What Is An Investment Analyst, And How To Become One?

September 14, 20222 Minutes Read
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What is an investment analyst?

An investment analyst is a person who works in finance and comes up with and suggests investment plans for clients or employers. They spend a lot of their time researching and analysing stocks, bonds, commodities, and other types of funds and assets. Then, they use this information to make financial models and projections, which they use to write reports and give their suggestions. Investment analysts work for banks, brokerage firms, and private equity firms, among other places in the finance and securities industries. Some analysts focus on a specific area, such as a particular industry, location, or type of asset.

How to get a job as an investment analyst:

The process of becoming an investment analyst can be broken down into the following steps:

  1. Get your Bachelor's.

    Investment analyst jobs usually require at least a bachelor's degree in a field related to the job. A degree programme gives you the skills and knowledge you need to be successful in this field. The coursework includes economics, advanced math and statistics, corporate finance, and accounting basics.

  2. Gain relevant experience

    Look for financial internships to learn more about the industry. This gives you a chance to use the skills and knowledge you've learned in school in the real world. In some cases, companies use internships to find good candidates who they can hire after they graduate.

  3. Get an industry certification

    Getting a Chartered Financial Analyst certification is usually needed to work as an investment analyst (CFA). For admission, you must have a bachelor's degree, four years of work experience, or both (which adds up to four years). You have to pass three tests as part of this certification programme.

    You can apply for a job as an investment analyst once you get your CFA certification. Take the initiative at your job, and always keep upskilling so you can continue to grow. You can opt for free online finance courses like the ones provided by Glow & Lovely Careers (formerly known as Fair & Lovely Career Foundation). Consider pursuing a master's degree as well. It can help you advance your career as an investment analyst.

What does an investment analyst do?

The main job of an investment analyst is to figure out what their stakeholders need, predict how potential investments will turn out, and look for ways to help stakeholders reach their financial goals. A typical day at work includes:

  1. doing research and collecting financial information about businesses and markets

  2. Meeting with clients or bank reps to find out what their financial goals and needs are

  3. studying how stocks, bonds, and markets have done in the past and how they are doing now

  4. Collecting and analysing financial data to look at portfolios and opportunities

  5. helping investment bank employees come up with new financial products

  6. Using spreadsheets and other financial software to put together reports on portfolios, transactions, and projections

  7. Putting together presentations to show financial predictions or try to get investors interested

  8. giving advice on specific investment opportunities, companies, or markets

    Take a free career guidance test to know more about the job and if it is the right one for you. You can take one at Glow & Lovely Careers (formerly known as Fair & Lovely Career Foundation).

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An internship is an opportunity offered by an employer to potential employees, who could be students, graduates or even work-at-home mothers, to work at a firm for a fixed period of time. This gives them relevant workplace experience and they will be valued more by recruiters compared to the others. Apart from this, the career guidance they get during their internship will help them decide the career path that they would like to choose in the future. Another important reason why internships are great for a career boost is that the competition among graduates and job-seekers for jobs is increasing by the day. In this scenario, recruiters will always prefer those who already have practical work experience and industry knowledge.

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Real World Experience

When inquired about what Simran has learned from the real world experience she got at her workplace, she said that she was excited to understand practical applications of all the digital marketing theories she studied in college. Simran got a detailed and practical understanding of how digital marketing works and how differently it functions for different industries.

In addition to studying the basics of digital marketing as part of her MBA course, she also did short online coursesto further her knowledge before starting her internship. She says that it was a great experience to witness first-hand all the knowledge that she gained through various sources getting converted into real work experiences. This helped her to develop more interest in the subject and motivated her to explore more.

Explore a career path

Exploring is an important part of the college experience, and internships are a great way for students to acquaint themselves with the field they are interested in. When asked Simran about this, she said that doing this internship reinforced her interest in digital marketing and she intends to continue working in the same field. Often students join college with a certain career path in mind, and end up changing their minds later on. Taking an internship helps students to understand what actually interests them.Improve your resume

Employers always want potential candidates to bring a good set of skills to the table. And, it is your resume that will speak about the skills you have. The stronger your resume, the higher will be your chances to be called for an interview. The skills you learned during your internship will surely make you stand out from the rest of the crowd. Employers are much more likely to hire someone who has an internship experience over someone who has a generic resume.

Interact and network with professionals

In the professional world, networking plays a very important role. We asked Simran about the things she learned during the internship and one of the most notable things she said was that she learnt how to interact professionally with people. She learnt work ethics and how to blend herself into the work culture at that particular company. She has been able to maintain contacts with a lot of senior professionals and this will surely help her in the long run. If she wills, these contacts can help her explore different career options in the future.

Time management

Working in a fast-paced professional environment will help you master the concept of time management. Simran says that she learned how to manage time much better than before and also how to achieve her targets on time. This makes an individual much more efficient.

Simran Malik did a 3-month internship with Capillary Technologies and was able to make the most out of these 3 months. She feels much more confident as a professional now and is ready to dive into the professional world. The internship has given her a lot of confidence and she suggests that everybody should do internships, no matter how short they are, before they can actually do their career planning.

The Glow & Lovely Careers (formerly known as Fair & Lovely Career Foundation) provides fantasticinternship opportunities with reputed companies for women who are interested. These internships are provided under various fields including sales, engineering, marketing, web development and many more. Check out the right internship opportunity for you at the Glow & Lovely Careers.