Career Opportunities of the Students of Finance Field in John Molson School of Business - Assignment Example

FINAL BUSINESS REPORT TABLE OF CONTENTS EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 1 INTRODUCTION 3 Statement of purpose 3 Statement of problem 4 FINDINGS 5 CONCLUSION 12 Recommendations 12 REFERENCES 14 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY This report represents a study on future career opportunities of the students of finance field in John Molson School of Business. It provides detailed information regarding the job market and the requirements to get into a good financial institution. The readers also can get information about the essential industry related skill they need to develop for getting age into the job market. This report would help the first year finance students of the business schools to aware about the course they have enrolled. The job market in this field in Montreal city would also be reviewed to assess entry level salaries and job profiles that the financial organizations offer to the fresh graduates with finance background. Main objective of choosing a particular field of study is to find out the implications of the study and opportunities to implement the knowledge from that particular filed in future working life. After detailed study on future career opportunities in Montreal for the finance students of this business school it has found that there’re are many opportunities for the students to get entry level job in financial and non financial organizations. As finance is one of the most5 important areas of businesses and for this reasons bo9th the financial as well as non financial organizations need people in this field. Apart from this, from the secondary research on job business market in Montreal it has been found out that it is the financial hub of Quebec as many domestic as well as leading multinational financial firms operates here. Most of these organizations prefer to local recruit local people especially fresh graduates from local business schools for entry level positions. Most of the leading organizations also offer training programs for the fresh graduates and recruit from the trainee. It is a good opportunity for the finance students get opportunities for doing summer internship and get hired. More than half of the financial professionals of Quebec are from Montreal city who work in these financial institutions. The students can have access many business magazines and trade journals published in this city to acquire knowledge about real market scenario and become updated about business trends and activities. Therefore, this study has successfully revealed the positive future job opportunity for the finance students of John Molson School of Business. INTRODUCTION Finance is a field of study which provides knowledge about how money is well managed and how cost effective fund can be obtained. Finance acts as an exchange of available resources. This field of study represents broader areas of knowledge. It is one of the major specializations in higher studies which have comparatively comparatively more job opportunities than other general field of studies. Finance is one of those areas of study which helps a student to start career as an individual professional as well as an organizational employee. There are limited field of studies like this offered by the universities which provide multiple opportunities of future careers. Knowledge of finance is highly essential for an individual of any field for better management of earnings. There are multiple areas in finance study like Corporate Finance or managerial Finance, Investment management and Financial Markets and Institutions. Among these three major areas, corporate finance is the key major area which is very necessary for a finance student to acquire basic knowledge of finance. Studying corporate finance help to develop finance base which is necessary for financial strategic decision making by own analysis and knowledge of corporate finance is essential in practical financial work like investment decision making. Statement of purpose Main purpose of this study is to assess working prospect of studying in finance field. A student after completing school, starts researching on various courses of studies offered by the universities. Their aim is to find out best courses among the hundreds of courses, which provides better career in terms of job opportunities and future earnings. This paper will assess the career opportunities of studying in finance field and help to develop career path in this field. There are many external sources of knowledge in finance field like financial magazines, news paper and also practice of many analytical tools which are necessary to become an expertise in this field. Therefore, this study will be completed by considering its main purpose of envisioning the future career path to the students of finance field. Statement of problem Motivation for this study has come from some problems faced by the many after school students regarding selection of finance area as next filed of their study. Secondary school students are generally familiar with the basic knowledge about finance and economics which they have studied in secondary course curriculum. But, different stages of accounting, in-depth knowledge of investment and insurance were not covered in their school level courses. Therefore, they become afraid after first time introduction with this vast syllabus and also could not understand the future outcomes of successful completion of various finance courses. Therefore, this report of in-depth study in the current career opportunities in finance field would help the new as well as aspiring candidates of finance to acquire extracurricular knowledge of finance which would definitely help them in future careers. It is quite difficult for the first year students to get reliable and information about their future career path from different opinion from different blogger in internet. Different educational magazines also provide information about future career opportunities. But, students generally do not get