degree in finance. If possible, pick classes focused on financial analysis, or choose a track within your degree that has this focus, which will prepare you for the field.
   • While completing your degree, widen your field as much as possible. Take classes in accounting, economics, and business. Math classes are helpful, particularly statistic classes.
3. Consider pursuing a master's degree. Though pursuing a master's degree is not absolutely necessary, some positions do require it, and it can help give you an edge in the field.
4. Take classes in financial analysis. In graduate school, you can specialize. Don't just focus on financial analysis. Pick a particular area of of the field, such as risk assessment.
5. Develop the right skills. As a financial analyst, you need a specific skill set. For instance, you need to have computer skills so you can analyze data. To that end, maybe you need to take computer classes while in school if you aren't proficient.
   • You also need to be able to communicate well and make decisions.
   • You should have good math skills and be able to focus on details.

Tailoring Your Resume and Cover Letter

1. Begin with a short summary. Your summary you should explain you as an analyst and be short and direct. Your future employer can reject your resume in less than 5 seconds. Make sure this section shines.
   • For instance, you can include bullet points such as "team-oriented communicator" or "calm worker that will weather the storms."
2. Keep to the point. You don't need to list your experience as a shaved ice expert on Miami Beach. Only list relevant professional experience.
3. Be specific. When listing jobs, tell exactly what you did on that job.
   • For instance, instead of saying "helped with financial resources," you could say, "prepared line-item budgets from scratch."
4. Pay attention to your references. Your employer will be calling them to find out about you.
   • If you don't have much experience, you can use a professor you worked closely with. However, you also need someone who understands your work ethic, so a past employer is ideal.
5. Make yourself stand out. You're competing against high quality candidates. All of them have high GPAs at great schools. Decide what makes you unique. What skills do you have that no one else does? Maybe you're great at finding that one tiny error or maybe your ideal for working with trouble clients. Highlight that aspect of yourself on your resume and cover letter.
6. Note the appropriate keywords. Employers look for the keywords they used in the job description in your cover letter. They want to check off all the skills they are looking for. Hit all those points in your cover letter.
   • Essentially, you'll make minor adjustments each time you submit a resume. That way, you're showing the employers you know what they want.
7. Avoid grammatical errors and typos. You're judged on how well you present yourself in words. As a financial analyst, you must be able to show attention to detail. If your resume is filled with typos, your future employer will think you aren't detail-oriented. Read it over multiple times and have someone else look it over to check for mistakes.

Finding a Job

1. Gain experience. The easiest way to gain experience is to work with a financial analyst. You're basically offering to work for free to gain experience. However, you can also apply for part-time jobs or entry-level positions.
   • Even after you find a job, keep looking around for opportunities to improve your skills and knowledge, and don't be afraid to take some risks if you want to advance your career.
2. Take time to network. Like any industry, the financial industry thrives on networking. Even while you're in school, take the time to meet with people in the industry. Try going to alumni events, or ask an alumni to meet with you over coffee.
3. Use a website to assess your skills. Try a site such as Smarterer.com to assess your skills. That way, you have an unbiased representation of your computer skills, and you can show your competency to your future employer.
4. Use job-finding sites. Search for financial analyst jobs on sites like Indeed or Monster. Narrow your selection by location if you don't want to move from where you are.
5. Apply to relevant positions. Don't apply to every position you see. Pick and choose the ones that are most appropriate for your skills.
6. Ace the interview. The interview is the key to landing the job.
   • Do your research. Know the company inside and out, as well as what type of person they're looking for as an employee.
   • Get there early. For interviews, being on time means being early.
   • Look professional. Be neat and put-together, and wear professional clothes, such as a business suit.
   • Be confident, and don't ramble. The interviewer wants to know more about you, but you should keep to the point.
   • Write a thank-you letter afterwards. It keeps you fresh in the employer's mind, and it shows you are considerate.
7. Start working. Once you land a job, you can consider yourself a financial analyst.

Becoming Certified with the CFA Institute

1. Complete a bachelor's degree. You must have a bachelor's degree or be in your last year to be certified.
2. Work for 4 years. Gain 4 years of experience in the investment field to be certified.
3. Plan ahead to take the exams. You must study for and pass three exams, Levels I, II, and III.
4. Prepare for the tests. Level II and III are only offered on one Saturday in June. Level I is offered on the same Saturday, as well as a day in December. You must take the exams in order. Therefore, you must plan your study schedule to line up with the tests.
   • Each test increases in difficulty. Level I covers basic knowledge of investment tools with just a little analysis. Level II requires more analysis. In Level III, you bring together all of your knowledge to analyze and answer questions.
5. Use the CFA Study Sessions. These study sessions provide information you'll need to review for the exams, including some basic readings for the first study session.
6. Register for the tests. You must register for the test to gain access to the curriculum ebook.
7. Study the ebook curriculum. The ebook will provide you with essential information for passing the test.
8. Pass the CFA exams. You must pass all three exams to gain certification.
   • You can retake the exams if you fail. However, given the amount of time between each test, it could take extra years to gain your certification if you fail.
9. Promise to follow the code of ethics laid out by the CFA Institute. The code of ethics lays out how you will conduct yourself in the field, such as acting with integrity and placing the client's needs over your own.
10. Try the Series 7 and Series 63 exams. If you find the CFA exams daunting, try the Series 7 and Series 63 exams through Kaplan. You can still show you understand financial and investment terms without as much preparation.
    • You can also use this exam as preparation for the CFA exams.

Advancing Your Career

1. Continue to develop your skill set. Stay up with technology, and learn to communicate better. You would also do well to learn to manage other people. You can take seminars and continuing education classes to improve your skills.
2. Specialize in a field. By picking a particular specialization, you can take the time to truly understand that specialization.
   • For instance, you could become a ratings analyst. A ratings analyst assess whether companies can pay their debts or not.
   • Another occupation is a risk analyst. Risk analysts protect portfolios by hedging against the stock market's swings.
3. Move up in your field. For instance, you can become a portfolio manager or a fund manager. As a portfolio manager, you would decide where your company's portfolio is invested. You would also supervise a group of people in this position. Similarly, as a fund manager, you would invest money for one large client.

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