A bachelor’s degree in a related field is required to work as a financial analyst. A master’s degree is required for some financial analyst positions, particularly senior financial analyst positions. Most financial analyst positions require you to obtain certain licenses in addition to your undergraduate and graduate degrees. This type of job demand is expected to grow at a faster rate than overall job growth. Financial analyst positions pay well, and if you want to be a financial analyst, you’ll face stiff competition.
Financial analysts work for a variety of organizations, including banks, insurance companies, mutual funds, and personal financial advisors. Rather than selling assets and securities, buy-side financial analysts buy them. Sell-side financial analysts conduct and sell research to buy-side financial analysts so that the latter can make educated decisions about which assets and securities to purchase.
A bachelor’s degree in economics, finance, accounting, business, or statistics is required to work as a financial analyst. These degrees are usually sufficient to get you an interview for a position as a junior financial analyst. You must have a master’s degree, preferably in business administration, or an equivalent combination of education and industry experience to be considered for a senior financial analyst position.
In addition to a bachelor’s degree, most jobs require you to have specific licenses, which vary depending on the scope of your responsibilities. Because you must be sponsored an employer that is a member of the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA), the largest independent U.S. securities regulator, to test for most licenses in the United States, employers rarely require you to hold a license before hiring you to work as a financial analyst. Obtaining the correct license allows you to sell most types of securities products and is a requirement for obtaining the other most common type of license, which allows you to accept securities orders.
While certification from an organization such as the Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) certificate is not required, more and more financial analysts who want to advance in their careers are doing so. To earn the CFA designation, candidates must have four years of related work experience in addition to a bachelor’s degree, hundreds of hours of self-study, and passing three rigorous exams. Self-study and exams can be completed while accumulating the required years of on-the-job experience.