Careers Ahead: Pursue These Jobs with a Master’s in Finance

Congratulations. You’re educated and accomplished, looking to increase your workplace value and expand your career options in the world of business and modern finance. What’s the best way to move ahead and continue getting ahead? While some people might quickly choose to pursue an MBA, there are many strong, professionally beneficial reasons to earn a specialized finance degree, instead. They include:

Specialized credential
Rather than the broad-scope curriculum of many MBA programs, a master’s in finance degree program offers targeted coursework that focuses specifically on the expertise required of leaders in finance.

Shorter time to completion
While MBA programs often require two years of coursework, you can complete the William & Mary Online Master of Science in Finance as few as fifteen months.

Uniqueness in the job market
As more people earn MBAs, a master’s in finance can help qualified candidates stand out from the crowd.

As you consider the many benefits of earning your Online MSF, explore these eleven career possibilities that can motivate you throughout your studies.

Median annual salary: $65,281¹

Tasked with monitoring the financial department and the transactions of an organization, finance officers analyze financial reports, update account statements, and oversee the budget allocation for business operations. Further, they resolve billing discrepancies and banking issues, assist in cash statement release, and manage payroll disputes. Finance officers are responsible for conducting data and statistical analysis to evaluate the company's financial performance and stability, and identifying opportunities to increase revenues and profits.

Median annual salary: $70,331

A forensic accountant is a certified public accountant who can examine financial records and accounts that could be used as legal evidence. This expert will often work to help prove or disprove insurance claims and personal injury claims, or to resolve business disputes, divorces and fraud cases. In some instances, a forensic accountant may be able to help with criminal cases and may be called upon to testify in court.

Median annual salary: $72,672³

Financial analysts examine financial data and use their findings to help companies make business decisions. They work to identify opportunities and evaluate outcomes before recommending investments. Junior analysts often do a lot of data gathering, financial modeling, and spreadsheet maintenance, while senior analysts are more likely to develop investment theses, speak with company management teams and other investors, and market ideas.

Median annual salary: $77,603⁴

A portfolio manager creates and implements investment strategies and processes to meet client goals and constraints. Responsible for building and managing portfolios and deciding what and when to buy and sell investments, some portfolio managers craft the investment packages supplied to clients, while others simply manage client expectations and transactions.

Median annual salary: $81,514⁵

A wealth manager helps individual investors seek the benefits and navigate the complexities of financial markets. In addition to advising affluent individuals and families on how to invest their portfolios and plan their finances to meet their goals, a wealth manager usually offers a range of services, including portfolio management, estate and retirement planning and tax services.

Median annual salary: $95,441⁶

Tasked with evaluating and researching investment opportunities with the goal of finding the investment that best meets their corporate clients’ goals, investment banking analysts assess opportunities and recommend investments based on client needs and intentions. Each one is usually part of an investment team, likely to report to an investment banker who will ultimately guide clients to their final decisions.

Median annual salary: $109,240⁷

A finance and insurance manager is responsible for helping customers finance vehicle purchases. The finance and insurance manager works with lending agencies, with the responsibility of understanding of aftermarket options and warranties that can be purchased with any vehicle being sold. This expert is in charge of training sales teams and ensuring that they meet dealership sales goals.

Median annual salary: $117,120⁸

Actuaries use their wide-ranging expertise in the math, statistics, business and finance probability to come up with insurance plan premiums. They calculate the risk factors for floods, fires, unemployment, accidents, death and other dangers in order to depict the risk that insurance companies will take by insuring individuals or businesses. Using statistics, they calculate the probability and financial consequences of risks.

Median annual salary: $119,111⁹

The controller leads a company’s accounting team and is charge of closely monitoring its financial health. Reporting to the chief financial officer in larger organizations and the chief executive officer in smaller ones, this financial whiz maintains, manages and analyzes financial statements, payroll, budgets and tax compliance issues, among other records.

Median annual salary: $138,076¹⁰

An upper-level executive, the vice president of finance is tasked with ensuring that a company complies with tax laws and regulations specific to its industry, and overseeing all financial matters for the organization, from completing payroll on time to analyzing market trends. With responsibilities that include data analysis and advising top executives on ways to use that information to make strategic decisions about the organization’s future, the vice president of finance may report directly to a president, chief executive officer or chief financial officer.

Median annual salary: $140,547¹¹

In an organization’s top financial position, the chief financial officer is responsible for tracking cash flow and financial planning, analyzing the company's financial strengths and weaknesses, and proposing strategic directions. Responsible for the finance and accounting professionals who perform operational functions, each CFO also serves in a strategic advisory role for the chief executive officer and C-suite peers.

The Raymond A. Mason School of Business is ranked #2 in Academic Outcomes by Poets&Quants¹² and our faculty was named #5 Best Business Professors by The Princeton Review.¹³

To hone the skills and expertise you need to identify value creation opportunities and assess risk, learn from the exceptional faculty of industry experts in William & Mary’s Online Master of Science in Finance program. In a curriculum that’s designed for working professionals and delivered entirely online, you'll become fluent in principled value creation; financial modeling, analysis and decision-making; global financial strategy; and effective communication of complex financial information and strategies.

For more information, reach out to one of our Admissions Advisors today.