What can a finance major expect to do as far as work goes?

I am considering finance, but all i have done in school is do problems. A lot of it is very difficult. Do finance majors use everything they learned in their jobs? What exactly do they do? How would a finance degree help me after law school?|||I%26#039;ve taught finance, have degrees in Econ and Finance, and have worked in financial services. So I%26#039;ve seen it from literally all sides of the fence.





Finance is a very broad field, just like many others. Here are just a few of the many jobs out there:





1) Financial Advisors who sell finance products--stocks, bonds, insurance, etc





2) Personal Bankers who open and close accounts--savings, checking, loan, cds, etc





3) Financial Analysts who evaluate investment opportunities, mergers, and projects





4) Investment Bankers who are involved in the issuance of stock, mergers and acquisitions (M%26amp;A), etc





Yes, we do use what we%26#039;ve learned in school. The only issue is to what degree. In other words, a personal banker doesn%26#039;t do the heavy-duty number crunching that an investment banker and financial analyst would. But they both have to have a knowledge of financial principles, concepts, and terminology.





For instance, a Stockbroker--often called Financial Advisor or Consultant--may or may not do his or her own research. He or she may simply rely upon the firm%26#039;s recommendations and use that. In other words, the firm already did the research and crunched the numbers, so why should I? Others will do their own number crunching for the opportunities the firm doesn%26#039;t focus on or investigate.





How would a law and finance degree help? Well you could investigate the financial possibilities and handle the legalities involved with it too. Someone without the legal background may only be able to handle the financial side of things. But when it comes to the legalities, he or she could be clueless. And rely upon the lawyers to take it the next step.





Bottom-line, fiance is no different than any other field. Some people use more of their training than others. But we all use part of it in some capacity.|||As a Finance graduate I used it to enter into a banking career a few years back. That%26#039;s one area to go with, a good start IMO because it%26#039;s works great as a sort of Financial %26quot;residency%26quot; for a few years. I know of other graduates who went off to become financial advisors, but that area is a lot riskier because they only have one good year%26#039;s worth of salary and then it%26#039;s 100% commission afterwards, so you essentially have 365 days to get your stuff together. Another area is one that I%26#039;m looking to move into soon, which is as a Financial Analyst for my state. The government usually has some great Finance jobs, and I like that feeling that what you do directly impacts your state. Another area is corporate Finance, but just like with working for the state you usually need a few years experience in order to qualify.





As far as using Finance problems at work, it%26#039;s both a yes and a no. I%26#039;ve come across a few of the stuff I use to do in my Finance classes, but not nearly as much as I thought it%26#039;d be. I know though as a future Financial Analyst it%26#039;ll definitely be daily stuff. I guess it really depends which realm of Finance you go into.





Good luck.