specific information like specific job profiles, entry level salaries, additional certifications etc. This study would resolve these common queries of finance students and also the secondary school students who also might interest to get this information to make selection of higher studies. FINDINGS Background Finance is most demanded and highly paid working field across the world. Montreal is the largest and most economically developed city in the Canadian province of Quebec. Financial organizations contribute major percentage to the economic development of this city. Major financial institutions are banks and non banking financial corporations, financial research companies etc. these organizations hire most of their requirements of fresh graduates from the local universities and business schools located in this city. Therefore, student in the finance filed have high job opportunities after passing out from their finance courses. In the core finance field, major job categories are derivatives, financial engineering, portfolio management, security analysis, financial accounting etc. Montreal is recognized for center of knowledge where thousands fresh graduates are trained in finance related field each year. It is one of the most valuable information to the student of finance field or the aspiring finance students that Montreal is city which has nearly half of the Quebec’s 35000 accountants (IFC, 2010, p.2). The CFA association in this city is the largest in the world. Montreal in known not only for its large qualified workforce but also the retention rate of this workforce is very low (Montreal2025, 2012). This implies the high work satisfaction level of the employees and consciousness of the organizations regarding the working environment, growth potential and benefits of the employees. John Molson School of Business is one of the top management institutions that provide quality training in the finance field to the students in this field. Apart from higher job opportunities in city, there are also opportunities to start low cost business. Canada leads all the G8 countries in terms of low cost business start and low cost of business operation. Therefore, frees graduates students also can start up partnership business with their friends. The city holds a strong economical stability that provides low cost finance for the new and aspirating entrepreneurs. Financial services contribute major to the gross domestic product of the city as most of the top businesses in this city are financial institutions. Montreal also holds highest number of financial research job in Canada. Therefore, finance is one of the major economic drivers of the city Montreal. Growth in finance sector in this city leads to more financial job opportunities for the finance graduates. the rising presence of multinational organizations drive the economy of this region in terms of creating new job opportunities directly or indirectly by financing new business to develop they creates requirement of new employees. The finance students have high opportunities in terms of their future jobs as the city is known for financial hub of Quebec. Limitations This research topic is about future career opportunities of studying in finance for the first year university students of finance field who face difficulties in getting information about it. It provides a complete overview of career opportunities of the finance students of Jon Molson in the local professional community. Though this study has subsequent potential to provide necessary information to the readers or the target audience but it also has some limitations. This study has been conducted focusing on a particular region. Therefore, career opportunities of finance are assessed on that region while there might be numbers of opportunities in global market. For example few firms in the specific region are mentioned in this study that offers limited job criteria. Whereas, there are numbers of multinational firms that offers many categories of financial job. All these are not possible to cover in this report due to lack of information regarding their job requirements. Some information required for this study has been collected from secondary research as those are difficult to get from primary research. Regional job market also depends on the economic environment of the particular region and some of the information in this stud like entry level salaries might be changing on major changes in market environment. Firms There are numbers of organizations in the city Montreal that recruits fresh finance graduates every year. These are banks, security broking companies, investment research companies, insurance companies etc. More than seventy multinational business organizations operate in this city and most of these are financial institutions. Many local organizations also compete with these international institutions and they generally focus on the fresh graduate trainees to reduce the cost of business operation. One popular domestic investment company is Eterna Investment Management. This is an investment management company that provides portfolio management services to individuals. This organization hires finance trainees every year and provides quality training during their probation period. Fresher are provided the position of trainee research associate (EIM, 2012). AssureExparts Inc is an insurance broking company operates in the property and casualty insurance and financial services. This company recruits fresh graduates of finance background as position of insurance and investment advisors (AssurExpert, 2012). BMO Bank of Montreal is new business division of leading financial group, BMO Financial Group. This divisional business operates in Montreal city and recruits experience as well fresh finance graduates. Fresher are given the position of customers service representatives (BMO, 2012). Job Criteria Students are required to develop industry oriented skills to get an edge in the job market. To get into financial research like security analysis, investment analysis, portfolio management etc, finance fresher need to be familiar with various