There are good reasons why many graduates decide that they want to have a career in the financial sector. It might be the fact that there will always be money to be organised, that people will always have money to report about and know what to do with, that there is the potential to earn a good salary, or that there are plenty of different career paths that they can take.

Whether you are considering being an accountant, working in a bank or are thinking about being a financial advisor there are numerous opportunities for graduates in the financial sector.

There are a number of graduate-level jobs in the field, but also many that require extra study to become qualified. Accountancy, for example, requires specialist training but you can often find companies who are prepared to fund you and pay for your training whilst you are working for them.

Financial Planning
Working as a financial planner involves helping and advising people what to do with their money to their benefit. The financial world can be confusing to those who don’t really know it and a financial planner can help them to spend or invest their money in the best way for them.

And we need more of them. According to The Fry Group – financial planners who have been around for over 100 years, “the last few years have seen increased regulation of financial advisers, most recently with the Retail Distribution Review in 2013. This eliminated commission across the sector and meant that advisers had to embrace stringent qualifications. The result was a significant drop in the number of advisers in the UK – from 40,000 to 26,000.”

As any finance-savvy person will know, it’s all down to supply and demand, so by being in demand, you can look forward to better pay, work conditions and prospects for the future.

Accountancy
If you’re good with figures, meticulous and love to work hard, then accountancy might be for you. Most employers who are looking for accountants (be it an accountancy firm or in an accounts department) will look for at least a 2:1 in your undergraduate degree.

They will often then support and fund you through your accountancy qualifications and training, whilst giving you a salary to match your achievements. Most graduates will take around three years to become qualified as an accountant and there are often opportunities to go and work overseas.

As an accountant, you can focus on one of two categories – management accounts or financial accounts – and within these, you can also specify even more.

The world will always need accountants so you can be almost certain of having a long and busy career.

Insurance
The insurance world is another part of the financial which isn’t going to go away. Working in insurance involves the management of risks – whether it is fire, climate change or crime. The insurance sector employs over 400,000 people in the UK and is what enables people and businesses to work freely.

Graduate salaries in the insurance sector can be up to around £30,000 per year, and you have the potential to more than double this once you have completed the appropriate professional qualifications.

The insurance sector allows you to work either in a customer-facing role or as backroom staff, meaning that there are plenty of options open to you, regardless of your preferences. Jobs in the insurance world include working in claims, underwriting, as a business analyst or loss adjuster.

Working in the area of insurance you are likely to be working closely with a number of other professions, such as lawyers, fire officers and doctors, so this is an area that is ideal for people who like to work across a number of different disciplines.

Other Jobs in the Finance Sector
Financial planning, accounting and insurance are three of the main careers in the finance sector but are by no means everything that there is. Other careers include specialising in tax (but not accounting), working in investments, on the stock market, working in pensions, economics, as an actuary or banking.

The finance sector is leading the way in terms of technology and staying up to date, meaning that it is continually evolving and new roles are always becoming available.

Regardless of what your degree is in, the finance sector is always looking for new recruits and as long as you have demonstrated that you can work to a high level and have good attention to detail, there’s no reason why you can’t find a career in a sector that is evolving, stable and changing the world.