What do you need to learn to become a financial analyst?

Being a financial analyst is one of the most sought-after career paths in the field of finance. This is mainly because analysts can work in a variety of industries and also because the field has some significant advantages, including a high earning potential. If you’re finance major, a financial analyst role is undoubtedly worth considering.

Here are some of the critical things you need to know about being a financial analyst.

What is a financial analyst?

A financial analyst is someone who makes business suggestions for a company based on analyses they carry out on factors such as market trends, the financial status of an organization and the predicted results of a definite type of deal. Analysts usually have academic backgrounds as a business, finance or accounting majors and are numbers-driven individuals who are comfortable interpreting data and making recommendations based on that data.

What do financial analysts do?

Financial analysts are mainly responsible for building financial models that can forecast the outcome of certain business decisions. To do this correctly, they need to aggregate a massive amount of financial data while also taking into account factors such as financial market trends and past transactions of a related nature. Since the role can be entirely different based on where an analyst works, the industry an analyst chooses to go into describes their day-to-day responsibilities. Overall, analysts play an important part in providing decision-makers with the information they need to boost revenue and manage assets successfully.

What are the challenges of being a financial analyst?

Finance is a very data-driven industry, and one of the most significant challenges of working as an analyst is being able to examine and interpret financial statements, market trends, and microeconomic conditions to offer recommendations on potential business deals and decisions. Besides, the technical challenges involved in aggregating and interpreting this complex data, one of the other challenges analysts face is the quick pace of the finance industry. Fortunately, by knowing what to anticipate and getting the right training, these challenges can be overcome.

What are the benefits of being a financial analyst?

Although working as a financial analyst does pose some challenges, it’s also a career field filled with excellent opportunities, mainly when it comes to having your choice of industries. This is because financial analysts play a crucial part in almost every area of business so whether you’re enthusiastic about music or fascinated towards technology, you’re likely to find an opportunity that’s right for you. Further to having flexibility when it comes to industries, you’ll be playing a decisive role in pulling together the information required to take these decisions and to develop new strategies. Apart from learning new skills like how to develop models in Excel and participating in exciting business processes, being an analyst will also give you the opportunity to establish a strong professional network, an asset which you can continue to foster throughout your career.

Although being a financial analyst comes with some challenges, it's also an excellent opportunity to work in an exciting field and play a vital role in the decision-making processes of an organization. If being a financial analyst sounds like it might be for you, consider taking on a financial analytics course and getting a hands-on feel for the position.