Finance is a common term used to describe a vast range of job roles in business, which can vary from each other quite widely. Nonetheless, there are some common factors that are considered necessary in every financial job role across the industry.
While it would be ideal if a single employee had all of the skills that we are going to discuss next, the goal of the employer is to either find or instill as many of them as possible in the key personnel working in the financial sector of the organisation. As someone who is trying to build a career in this field, your objective should be to be that key person who has all the skills necessary to fill that role and bring success in your wake.
The CISI Accredited Qualification
The Chartered Institute for Securities and Investments (CISI) is a globally recognised accreditation body and any course certified by them will be considered valuable and valid across not only the UK, but pretty much all over the globe. If you want to begin your career in the financial sector, it will help immensely with both getting the job and doing it successfully if you complete any of the multiple CISI courses listed and detailed on the Findcourses website.
Due to the specific nature of each course, it is recommended that you find a CISI program that’s suited adequately for the role that you wish to take up in an organisation, as it will then train you with the knowledge and skills necessary particularly for the financial role in question.
Employers are also advised on the same lines, if they are looking to train their current staff to fill specific job roles in the financial sector, the courses should match the job descriptions closely.
Communication Skills
It would be hard to find any list on the internet about any job in the world that doesn’t have communication skills listed as a necessary requirement to succeed! Well, there’s ample reason why that is actually true, but we are going to focus on the advantages of being a good communicator in the financial sector, as that is the objective here.
There are actually many different ways good communication skills can propel your career in finance, but most importantly, it will enable you to communicate the complicated financial details of the job which you will be handling to the people who matter, but in simpler terms.
At the risk of sounding condescending, the truth is that unless someone is a qualified finance professional with adequate training, skill and experience, it is nearly impossible for that person, irrespective of his/her stature in the company, to make sense of everything in the financial sector. Unless you are able to fill that communication gap between you and an important higher-up who doesn’t come from a financial background, you will have a very hard time being understood; something that is essential to success in general!
The same goes for clients as well, because it is imperative to be able to communicate in simpler and more relatable language with your clients. It would be hard to make them understand the potential benefits of believing in what you are trying to sell them if they have no idea what on earth you are talking about!
An Analytical Mind is Necessary to Make It in Finance
This is one of those skills that people are born with, and although analytical thinking can be sharpened with time and training, you do need to have an innate ability to analyse things in general. Otherwise, it might be quite expensive to get services for tax.
Lateral thinking, quick and effective analysis of a situation, an ability to draw fast and accurate conclusions, etc. are just some of the many skills you will need to possess if you are to succeed here. Don’t worry though, because an adequate CISI course will teach you how to apply your skills in the financial sector, but you do need to have an analytical mind to begin with.
Problem Solving and Mathematics
If you are good in mathematics and you always were, finance will have use for you. The ability to solve problems in a real life scenario doesn’t always equate to mathematical prowess, but it has been seen that people who are good in mathematics are usually natural problem solvers as well. Not to mention accounting, tax filing and financial jobs in general are almost always about crunching numbers, so mathematical prowess is pretty much a requirement in the direct sense as well.
Let us take the example of a tax consultant who is trying to find a way in which a client can be saved from serious penalties or worse, because they made a serious mistake in their tax reporting. Solving such situations with the best possible outcome is not something that just anyone can do because it requires an intelligent mind that’s capable of solving problems in real life, as well as in the accounting books.
IT Knowledge
You do not have to learn to code (although that can never hurt!) in C++ or learn database management of course, but you will need to be proficient with accounting and other financial software solutions related to your field of work.
We live in a highly connected digital world with cloud computing keeping everything simultaneously synced and updated, so unless you know how to operate in such an IT dependent environment, your chances of succeeding in this field are diminished significantly, irrespective of your skills.
Most modern CISI course listed on sites like Find Courses integrate the basic IT operations usually needed to work in a modern financial organisation of course, so you are mostly covered. Even then, you should always take the extra initiative to learn and educate yourself more about the IT trends in the financial sector to remain relevant through the years.
The Willingness to Go Beyond Your Role
This is one of those skills that is hard to explain, but the general idea is to integrate knowledge and use it for innovation. The more you know about your organisation by taking interests beyond your current role in the company, the more you will be able to increase your chances of coming up with innovative and better alternatives to some of the current systems in place within the financial sector.
An accountant that knows the market, as well as the numbers, is always going to be an asset for any organisation. It makes you more valuable to the company and the particular industry you are working in. In fact, this interest may also lead to entrepreneurship down the line as well.
Last but not least, you should know that you can get finance news from https://www.financesrule.com/. Keeping yourself updated about what’s happening is a great way to stay in the loop.
Consider the skills we just discussed as a way to adequately analyse yourself and see how you measure up to them. If you feel that there is something lacking, now you know which are the areas that require improvements to further propel your career up the ladder in the financial sector.
From the perspective of an employer though, these are what you should be looking for in your employees and new recruits. If someone currently under your employment is lacking a few key skills or qualifications, get them through a CISI accredited programme that’s suited for the role he/she serves in your organisation. The results gained from such intelligent investments can be quite impressive, since it essentially amplifies and augments the already impressive abilities of an experienced financial worker.
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