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A career in corporate finance means you would work for a company to help
it find money to run the business, grow the business, make acquistions,
plan for its financial future and manage any cash on hand. You might
work for a large multinational company or a smaller player with high
growth prospects. Responsibility can come fast and your problem-solving
skills will get put to work quickly in corporate finance jobs.
The job of the financial officer is to create value for a company. For
example, the finance group at American
Electric Power of Columbus, Ohio
has four main areas of concentration: liquidity, flexibility, compliance
with laws and regulatory support. AEP’s Finance Department carries out four main activities
to meet its objectives: 1)
designing, implementing and monitoring financial policies, 2) planning
and executing the financing program, 3) managing cash resources, and 4)
interfacing with the financial community and investors.
Jobs in corporate finance are also relatively stable. Performance in these jobs counts,
but your job is not going to depend on whether
you’re selling enough this week or getting good deals finished this
quarter. Rather the key to performing well in corporate finance is to
work with a long view of what going to make your company successful.
Many would argue that corporate finance jobs are the most desirable in the
entire field of finance.
Some of the benefits of working in corporate finance are:
- You generally work in teams which help you work with people
- It’s alot of fun to tackle business problems that really matter
- You’ll have many opportunities to travel and meet people and
- The pay in corporate finance is generally quite good.
Key Resources to Review
Background Reading and Essential References
- Resumes for Banking and Financial Careers
- Opportunities
in Financial Careers - Opportunities
- By Michael Sumichrast and Frederick Burkhardt, VGM
Career Horizons. Covers the gamut of finance careers with a nice discussion of why
corporate finance is an interesting area. - Fundamentals of Corporate Finance
- By Ross, Westerfield and Jordan. The leading undergraduate textbook in corporate finance.
- Valuation: Measuring and Managing the Value of Companies
- by McKinsey and Company
- A classic that should be in the cube of every analyst and associate on the Street.
- Financial Modeling
- Financial Intelligence: A Manager’s Guide to Knowing What
the Numbers Really Mean- Applied Mergers and Acquisitions
- Financial Intelligence: A Manager’s Guide to Knowing What
- by Robert F. Bruner and Joseph Perella
- Understanding Wall Street
- by Jeffrey Little
- Corporate Finance Journal
- Capital Ideas Evolving
- By Peter Bernstein.
- A lucid explanation of the modern theory of finance, the people behind it and the attacks that have arisen in recent years.
- Journal of Applied Corporate Finance
- Regularly features articles on leading edge topics in corporate finance. Written for practitioners.
- Corporate Finance Articles from McKinsey
- A number of timely and educational articles.
- Wall Street Journal.
- The most widely read business periodical in the world. And it’s on the net! You must register for the net
version. Great way to keep up with what’s going on in the markets and the world. Following
tombstones and ads is also a good way to see which banks are involved in what types of
activity this year. You may also be interested in Careers.wsj.com.
Corporate Finance Blogs
Organizations
Career Links and Positions
Videos
“I don’t know finance or accounting.”
Bernie Ebbers, whose distinctions include responsibility |
