Learn about the role of a Financial Analyst, the job outlook for this position, and how to break into the field. Understand how financial analysts use their skills in math, accounting, research, and data analytics to help organizations make informed investment strategies and decisions.
Key Insights
- Financial Analysts perform key tasks such as studying market trends, examining financial statements, and creating financial models to anticipate future performance. They play a crucial role in helping organizations make informed investment strategies.
- These professionals often find employment with large corporations like insurance companies, security firms, and investment banks, where they support budgeting initiatives and write financial status reports and recommendations.
- The job outlook for Financial Analysts is strong, with a projected 9% growth rate from 2021 to 2031, partly due to anticipated increases in economic activity and the emergence of industries requiring financial knowledge.
- Breaking into the field usually starts with a bachelor’s degree, followed by gaining on-the-job experience or pursuing further education such as an MBA or a master’s in finance. Earning industry-relevant certifications can also make a candidate stand out.
- Creating a strong professional portfolio can greatly aid in landing a job as a Financial Analyst. It provides a tangible way to showcase a candidate's skills, work samples, and significant outcomes from their efforts.
- Noble Desktop offers classes and training programs dedicated to financial modeling and analysis, such as their Financial Modeling Bootcamp and Financial Analyst Training Program, helping students gain fundamental and advanced skills in finance and Excel.
Financial Analysts are professionals who work with internal or external clients and perform various analytical tasks for them pertaining to equity, securities, ratings, and investments. Even with fluctuations in the market, those with financial knowledge and training remain in high demand across industries, particularly those where data is gathered and analyzed. If you’re considering a career as a Financial Analyst, the job outlook remains strong for next year and even the coming decade. Read on to learn more about financial analytics career outlook.
What is a Financial Analyst?
Financial Analysts study financial data and perform various research tasks to spot investment opportunities and analyze possible outcomes for business decisions. These professionals play an integral role in helping to create more informed investment strategies for their organization or its clients. To do so, Financial Analysts routinely perform tasks for their employer like studying current events and developments in the market, examining financial statements, and creating financial models that can anticipate future performance. They also may study macroeconomic trends or hone in on particular industries or sectors. Financial Analysts rely on their background in math, accounting, research, reporting, communication, critical thinking, and data analytics to perform these tasks.
Because of how valued they are by organizations, Financial Analysts often find employment with large corporations like insurance companies, security firms, investment banks, venture capital firms, or government agencies. They play an integral role in supporting an organization’s budgeting initiatives, as well as writing financial status reports and recommendations. Their process often involves steps such as collecting data, organizing information, performing data analysis on these numbers, providing projections or forecasts, offering recommendations, creating Excel models, presenting their findings to organizational stakeholders, and writing reports or dashboards to convey suggestions. Depending on their professional focus, Financial Analysts do extensive research on their organization’s buy-side and sell-side financial data. They often focus on either credit markets or equity markets.
Read more about what a Financial Analyst does.
What is the Job Outlook for Financial Analytics?
If you’re considering a job as a Financial Analyst, you may wonder whether the job outlook for this profession is strong. The good news is that Financial Analysts are currently in high demand and are expected to remain so for at least the next decade. A financial analyst job is considered one of the best positions currently available in finance. These professionals work in a variety of industries and enjoy a high earning potential. Currently, financial analytics is considered the 13th-best business job available and the 66th-best job in America. Not only does it come out as one of the best careers in America, but this profession also offers a high level of upward mobility. Financial Analysts often earn incentives like raises, better stock options, and additional time off the longer they work in finance.
In 2021, the median yearly salary for Financial Analysts was $96,000, which equals approximately $46/hour. This is over $40,000 over the median pay rate in the U.S. Other Financial Analyst positions also provide relatively high compensation rates. In 2021, the median salary for Investment Analysts was $92,000. Financial Risk Specialists earned approximately $100,000 in 2021. There were over 373,000 available Financial Analyst positions in 2021. The unemployment was 4.1% for Financial Analysts in 2021.
In the decade from 2021-2031, financial analytics is projected to experience a 9% growth rate. This is above the national average. During that time frame, over 30,000 new positions for Financial Analysts are expected to open. This expansion is expected partly from an anticipated increase in economic activity, in addition to the emerging industries that will require those with financial knowledge to direct growth. Globalization is another contributing factor to this projected expansion. Markets around the world are continuing to develop, which means that organizations of all sizes and kinds need Financial Analysts to advise them on how to expand and invest. For this reason, finance professionals who also have a background studying economic, cultural, or political trends in specific locations are particularly in-demand.
