What are the career opportunities for a Finance and Economics major/?

What are the career opportunities for a finance and economics major?


I'm a 2nd yr student in my 3yr degree majoring in Finance and Economics, but i'm not taking accounting.





Initially, i wanted to work in the bank (post graduation), but after I've attended a career talk fromr a bank the in my school, most of the jobs i nthe finance field require an accounting background, and i'm not doing any professional accounting nor auditing whatsoever in my major.





So my second thought is to opt for the stock market field.





Is it right for me?


Any suggestions?

What are the career opportunities for a Finance and Economics major/?
I have a degree in Finance, and I work at a bank. The only bad thing about working at a bank is you typically start out as a teller. However, you can work your way up very fast. I have work for a bank 2 years and am already a branch manager. I didn't have any auditing and very little accounting background in my degree, most stock markets and financial management. It just depends which area of a bank you want to work in. I work a lot in the lending and management departments.
Reply:I've got another idea for you. I have a job in the Trust division of a bank. I teach seminars to employees (clients of the bank) on how to understand their 401k plan and basics about investments. It's a killer job and many of the financial houses hire students right out of college. It's their "entry" level position, but the pay is probably 1/2 again as much or more as a teller. I love teaching the seminars, I travel (on someone else's dime), I get to speak in public (which I love), and I'm helping people. Check out the major financial houses that do "trust administration" on 401k plans. There are lots of other positions in the trust department that finance and economics would be perfect for. Try some fact finding interviews to see what you may get hired for. Best of luck!
Reply:There's lots of different opportunities for finance majors who don't like accounting. Often, the accounting background is important for understanding corporate balance sheets; not for filing tax returns or reviewing ledger entries. I'd recommend at least taking financial accounting at your school; everyone- even engineers- can benefit from getting a basic understanding of financial accounting. Just be sure to register for a financial accounting course first semester of your Junior year, so you can have it under your belt for interviews in January/February.





I should also note that a summer internship between your Junior and Senior years often determines the kind of full-time job offers you'll get, and I know it sounds obsessive, but having some sort of finance-related internship between your sophomore and junior years is helpful- even if you're getting paid $7.25/hour to fetch coffee.





When you say "stock market field", you're talking about something pretty broad. I'll try and go over a few different areas:





-Trading and Brokerage


If you are an aggressive person for a Finance major who's also good at quickly reaching a decision under stress and has excellent communication skills, trading or brokerage may just be your thing. Depending on your background, you may want to look anywhere from Goldman Sachs New York to your friendly local broker for an internship your Junior year.





Trading jobs range from currency trading at the Chicago Mercantile Exchange to mortgage bond market making at an Investment Bank to taking trading orders from clients as a broker. In general, it's a fast-paced, high-stress job that runs about 9-10 hours a day.





-Private Wealth Management/Financial Planning


If you're one of the lucky people who never had their parents ever complain about their eating habits, are impeccable in social situations, and enjoy the company of the filthy rich, Private Wealth Management may be the job for you. Your job would basically be to act as both a salesperson and financial advisor. You'd help people address their financial risks.





-Research


While having a few accounting courses under your belt might be helpful, if you can understand a balance sheet and income statement and have a finance degree, you may be able to land a job in research at a mutual fund or investment bank. People in the research division generally get to do a lot of hands-on work with companies and making buy/sell/hold recommendations on stocks.





Best of luck!