analytic tools like SAS, SPSS and also must need to efficient in MS Excel. These technical skills are generally common criteria to get into leading financial research companies. Banks hire fresh graduates for operation executives and this position needs knowledge of management information systems development. Insurance companies generally recruit experienced marketing or sales professional for selling their insurance products. For entering into core accounting profile students needs to have knowledge of using popular accounting software like SAP, Tally and many other advanced tools. A string base in basic accounting is very much necessary to pass the recruitment tests of accounting profiles as candidates need to solve real time accounting problems of company. Therefore, as finance is diverse field, one student cannot be strong in all the areas o9f finance. So, they need to decide their future career from the first year based on their most interested areas. They need to develop industry oriented skill and knowledge on one particular area to get extra edge in the recruitment processes. In-house Training Programs BMO Financial Group offers CSR training to the fresh graduates. It is one in-house training program for the new employees for their role as Customer Service Representative in these organizations. The participants are trained about the product and services of the organizations and how to resolve customers’ queries. Royal Bank of Canada offers various training program for the new graduates to provide them hands on industry oriented experience. One core finance program is Global market Program. This program provides access to commodities, debt capital market, equity market and many other financial areas (RBC, 2012). Laurentian bank offers summer training for the fresh graduates for two three months. This helps the fresh finance graduates to acquire industry oriented knowledge. The company also recruits management trainees from the efficient candidates among the summer trainees. This is a good opportunity to the finance students to get into one of the leading bank in Montreal (Laurentian bank, 2012). Entry-level salaries Entry level salaries for fresh graduates are $2000 to $3000. Domestic companies pay comparatively lower salaries than multinational companies. Final year students of the business schools are required to do two to three months summer training program. These summer trainees are also paid by the companies in terms of minimum stipend not salary. Leading multinational firms also offer summer training with good stipend. Fresher candidates get increment of their salary after completing their probation period in the same organization. Professional Journal/Trade Publications Montreal Business Magazine is the leading magazine in the city which is very much popular among the business and finance professional and also management students. Brief is a major trade publication of Montreal. It is published by chamber of commerce of Montreal metropolitan. Professional association Professional associations are the entry door of professional community or corporate world to the fresh graduates. Joining a professional association would help them to be familiar with the knowledge and skills required for doing practical work in the business organizations. Professional organizations conduct different seminars for sharing knowledge and skills of many professionals on important business areas. Therefore, if the students join to these professional associations then they will get knowledge from these discussions of high skilled professional from different countries of the world. The students need to acquire knowledge about actual business activities and workings of employees so that they can prepare themselves based on their interests from the first years to get extra advantage at the time of entering into job market. There are few professional associations in Montreal and these allow fresh graduates to take membership as trainee. Three leading professional association in Montreal are CFA association, CIBPA i.e. Canadian Italian Business and Professional Association and FWA i.e. Financial Women Association. All these three associations offer free membership to the graduate students for a limited period of time. This is one type of corporate activities of these organizations to inspire the students for getting familiar with industry oriented skill and knowledge from several expertise of the industry. Student Association Three popular student associations that a first year students can enroll into are CASA i.e. Commerce and Administration Students’ Association, CISA i.e. Concordia International Students Association and FISA i.e. Finance and Investment Students' Association. These students associations are run by the students of John Molson School of Business (CASAJMSB, 2012). Certifications and Accreditations Chartered Financial Analyst or CFA is the major certifications that provide high privilege to an individual who has persuade CFA. This accreditation helps to get high paid and prestigious positions in leading financial organizations. CFA society of Montreal is a nonprofit organization that offers and conducts CFA program to those finance students who have strong base in finance and have interest in higher studies of finance. CFA is an international certification provided by this organization and it helps the finance students to become expert in strategic finance. After getting CFA certification, a student can easily get high profile job opportunities in multinational financial research firms. Strategic financial management job profiles are highest paid job in this sector and it is the ultimate goal of many finance graduates as their future career. Conferences within 500 km of Montreal Attaining Business conferences is highly beneficial for the students. As Montreal is city of numbers of financial organizations, there are several no of conferences are conducted by difference associations and many firms. Speakers from different regions of the world are the main guests of these conferences and they share their skills and knowledge to discuss important areas