If you are interested in Finance and eager to learn more, we’ve got you covered! Here are some helpful resources for understanding what a career in Finance entails, and to help you decide if finance is the right fit for you.
Areas of Expertise Within Finance
Vault Guide to Commercial Banking Jobs
The Vault Guides to Jobs series provides essential information about key careers and industries, with an emphasis on preparing for a career and getting your foot in the door. Each volume is loaded with up-to-date information on industry trends, employment and earnings statistics, and what employers look for in job candidates. Vault editors have researched and analyzed information from government and industry sources, professional groups, news reports, career and job-search resources, and a variety of other sources to produce these valuable career planning resources.
Vault guide to Accounting jobs
If you are more interested in the accounting side of finance, this guide will come in handy. It provides essential information about key accounting roles within the industry, with an emphasis on preparing for a career and getting your foot in the door.
Vault Career Guide to Sales and Trading
Wall Street is an exciting place to be, and sales and trading is one of the most exciting areas. It’s an extremely competitive business—at times it’s downright ruthless—but the salaries are high. If you wish to pursue a career in sales and trading, you need to be aware of the competitive nature of the job search. There are also rapid changes occurring in the industry, including increasing regulation, calm markets, and advances in technology that you should be aware of.
The Vault Career Guide to Sales and Trading, Third Edition will set you up for success in this challenging, but potentially very rewarding, field. You’ll find information about networking, what it takes to impress employers, and more. Plus, you’ll find great interviewing and career advice and an invaluable sense of life on the job and career paths on Wall Street and beyond.
Vault Career Guide to Leveraged Finance
Leveraged finance is a platform in all major investment and commercial banks. It is a function that taps into two major financial markets, is accessed by nearly all private equity shops and hedge funds on a regular basis and has been one of the booming profit centers of Wall Street for the past two decades. In this insider Vault guide, you’ll get the scoop on job responsibilities, compensation and lifestyle in leveraged finance for each of the relevant departments (structuring/origination, capital markets, credit, etc.), as well as a thorough overview of how leveraged finance fits into the financial markets and how a bank helps a company access the leveraged loan market.
Vault Career Guide to Venture Capital
Venture capitalists raise funds of millions or billions of dollars and invest it in promising young businesses and start-up companies, reaping the rewards when these companies make it big or another company buys them. Careers in this high-powered and tight-knit industry are highly desirable for those who seek an intellectually challenging and entrepreneurial environment.
The Vault Career Guide to Venture Capital, Seventh Edition provides an insider’s perspective on what’s happening in the venture capital industry, what it takes to break in and how to advance your career, helping you master every step of your job search.
Vault Career Guide to Wealth Management
Private wealth management, also called private banking, is a specialized branch of the investment community that provides one-stop shopping for products and services needed by the wealthy—typically defined as those who have liquid assets of more than $1 million. Wealth management professionals often work closely with individuals and families to invest their money, plan for the future, and manage their finances during crises. Private wealth management is a personally rewarding and potentially very lucrative career where top performers can make more than $3 million annually.
The Vault Career Guide to Wealth Management, Fourth Edition provides an insider’s perspective on view of what it takes to land a job in this area, what’s happening in the industry and how to advance your career. Whether you want to help create income growth for your clients or help them pay their taxes, this guide will help you master every step of your job search.
Vault Career Guide to Private Equity
For those interested in a career in finance, private equity offers many rewards—but breaking in comes with many challenges. The earnings are high, the work is intellectually challenging, and the lifestyle’s relatively stable, but finding work in private equity can be tough. The field is relatively small, and there’s a lot of competition for few job openings. Private equity firms can hold out to choose the absolute best applicants, and even if you’re highly qualified, it can be difficult to hear about openings because private equity firms are secretive and jobs are often unadvertised. Even more important is the emphasis placed on finding good personality fits for each firm’s culture. All of this favors job-seekers who do thorough research and possess excellent networking and interviewing skills.
Top Employers
Vault guide to top 25 banking employers
The Vault Guide to the Top 25 Banking Employers is the most comprehensive guide to the best investment banks to work for in North America. An essential tool for your banking firm search, this guide includes detailed profiles of the top investment banks and Vault’s most recent investment banking rankings, including the Vault Banking 25, Vault’s Prestige Rankings, Vault’s Quality of Life Rankings, and Vault’s Diversity Rankings.
Glassdoor’s top employers in Finance
Glassdoor provides a comprehensive list of employers along with a good overview of the company in terms of industry that the company operates in, locations and company size. This is a good resource to find out more about a company, employees often share interview experiences, salary ranges and overall experience working in the company which can be useful in deciding where this company is a good fit for you.
Preparing for the Interview
Vault Guide to Finance Interviews
The Vault Guide to Finance Interviews, is a must-have resource for anyone seeking a job with an investment bank, mutual fund, hedge fund, commercial bank, or other financial institution. Competition is fierce for positions in finance, and employers are looking for prospective hires with more than a solid resume and basic skills. The interview process reflects the high-pressure environment of the financial workplace and tests not only if an applicant will fit into the company environment but also if he or she can apply key financial skills and practices to concrete problems.
Corporate Finance Institute’s Interview guides
Corporate Finance Institute has compiled a list of the most common and frequently asked finance interview questions. What’s interesting is that the Institute has guides for different areas within finance such as Investment banking, Accounting, Private Equity, which allows interviewees to select the guide depending on the area of finance they are interviewing for.
Finance is a dynamic and challenging field but it is also rewarding for those who have a genuine passion and interest in it. If any of the above areas interest you, the first step is to follow through the guide and the next important step is to speak to professionals in the industry. This will not only help you solidify your interest in the area further but also give you the confidence to take the next step in your finance career.
Navigating the Finance Industry by Hitesh Sharma MSF’21
Check out this in depth blog post from Brandeis’s very own, Hitesh Sharma ‘21, on his experience in the finance industry. He talks about his interview experience and resources he used for interview preparation.
What recruiters want – and how to provide it
Here is a great piece by a long-time recruiter published by the Financial Times. Get an inside look at what recruiters are looking for!
