What Can I Do With a Major In Finance?

Finance Student Organizations

• Apollo Society* - open to 2nd year students interested in investment & financial markets 
  • Kennedy Program* - open to 1st year students interested in finance & accounting
• Corsair Society* - open to 3rd & 4th year students though entry is highly competitive, develops and connects members with alumni in areas of investment banking and consulting
• Finance Society - open to all students, learn about the various areas of finance from employer speakers 
• Society of Entrepreneurs - connects students to resources of the Entrepreneurship Program and the Athens entrepreneurial community
• Student Financial Planning Association - open to all students, focuses on connecting students with employers and faculty & building a community of young professionals with an interest in financial planning
• Student Managed Investment Fund (SMIF)* - open to 3rd & 4th year Finance majors, consists of a 3 credit hour (1.5 credits per semester) course where students have the opportunity to manage a long-only value fund investing in U.S. equities. Students are responsible for managing more than $2.1M of capital from alumni and the University of Georgia Foundation
• Women in Finance - open to all students, prepares students from all majors for careers in finance through numerous networking events, socials, and interactive workshops

* Application required

Other Terry Student Organizations

• Atlas Business Society* - open to 1st & 2nd year students, focused on developing business skills & professional etiquette
  • Magellan Program* - open to 1st year students, semester-long program focused on developing business skills & professional etiquette 
• Alpha Kappa Psi - co-ed professional business fraternity
• Delta Sigma Pi - co-ed professional business fraternity
• Economics Society - open to all students, learn about the various areas of Economics from employer speakers and campus partners
• Multicultural Business Student Association - open to all students, caters to and develops the professional needs of business students from diverse backgrounds

* Appication required

POTENTIAL CAREER PATHS

• Actuary - Analyze statistical data, such as mortality, accident, sickness, disability, and retirement rates and construct probability tables to forecast risk and liability for payment of future benefits. May ascertain insurance rates required and cash reserves necessary to ensure payment of future benefits.
• Credit Anlayst - Analyze credit data and financial statements of individuals or firms to determine the degree of risk involved in extending credit or lending money. Prepare reports with credit information for use in decision making.
• Financial Analyst - Conduct quantitative analyses of information affecting investment programs of public or private institutions.
• Financial Consulting - Enforce or ensure compliance with laws and regulations governing financial and securities institutions and financial and real estate transactions. May examine, verify, or authenticate records.
• Financial Planning - Advise clients on financial plans using knowledge of tax and investment strategies, securities, insurance, pension plans, and real estate. Duties include assessing clients' assets, liabilities, cash flow, insurance coverage, tax status, and financial objectives.
• Investment Banking - Plan, direct, or coordinate investment strategy or operations for a large pool of liquid assets supplied by institutional investors or individual investors.
• Investment Underwriters - Manage communications or negotiations between corporate issuers of securities and clients regarding private equity investments. Underwrite the issuance of securities to provide capital for client growth. Negotiate and structure the terms of mergers or acquisitions.
• Loan Officer - Evaluate, authorize, or recommend approval of commercial, real estate, or credit loans. Advise borrowers on financial status and payment methods. Includes mortgage loan officers and agents, collection analysts, loan servicing officers, and loan underwriters.
• Management Consulting - Conduct organizational studies and evaluations, design systems and procedures, conduct work simplification and measurement studies, and prepare operations and procedures manuals to assist management in operating more efficiently and effectively. Includes program analysts and management consultants.
• Graduate School programs including the Master of Accountancy (MAcc), Master of Science in Business Analytics (MSBA), Master of Arts in Economics (MA Econ), and the Master of Business Administration (MBA) - note: most MBA programs require at least 2 years of work experience prior to admittance
• And more!

ADDITIONAL RECOMMENDATIONS

Finance students have many career options from which to choose.  Because of this, students should begin exploring careers early on during their time at UGA.  Below is a list of exploration resources to help get you started.