of business and economy. Therefore, students can gain knowledge from these industry experts. They can familiar with presentation skills of theories and models through different real approaches of in critical business areas. Benefits Canada frequently conducts domestic business conferences in Montreal and cities in Quebec regarding healthcare and finance. These conferences offer strong educational content and business networking opportunities to the professional in these industries. Students of local business schools are offered with entry by minimum fees. Therefore, finance students have opportunity to get in hand experience of how business conferences are conducted and objective and outcomes of these. They also get opportunity to consult with the industry experts regarding future prospect and growth of financial industry in domestic as well as international market. They also get familiar with the advance industry oriented skills and knowledge from the speeches and discussion of the industry experts. CONCLUSION This study would help the students of finance field to become aware of the chosen field of study and resolve their queries about career opportunities of studying in finance. This report would also help the students to start preparing to acquire industry required skills to get edge in the job market. From this study, it has been found out that, Montreal is a financial hub and the city have numbers of financial firms both domestic as well as international that offers different training programs and entry level job to the fresh graduates in different profiles. As finance is wide field of study where student also can chose one specific area for their future career. But they need to acquire industry oriented skills and knowledge on a particular area. Multinational organizations offer good entry level salaries for different positions to the finance graduates. Non financial organizations also hire finance students in company finance divisions. The students who have interest in accounting area need to focus on chartered accounting and actuary firms where they can get core accounting job profile rather than non financial organizations where they would be offered for accounting executives with limited growth opportunity. Financial firms provide faster career growth to trainees than non financial organizations. Therefore, first year students of John Molson School of Business need to select the most interested area so that they can concentrate on that more to acquire in depth knowledge and understanding. This would help them to develop competence in a specific areas which is given priority by the leading organization at their recruitment processes. Recommendations From the analysis of career opportunities in finance field in Montreal, it can be recommended to the students of finance field that they need to acquire strong base in corporate finance. This are helps to develop strong base in finance which has major implications in financial analysis. Quantitative analysis skill is also essential to get core finance job in research and analytic companies. This study has explored detailed information about the financial market in Montreal and various job opportunities for the finance graduates. But, it has some limitations like it has highlighted important information about the market and few example of job profiles and training programs offered by the companies operate in this city. Therefore, it is recommended to the readers of this report i.e. the students perusing finance studies that they need to regularly go through business newspapers, business magazines and trade publication so that they can get more detailed inf9ormation about the finance market. The city holds a strong economical stability that provides low cost finance for the new and aspirating entrepreneurs. Financial services contribute major to the gross domestic product of the city as most of the top businesses in this city are financial institutions. The students can be notified about new multinational entering to this market and their proposed business activities. Students also need to join students associations as well as professional associations in this city to get familiar with industry oriented skills and knowledge of business experts. Apart from various job opportunities in finance field, entrepreneurship is also encouraged by many governmental as well as private firms like investment banks and venture capital firms. They always appreciate students with new innovative business ideas and provide financial and other strategic solution with minimum charges so that they would become one of the priority customers of these financial firms in future. Apart from higher job opportunities in city, there are also opportunities to start low cost business. Therefore, graduates students also can start up partnership business with their friends. Montreal also holds highest number of financial research job in Canada and finance students are recommended to focus in these jobs and also corporate accounting profiles for the students who have interest in accounting. REFERENCES AssurExpert. (2012). A ssur E xperts, leader. Retrieved from http://www.assurexperts.qc.ca/. BMO. (2012). Working at BMO. Retrieved from http://www.bmo.com/home/about/banking/careers/working-at-bmo/our-business-groups/details#tabs-1. BTMM. (2012). Publications. Retrieved from http://www.btmm.qc.ca/en/index.aspx?u=newsroom-Publications&prt=1. CASAJMSB. (2012). About Us. Retrieved from http://casajmsb.ca/about-us/. EIM. (2012). A tradition since three generations. http://www.eterna.ca/en/management/tradition.php. IFC. (2010). Financial Services Companies of Metropolitan Montréal. Retrieved from http://www.cfimontreal.com/en/pdf/CFI_carte_geopicturale_en.pdf. Laurentian bank. (2012). Students and recent graduates. Retrieved from https://www.banquelaurentienne.ca/en/about_lbc/my_career/students.html. Montreal2025. (2012). Business Services. Retrieved from http://www.montreal2025.com/environnement_affaires.php?lang=en. RBC. (2012). Global Markets. Retrieved from http://campus.rbccm.com/en/home/our-programs/global-markets.aspx. Read More