Jobs in the financial sector can be highly lucrative, so if you want to earn the kind of money that will enable you to make a difference in the lives of others, and in the wider world, then the finance industry could well be the place for you. However, to have a successful career in finance, you will also need to be skilled and passionate about numbers and maths! If that’s you, then there are many different kinds of jobs in finance you can choose from which suit a variety of different personalities and skill sets.
Not only this, but a career in finance also offers a challenging work environment, interaction with highly motivated and intelligent people and many opportunities for advancement. As well as offering candidates a degree of challenge, a career in finance is a stable one, as finance skills are in such high demand that qualified professionals will unlikely ever to be out of work for very long. Furthermore, the finance sector is expected to grow in the coming years. And on the negative side (just so that you go into this with your eyes open), careers in finance involve high barriers to entry and the potential for a lot of stress during busy period ends.
For any young reader considering a career in finance or for anyone considering a career change, there are two recognised entry points that you could pursue. The more traditional route is gaining a degree in finance at university with an average of 13 hours per week in lectures and seminars. The alternative is to start with the AAT qualification, whereby you have the freedom to learn at your own pace in a way that suits your lifestyle and an extended support period that means there’s plenty of wiggle room if you have a busy life. Both provide you with a grounding in finance which is useful across the entire business spectrum, and in any sector, meaning you can apply for public sector, private sector, government, and international careers.
Once you have your degree or AAT under your belt, then the next logical step would be to pursue your chartered accountancy qualification (ACA, ACCA, or CIMA). These qualifications are typically completed alongside practical ‘on the job ’experience and would usually take 3 years to complete. Whichever route you choose, a wealth of different career routes is open to you, such as starting as an Accounts Assistant, developing into a Management Accountant, a Finance Business Partner, or climbing the ranks to Finance Director… the list goes on.
When deciding which career route to take you need to be aware that some roles within this industry require you to have particular professional qualifications specific to the job. These credentials take dedication and time to acquire, but the rewards are highly advantageous. In addition to the 3 main qualifications mentioned above, other options worth exploring are;
ATT (Association of Taxation Technicians), CFA (Chartered Financial Analyst), CIPP (Chartered Institute of Payroll Professionals), CICM (Chartered Institute of Credit Management), and CTA (Chartered Tax Advisor).
The bottom line for finance hopefuls is that there is a lot of study up ahead of you but also large rewards! Here’s the lowdown on some of the roles you can ultimately look forward to fulfilling:
Management Accountant
This is a mid-level role where you could be working in both the public and private sectors. You’ll be preparing the monthly management accounts pack (P&L, Balance Sheet, Cashflow statement), recording and crunching numbers that your companies use for
budgeting and planning purposes. You may also be responsible for managing risk, planning, strategising, and decision support. Salary range: c£40-50K
Financial Accountant
As a financial accountant, you’ll be keeping track of your organisations’ financial operations as well as being responsible for balance sheets, and statutory accounts. Responsible for maintaining financial accountability, you’ll oversee areas like payroll, tax, and spending. You will also provide reports to management and investigate financial discrepancies. Salary range: c£40-50K
Finance Business Partner
In this role, you will gather information and manipulate data in Excel to analyse trends. You will then make recommendations and partner with non-finance stakeholders to add value to commercial business decision-making. Salary range: c£55-65K
Financial controller
This is a management-level role where you’ll be preparing the company’s financial reports, which include balance sheets and income statements. You’ll assist with compliance audits and monitoring internal controls to ensure that everyone does their job correctly. System and process improvement is also a major part of the FC role. Salary range: c£60-80K
Financial Director
As a Director of Finance or CFO you’ll be responsible for the company’s long-term financial health and growth. You’ll establish strategies that will earn profits, oversee accounting operations, produce accurate reports on where money is going within the business and improve or change current practices to increase efficiency. You’ll develop and control the company’s annual operating budget to ensure that all financial targets are met, and financial and statutory regulations complied with and provide financial advice and guidance to the company’s managers and staff to enable them to achieve their objectives. Salary £80k- £120K
There are many more roles available in the finance industry and if you aren’t looking first and foremost for a high-powered career but a decent, stable job with which to provide for your loved ones and pay the bills, then finance has a myriad opportunities for you.
In your search for a role in the finance sector, when you are typing ‘finance recruitment agencies, Bristol ’into your search bar you’ll notice that Core3 stand out. As a B Corp we prioritise people, purpose and planet. That’s why we make sure that we get to know our candidates properly and exactly what it is that they want out of life. We’ll help you to create a roadmap of where you want to be and define what is possible, improving your CV to maximise your chance of securing interviews and being proactive to open doors that otherwise might be closed.
Our consultants have many years combined experience finding the right roles for finance professionals and we take pride in what we do. We believe that it’s not just what we do that counts, it’s how we think and how we plan our future. We care about who we place, so aftercare is important to us to ensure people are happy in their role. It’s not a transaction, It’s a relationship.
If you have been googling ‘finance recruitment agencies, Bristol’, we are here to help you to find your role. What’s more, as a Bristol finance recruitment agency and a B Corp, we give a percentage of the income we make to causes which benefit the people in our community and the environment in which we all live. So why not get in touch?
