financial analyst

As an investment banking analyst, you aid companies in achieving their financial objectives by creating and managing profitable investments. Your task is to evaluate a company's requirements, define its objectives, and seek promising investment prospects. In cases where a company already holds investments, you assess their performance and recommend replacements when necessary.

When working as a risk analyst, your job is to assist companies seeking to invest in new markets or expand their operations. You assess plans and offer financial guidance to mitigate risks, boost profits, and foster growth. Additionally, you may conduct thorough research to support your employer in making well-informed financial choices.

In this role, you enhance business operations and revenue by optimizing processes, researching sales leads, assessing finances and operations, and refining business strategies.

When working as an equity research analyst, you operate within the securities sector, serving sell-side firms like pension funds and buy-side firms like banks. You typically produce research reports, stock recommendations, and forecasts for companies. Also, you specialize in a specific country or industry, focusing on a select group of companies.

Here, you make investment choices, assess investment opportunities, and evaluate the performance of various investments like bonds and stocks. Afterward, you convey your suggestions to individuals and businesses, helping them determine whether to keep, buy, or sell a security. As a financial qualitative analyst, you often make rapid trading decisions.

As a financial analyst, your duties and responsibilities can differ based on your company, seniority, and industry. However, the typical job description includes the following tasks:

• gather data and information: To start your job as a financial analyst, you'll gather data and information for your analysis. This data may include historical financial reports, general ledger accounting data, stock prices, industry research, statistics, macroeconomic data, and other quantitative data sources.
• organize information: Once you've gathered the data, it's usually entered into a finance system or another database. Your next step is to tidy it up and put it in a format that makes sense. This means sorting numbers by date or category, using formulas and functions to keep it dynamic, and maintaining consistent formatting for clarity.
• analyze financial results: With the data organized in a specific system, your role as a financial analyst involves diving into past information and historical results. You'll examine various ratios and metrics like net margin, gross margin, fixed vs. variable costs, and return on equity (ROE) among many other metrics. You'll identify trends and compare performance to companies in the same industry.
• design forecasts and projections: After analyzing historical data, you're ready to predict the company's future performance. This task involves a mix of art and science as it requires various assumptions and common forecasting methods.
• develop recommendations: As a skilled financial analyst, you crunch numbers and generate insights and recommendations to enhance business operations. Recommendations might cover cost-cutting strategies, market share expansion, revenue growth opportunities, customer satisfaction improvements, operational efficiencies, and more. You represent these insights to executives, including the chief executive officer (CEO), chief finance officer (CFO), and board of directors.
• build models: Working as a finance analyst in areas such as investment banking, corporate development, equity research, and financial planning and analysis requires you to have exceptional financial modeling skills. With these skills, you can efficiently connect the three financial statements.
• make presentations and generate reports: As a financial analyst, you turn your analyzed data into charts and graphs, which you often use in pitch books and presentations to management. You also create reports highlighting a company's key performance indicators (KPIs) and comparing actual results to budgeted figures. These reports must be timely, easy to understand, insightful, and visually straightforward.
• maintain a balanced budget: You generate regular financial reports, collaborate with executives regarding funding requirements, and assess budget decisions for one-time expenditures and special programs. You also review current and past spending to assist companies in future planning.

Generally, financial analysts work in an office environment with a business dress code. You might have to travel to meet with clients. Your business will reimburse your travel expenses, such as food and gas money.

Some companies allow their employees to work remotely. You could work full-time in a home office or commit to a hybrid model with remote and in-person shifts. Either way, your supervisor would likely ask you to visit the office for meetings and presentations.

Your colleagues will likely include junior and senior analysts with different specialties. Senior analysts often supervise junior analysts while they perform research and create financial models. Once you become a senior analyst, you may work directly with clients. Depending on your employer, you could also interact with bankers, insurance agents, stockbrokers, data analysts, business analysts F&A and other professionals. Other office employees could include accountants, customer service representatives, and HR managers.

Most financial analysts work 40 hours a week during regular office hours. However, your employer might ask you to arrive early, stay late or work over the weekend when you have a deadline approaching. Office workers usually get time off for major holidays, such as Thanksgiving and Christmas.

If you find a part-time job, your employer may pair you with a senior analyst and give you about 20 hours a week. Offices usually close on the weekends, but you could need to come in to assist with major projects. Your supervisor may give you extra hours if a full-time employee goes on leave.