Even though the field of financial analytics is expected to continue to grow, positions remain competitive. While this growth will lead to new jobs being created, the number of people currently training to enter this field remains greater than the number of jobs waiting to be filled. This is why some prospective Financial Analysts pursue a graduate degree like an MBA or a master’s in finance or seek certification like the CPA, which can distinguish them from other job applicants with similar credentials.
How Do I Find a Financial Analyst Job?
If you’re interested in a job as a Financial Analyst, you may be wondering how to break into this field. Although there is no one “right” job path toward a career in finance, most individuals begin their journey by earning a bachelor’s degree. This typically involves completing courses in statistics, economics, and other fields relevant to financial analysis. Some individuals select more targeted degrees, such as a bachelor of science in finance.
After completing undergraduate study, some individuals apply for entry-level positions at banking firms or work with accounting or investments. Some may consider earning Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) credentials, which are available from the CFA Institute, which can lead to job opportunities with higher pay or career advancement options. Others opt to seek industry-relevant certifications or licensing before applying for jobs.
On-the-job experience plays a crucial role in becoming a successful Financial Analyst. Most who pursue this career path begin as interns or Junior-Level Financial Analysts, then work their way up to more senior roles. Those with hands-on training in accounting, finance, or economics have an advantage over other job candidates who lack real-world experience. Another option many consider to pursue their ideal finance job is earning a master’s degree in accounting or an MBA. This provides additional training in advanced financial reporting, auditing, strategic analysis, and managerial methods. Resources such as Glassdoor.com and Indeed.com have helped many people find competitive Financial Analyst positions.
Creating a strong portfolio is another important factor in helping you land a job as a Financial Analyst. Professional portfolios provide a way to showcase a selection of your best work to share with potential employers. Although the type of portfolio you will create will vary depending on the specific job to which you’re applying, most portfolios include work samples, transcripts, certificates, proof of skills, and visual elements that illustrate your training, such as project overviews or details about projects you’ve contributed to or managed. Your resume, as well as letters of recommendation, also are commonly included in portfolios. A strong Financial Analyst portfolio can help set you apart from other candidates who seem equally qualified in terms of credentials. They provide an engaging and creative way to demonstrate that you have financial skills and have taken the time to arrange them professionally. A strong portfolio not only shows employers the impact of the work you’ve done but also what lessons you take away from this work, as well as the significant outcomes for your organization that occurred from your efforts.
Learn the Skills to Become a Financial Analyst at Noble Desktop
Noble Desktop, an educational provider located in New York City, offers a range of classes devoted to financial modeling and analysis. Financial Modeling Bootcamp is a hands-on, 18-hour course that teaches students fundamental financial concepts, such as corporate valuation, accounting, and finance. Participants in this small class create their own discounted cash flow using Microsoft Excel. Over three days, expert instructors also help students develop a comprehensive financial model for an actual company. As a prerequisite to this bootcamp, students should have intermediate Excel proficiency.
Noble also has a Financial Analyst Training Program that provides expert instruction on timely corporate and financial concepts, such as making a full valuation model. Those enrolled in this intensive program receive instruction on fundamental Excel skills, such as using shortcuts and PivotTables. Advanced Excel techniques are also covered in this 30-hour program, like Goal Seek and cash flow projection tools. All learners also receive instruction on creating a three-statement financial model for a public restaurant company.
In addition to the Financial Modeling Bootcamp and Financial Analyst Training Program, Noble Desktop also has in-person and live online financial modeling training courses. The
Excel Bootcamp offers 18 hours of instruction on core business Excel skills like working with VLOOKUP, INDEX, MATCH, and What-If Analysis for Goal Seek. FinTech courses are also available, like Algorithmic Trading with Python, Python for Data Science Bootcamp, and FinTech Bootcamp. This course provides students with hands-on training from expert instructors in FinTech skills like working with Python and SQL for data analysis, creating machine learning models, and working with different data types like integers, floats, and strings. All students have the option of a free course retake for up to one year, as well as one-on-one mentoring.