• Consume financial news on a daily basis to build your market and industry fluency (don't wait to take FINA 3000 to begin talking the talk)
• Attend employer networking events through Terry College & the Career Center starting your first semester on campus. Build your industry awareness and self-confidence by engaging employers early
• Know your Recruiting Timeline:
  • Investment Banking - begins in the Spring semester a full year prior to a Summer internship (i.e. Spring 2022 for Summer 2023 opportunities) and runs into mid-Summer
  • Commercial Banking, Corporate Finance, & Consulting - begins in late July and runs into late September for the next year's Summer opportunities
• Improve your technical skills & knowledge through trainings on LinkedIn Learning
• Become Lean Six Sigma and/or Bloomberg Terminal certified, if relevant 
• Begin exploring careers early.  This is something that must be done outside of the classroom
• Create your resume during your first semester & update it every semester afterwards
• Internships are crucial for testing out various industries & also building relevant experience on your resume
• Consider earning a certificate to supplement your major studies
• Explore study abroad options during your 1st or 2nd year

RESOURCES - INDUSTRY RESEARCH & INTERVIEW PREP

• General Finance News
  • Bloomberg
    • Note: Released in 1982, the Bloomberg Terminal has become synonymous with the financial services sector. A computer software system provided by the financial data vendor Bloomberg L.P., it enables financial services professionals to access Bloomberg professional Service through which users can monitor and analyze real-time financial market data and place trades on the electronic trading platform. They are quite pricey, costing $20k per year per terminal to operate. Terry College has 12 Bloomberg Terminals in its Benn Capital Markets Lab and students can receive a Bloomberg certification (helpful in competing for investment banking and analyst internships, especially based in the Northeast). Bloomberg Terminals are particularly notable for their dark-background interface and unique custom keyboards with bright yellow and green keys 
  • ​The Deal - subscription-based Financial News service that covers corporate transactions, dealmakers and their advisers to help readers identify opportunities and build their business.
  • Financial Times - daily newspaper printed in broadsheet and published digitally that focuses on business and economic current affairs. Based in London, England and famous for its broadsheet's light pink hue.
  • New York Times' DealBook - financial news service reporting on mergers, acquisitions, venture capital and hedge funds produced by The New York Times
  • McKinsey Quarterly - First published in 1964, it's a business magazine aimed toward senior executives with a focus on management and organizational theory. Authored primarily by McKinsey & Co consultants and former consultants
  • Mergers & Inquisitions - backed by Breaking Into WallStreet, the world's first and largest blog dedicated to careers in the finance industry with a free weekly newsletter featuring interviews 
  • MorningBrew - free daily newsletter that captures financial news in bite-sized, easily digestible snippets. Also produce podcasts and videos.
  • Deal Breaker - publishes financial news, commentary, and analysis about banks, hedge funds, private equity, MBAs, and lifestyle
  • The Wall Street Journal MoneyBeat - provides financial information, business news, analysis, and stock market data
• Stock Market Coverage
  • Market Watch - provides financial information, business news, analysis, and stock market data. A subsidiary of Dow Jones & Company, along with The Wall Street Journal and Barron's
  • Seeking Alpha - crowd-sourced content service for financial markets started back in 2004, focused on stocks, asset classes, exchange-traded funds, and investment strategies
  • Bloomberg Markets
  • WSJ Markets
• Finance Training Courses
  • Breaking Into Wall Street ($$) - prep courses for students and professionals seeking Investment and Private Equity jobs
  • Training the Street ($$) - prep courses for investment banking and the financial industry
  • Wall Street Oasis ($$) - collection of various financial skills and modeling courses
  • Wall Street Prep ($$) - prep courses for investment banking

Note: the above courses can be costly and are sometimes included as a part of Terry major coursework or student organization membership. They are listed here for the sake of transparency as individuals may choose to purchase them individually.