Financial analyst jobs often come with paid sick days and a week or two of vacation time. Your employer might not grant leave for part-time positions, but you could qualify for other benefits.

If your employer hires multiple analysts, you could have the opportunity to move to a senior position. You would likely receive a pay raise for mentoring junior analysts and taking on bigger responsibilities. Successful financial analysts can move to bigger corporations with more benefits and higher salaries, but you may have to relocate to another city.

Many employers are major enterprises that offer high job security. After all, these companies are so successful that they can afford high-value investments. Successful financial analysts bring the company even more success, allowing you to stay with one business until you retire.

If you prefer working directly with clients, consider a job as an insurance underwriter, stockbroker or financial advisor. These people work with businesses and individuals. You might even collaborate with a financial analyst to provide the best possible service. You could also consider managerial positions in your current office.

Working through Randstad offers you a range of benefits:

• being paid weekly
• flexibility
• always a contact person you can fall back on and ask for help from
• many training opportunities
• a range of jobs in your area

Want a permanent contract? But you wonder why it would be interesting for you to work with a staffing company? A temporary job as financial analyst is often a stepping stone to an attractive permanent job. Every year, thousands of people earn a permanent contract with great employers thanks to a temporary job found through Randstad. What's more, many companies recruit their permanent employees through Randstad too!

If you don't have an MBA or economics background, taking the Series 7 and Series 63 exams could be beneficial. Remember that you'll need sponsorship from a Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) member firm or regulatory organization to participate in the Series 7 exam. In 2018, FINRA introduced the Securities Industry Essentials (SIE) exam to streamline knowledge testing for multiple categories and ease entry into the securities industry.

Financial analysts need to understand financial documents, such as income statements, cash flow statements and balance sheets. You should understand them so well that you could explain them to another person without using jargon. These documents are essential for performing research and making estimates.

Businesses look for analysts with experience in making predictions with software and research. Your company's future is just as important as past trends. With financial forecasting, you'll evaluate the risks and possibilities and choose the best possible outcome. You can't predict everything, but your employer expects high levels of accuracy.

To excel in your finance analyst role, you require a blend of the following skills:

• research skills: Your responsibilities involve sourcing data from various outlets for financial analysis. Research skills enable you to uncover historical company records and macroeconomic data from industry sources. With this information, you can make informed predictions.
• attention to detail: Being detail-oriented is crucial for recognizing market trends and making precise predictions. Attention to detail empowers you to draw insightful conclusions based on market fluctuations.
• analytical skills: As a finance analyst, you scrutinize extensive data and arrive at accurate conclusions. Analytical skills are essential for asking pertinent questions, reaching precise conclusions, and identifying optimal solutions for your clients.
• mathematical proficiency: Mathematics and numerical skills are vital, given the complex calculations involved in financial modeling. At times, complex equations are necessary for thorough data analysis. Mathematical skills also aid in crafting financial models, such as charts and graphs.
• communication skills: Effective communication skills are essential to convey intricate financial terminology to clients and investors. Furthermore, strong communication and interpersonal abilities assist in nurturing relationships with stakeholders and facilitating access to critical information.

Most employers look for a bachelor's degree in a finance-related field, but a master's degree makes you stand out among the other applicants. You could also receive training and experience that allows you to apply for licenses and certifications. Once you're certified, you'll look even more attractive to hiring managers.

Your basic schedule will be 40 hours during the week, but financial analysts often work overtime to present their research on time. Your employer might ask you to work in the early morning, at night or over the weekend. Depending on your state's laws, your company may have to give you overtime pay.

Financial institutions, such as banks, credit unions and insurance companies, hire financial analysts to support their business and help them serve their customers. If you're a sell-side analyst, you'll assist institutions that sell financial products. Other employers include government agencies and scientific companies.

If you're new to the field, your employer might assign a senior financial analyst who oversees your projects and trains you on the job. When you become an expert, you could start mentoring junior analysts, sharing your knowledge and helping them succeed. This could inspire you to seek a higher management position.

Some firms might offer part-time positions, but the necessary knowledge and commitment usually require a full-time position. If you find a part-time position or internship, you could advance to a permanent job. Note that full-time employees usually qualify for more benefits.

Applying for a financial analyst job is easy: create a Randstad profile and search our financial analyst jobs for vacancies in your area. Then simply send us your CV. If you do not have a resume, no worries. Just check out our resume builder. This state of the art tool will help you to create your own resume. Need help with your application? Check out all our job-hunting tips!