Tips For Enhancing Your Financial Analyst Skills

The field of masters associated with finance and accounting is quite a wide-ranging and dynamic field. This makes it evident that investing in an MSc degree program translates to making a significant investment in the professional career of a person. In the wake of the last decade, many universities examined their ongoing curriculum for master's in finance degrees and made significant efforts to improve it. This also leads to the creation of new degree programs by various universities that led to an increase in options available for students making the choice tougher for them. This variety of different MSc programs in the field of finance and accounting can be overwhelming and so it is important to understand the difference between some of the most sought-after programs and looking at the possible career in accordance with your expectations from your profession.

Accountancy and Financial Engineering

It is important for students completing their undergraduate degrees to make a few choices when it comes to selecting a graduate program that is best suited in accordance with their needs, strengths, and aim in life. As the program of MSc in Financial Engineering is becoming more popular, it has attained such a level of competency where it is in line with accounting when it comes to the most in-demand skills. This has led to an almost parallel increase in the job growth rate for both the job profiles. At such a time where technological innovation is a constant force, the relatively contemporary career option in financial engineering is almost at par with the evergreen field of accountancy. This field has also emerged as a healthy alternative to accountancy as more and more industries across the world have started looking for individuals who can use state-of-the-art technology to help them provide a financial edge in the market.

Difference Between Accountancy and Financial Engineering

While there exists some crossover between the course curriculum for accounting and financial engineering, the primary focus on which both the respective courses narrow themselves are quite different from one another. Accounting tends to deal with tangible day-to-day skills that are needed to manage the financial reports and records of firms, the field of financial engineering finds work as a financial risk consultant, risk managers and financial traders due to the strong analytical background that the course provides which can help analyse the data in order to predict future trends. The students who pursue MSc in Accountancy tend to be more interested in learning the principles and processes that are used to manage numbers. However financial engineering students focus their efforts on using computer programs, algorithms, mathematical and financial theories to pull together such a kind of data-driven financial analysis that drives the market.

Lifestyle Considerations

The salary potential of both the career options is not the only factor that is to be weighed while choosing the course but surely there are also some lifestyle considerations that the students should analyse before choosing the course in which they wish to enrol. The most to the point answer to the question of earnings in both the career options are that after completing graduation in any course the individuals will be earning more than most working professionals. Although it is expected that students pursuing MSc in Financial Engineering will have potentially higher salaries in the near future, the course for MSc in Accountancy helps in improving the advanced skills thereby preparing students to pursue senior accounting jobs at positions of more respect in both public as well as private sectors.

Conclusion

The above considerations justify that no career can be weighed over the other and it depends solely on the choice and expectations of the student to decide the type of career that they wish to pursue. Financial engineers work in banks, investment firms, and mutual fund companies. The students who graduated with MSc in Accountancy are qualified for jobs of certified internal auditors, forensic accountants, and tax managers. The decision, however, should be made only after considering each and every aspect of both the career options.