Why I want to be a financial manager?

I’ve always wanted to a be a financial manager, as long as possibly ever.

 It is a job that interests me and seems like something that will be enjoyable because of my high interest in it. I have been good at numbers and math my whole life, so I feel that this job would suit me perfectly. There is just something about business that makes me want to go into it when I am older.

There is plenty to know about a financial manager. I got a ton of information from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. This is a very trustworthy agency that is a part of the federal government that finds out everything you need to know about different jobs. Financial managers have many duties. Some of their duties are to prepare financial statements/presentations, ensure that all financial documents follow legal regulations, seek ways to reduce company expenses, and help make financial decisions. The highest percentage of financial managers work for finance and insurance companies (28%). Many financial managers work full time, and can have long hours.

It takes a good amount of time, education, and experience to become a financial manager. The minimum education is a bachelor’s degree in finance, accounting, economics, or business administration, but many companies seek employees with a master’s degree in the same subjects. To become a financial manager, one needs to get the Chartered Financial Analyst certification. Experience in the field is wanted by most employers when looking for financial managers. The important qualities needed to be a financial manager are: analytical skills, communication skills, being detail oriented, math skills, and organizational skills.

Financial managers make around $102,000-$130,000 per year. This is a lot of money, but the work and education required to get to this point is a lot. You need to work your way up to this position with a lot of experience. It is not handed to you straight out of college. Going to a good college to study business or economics will help you get a job as a financial manager.

Looking into information on becoming a financial manager was relatively simple. Mr. Rase provided the website for the Bureau of Labor Statistics, which was similar to a Google or database that provides information on any job imaginable. This source was a good choice because it is provided by a government agency, making it credible and the information is reliable. Part of the attraction to this job is the salary, being high at an average of $109,740 per year. This is a lot of money for an average salary, which means it is possible to make even more money, allowing for a higher standard of living.

One part of the job is to make sure all statements meet legal requirements, and this is a twist to the job because there is legal work added to financial work. Analyzing records and presenting the information found in front of companies is one part of the job that I am still not thrilled about, because speaking in front of audiences is not something that I do very well, but I am working to get better at it.

Companies that most often look for financial managers are finance companies and insurance companies, and these companies tend to be larger companies. The job of financial manager seems a lot like the job of CFO (Chief Financial Officer). CFOs can regularly be found at larger companies, which shows why it is easy to see the similarity between financial managers and CFOs. Although fulfilling the role of financial manager does sound rewarding, the path of getting to that role is not an easy one. A bachelor’s degree is required to be a financial manager, but like any job in today’s world, more education is highly recommended. A master’s degree in economics or business is wanted by most employers now, making it that much more challenging to become a financial manager. On top of the education, there are various permits and licences needed in order to be qualified, and the job is not handed out right away; it is received after moving up from the bottom of a company to the top. This shows that being a financial manager is no easy job with the hard day-to-day tasks and the outstanding work ethic needed to acquire the job in the first place.

I researched colleges that had the economics and business majors required to become a financial manager, and I made the decision that the University of Michigan would be a perfect fit. Michigan is a school that I have dreamt of attending my whole life because it has everything that I want in a college. Michigan has one of the top business schools in the country, the Ross School of Business. It would be the perfect education to become a financial manager. Within Ross, there is a Bachelor of Business Administration program that would be an adequate study for this job. Of course, a four-year bachelor’s degree would not be enough to become a financial manager, so I would choose to earn a master’s degree at Michigan after completing my first four years. Another great thing that Michigan offers, is the six different financial management courses, which would be perfect for pursuing a financial manager job.

The University of Michigan is a very prestigious university, and it is extremely difficult to be accepted into. The most recent acceptance rate is only 32.2%, showing that only about the top third of applicants get in. When applying, they look for a balanced mix of outstanding academics, quality extracurricular activities, and compelling essays. In order for me to pursue my dreams of attending the university and later becoming a financial manager, I will have to continue to do well in school and always participate in different activities outside of the classroom.

My third source of information was two videos describing the job of a financial manager. These videos seemed reliable because they were from a finance website and a college professor. The first video was from learnerstv.com titled “Lecture 1 Finance and Financial Manager”, and the second video was on youtube, made by MVN University called “Scope of Financial Management.” Some tasks of financial managers that I discovered are that they advise companies on how to use their money, develop financial plans, and manage cash (accounts receivable and financial investments). It seems like financial managers actually play a big role in companies, helping them to use their money wisely in order to not go bankrupt. When there is a surplus of money, the financial manager decides whether to retain the money or to distribute the money into dividends. They also describe that the financial managers determine the capital structure of a company (how much needs to be borrowed and how much needs to be spent). After watching these videos, it comes to my knowledge that financial managers are a vital job within a firm. They provide knowledge and decision making that keeps the business from going into debt or becoming bankrupt.

Everything I have discovered about becoming a financial manager is extremely intriguing. All of the duties of a financial manager and all of the requirements needed to become a financial manager, are the types of stuff I have pictured myself doing all my life. There is just something about business and finance that is wonderful, and becoming a financial manager has all the different elements of business and finance. Elements that are rather important about the financial manager job are the salary, requirements to be eligible for this position, and the big duties that they complete on a daily basis. At an average of over $100,000, the salary is particularly high because this is a career that requires a lot of education and hard work to eventually move up and acquire the financial manager title.

Before researching financial managers, I was interested in the career path because it involved a ton of business and economic characteristics. Now I am finished with my research, and I am still very interested in becoming a financial manager. While still in high school, I am taking business, economics, and finance courses to prepare myself for college and my future career path. Once in college, I plan to take business and economics courses designed to prepare me to become a financial manager after I finish my education. The title of financial manager is a prestigious one, and after extensive research, it is still the job that I want to have in the future. A business path is something that I have yearned for a while, so I plan on preparing myself to the best of my ability to become a financial manager.