CONSULTING & CASE INTERVIEW PREP

• Ace the Case ($$) - case interview questions and solutions for practice interview prep
• ArgoPoint - case interview tips
• "Case In Point: Complete Case Interview Preparation" by Marc Cosentino ($$) - demystifies the case interview process used for recruiting in consulting, private equity, strategic planning, marketing, logistic, operations, and human capital. This book takes you inside a typical interview by exploring the various types of case questions
• Management Consulted - YouTube page featuring a library of case interview examples from McKinsey, Bain, BCG, Deloitte, and more, covering all types of case studies: profitability, market study, market sizing, and M&A

BOOKS & PODCASTS

• Books
  • Options, Futures, & Other Derivatives - John Hull
  • Security Analysis & The Intelligent Investor - Benjamin Graham
  • The Handbook of Fixed Income Securities - Frank Fabozzi
  • Liar’s Poker - Michael Lewis
  • Average is Over - Tyler Cowen
  • The Fast Track: The Insider's Guide to Winning Jobs in Management Consulting, Investment Banking, & Securities Trading - Mariam Naficy
• Podcasts
  • Freakonomics

• O*NET - The O*NET database includes information on skills, abilities, knowledges, work activities, and interests associated with over 900 occupations (Login using your 810/811)
• Occupational Outlook Handbook - The OOH can help you find career information on duties, education and training, pay, and outlook for hundreds of occupations
• Candid Career - Watch recorded informational interviews of professionals in specific careers. Filter videos by career title, college major, industry, and more. (Login using your 810/811)
• Firsthand - Explore a library of guides, articles, and other resources to help you explore careers, plan your job search, and learn about different work environments. Create a free account with your UGA email
• GoinGlobal - View jobs/internship in other countries and country career guides (Login using your 810/811)
• Glassdoor - Glassdoor is a free jobs and career community that offers the world an inside look at jobs and companies. What sets us apart is our "employee generated content" – anonymous salaries, company reviews, interview questions, and more – all posted by employees, job seekers, and sometimes the companies themselves. Now with nearly 3 million salaries and reviews, you have all the information you might need to make your next career decision. 
• Big Interview - Online practice interview platform. Practice basic interview questions or questions based on your industry interests or competencies! Also provides practice interview questions for graduate/professional schools. Just sign-up using your uga email address! 
• Terry Connect - TerryConnect is an online platform where Terry students can connect one-on-one with Terry alumni — and each other — for networking, coaching and professional opportunities. Through TerryConnect, students enjoy access to Terry’s influential alumni base, as well as flash mentoring sessions with peers, discussion boards, special interest groups and more.

GENERAL EMPLOYMENT WEBSITES

• Handshake - login with your UGA myID & password to search for internships & jobs
• GoinGlobal - login with your UGA myID & password to access international jobs & internships
• Idealist - non-profit jobs
• USAJobs - federal jobs

MAJOR & CAREER-SPECIFIC EMPLOYMENT WEBSITES

• Actuary Jobs
• Bank Jobs
• Career Bank
• Chronicle - jobs in higher education 
• eFinancial Careers
• Financial Job Bank
• Insurance Jobs
• Insurance Workforce

COMPANY & SALARY RESEARCH

• Career Bliss
• GlassDoor
• Salary.com

Interested in Understanding & Interpreting Financial Matters

• American Association of Finance & Accounting
• American Bankers Association 
• American Finance Association 
• Association of Financial Professionals
• Financial Management Association
• Financial Planning Association
• ​​International Academy of Business & Financial Management
• Securities Industry & Financial Markets Association

Interested in Quantitative Analysis

• American Mathematical Society
• American Statistical Association
• Institute for Operations Research & the Management Sciences
• Society for Industrial & Applied Mathematics

Interested in Investment Banking

• CFA Institute
• Leaders Global Network
• Mergers & Inquisitions
• New York Society of Security Analysts
• Securities Industry & Financial Markets Association

Interested in Insurance

• Global Association of Risk Professionals Career Center
• Society of Actuaries

Interested in Consulting

• Institute of Management Consultants USA, Inc