Understanding finance is crucial for a variety of careers as it encompasses investing, lending, budgeting, borrowing, saving, forecasting, and studying money. Dive into the different areas of personal, corporate, and public finance, and understand how it could escalate your career path.

What is Finance?

One can trace finance back to the start of human civilization. Evidence from 3000 BC reveals the existence of interest-bearing loans and banks. Anything that deals with money management is finance, such as borrowing, forecasting, investing, lending, saving, budgeting, and studying money. The main areas of finance include corporate, public, and personal finance.

In this overview, you’ll learn more about finance and how to land a career in this always-in-demand field. As finance and the ways we use it are constantly evolving, you can apply what you learn in class to your job to progressively advance your career.

What Can You Do with Finance?

At its root, finance deals with managing money and includes investing, saving, budgeting, forecasting, borrowing, and lending. A firm understanding of finance can prepare you for the following three solid career paths.

Accountant - This lucrative job is ideal for anyone who loves numbers, though that passion is not necessary to be successful. A company’s accountant often creates, interprets, and analyzes various financial statements. Accountants and management collaborate as partners to create budgets. Finally, accountants handle the company’s tax matters, including filing returns and forecasting tax liabilities.
Business Development Officer - Companies hire Business Development Officers to develop and execute strategies that lead to increased sales and higher profits. These officers also seek out business opportunities and secure deals that best serve the business. Business Development Officers are responsible for negotiating deals and meeting with potential investors.

Financial Data Analyst - These professionals analyze data to assist financial institutions in making better business decisions. Among their numerous responsibilities is compiling information from different company divisions to get an accurate picture of the company’s financial health. These analysts also look for ways to improve the company's current methods of data collection.

What Are the Benefits of Learning Finance?

The reasons to learn finance are seemingly endless. No matter which industry you work in, your company cannot operate without cash flow for things like salaries and investing in the company. Perhaps your position doesn't manage a budget. Still, finance remains at the heart of business decision-making. If you understand finance and can communicate that understanding, you'll find it easier to acquire the additional funding needed for a project.

Learning finance makes you a more efficient problem solver, looks great on your resume, and is essential to the financial health of your family's current situation and future. Additionally, jobs dealing with finance are in high demand and pay well. Imagine what you could do with a solid understanding of finance and a large salary.

Read more about why you should learn finance.

Finance Careers

You might be curious about what job opportunities await you after you build your finance skill set. While looking into careers in finance, you'll find seemingly endless options. The more you learn and increase your skills with on-the-job experience, the more options and opportunities will present themselves. From Real Estate Agent to Chief Financial Officer, studying finance is your ticket to gainful employment.

Popular careers for those with finance training include:

Investment Banker
Commercial Banker
Public Accountant
Real Estate Agent
Hedge Fund Manager
Venture Capitalist
Chief Financial Officer
Financial Planner

As you can see, the future looks bright for those trained in finance. Once you get your foot in the door in any of these positions, you’ll want to work hard, learn the ins and outs of your company, and continue to expand your finance skill set to be first in line for promotions and salary increases.

How to Learn Finance

To learn finance, you'll need to gain a variety of skills. Among those are corporate strategy, accounting, and financial modeling. Those new to finance or busy professionals looking to expand their knowledge need training. When individuals choose their ideal learning avenue, they should factor in availability, learning style, and budget.

Live finance courses, which most students prefer, offer numerous benefits. These trainings are interactive and hands-on, where students can work with expert instructors in real time and gain answers and insights to any questions. If live online finance classes you can take from anywhere sound like your style, look at Noble Desktop's finance options. The FinTech Bootcamp, Financial Modeling Bootcamp, and Python for Finance Bootcamp offer training in areas you'll need to get ahead in the world of finance, including data visualization, risk management, and financial analysis.

Perhaps on-demand finance training is another option that could work for you. Through these courses, students can work at their own pace to learn all about finance. Featured topics include navigating and customizing spreadsheets, pivot tables, and generating charts for data visualization. For details, including any required prerequisites, check the course listings.

You can take advantage of free tutorials, blog posts, and seminars and use them as a unique opportunity to learn about finance as a beginner. Noble Desktop provides numerous classes, blog posts, and videos on financial topics for those looking to learn the subject. Take a look at their YouTube pageand find finance articles on the Learn Hub site. Indeed, this is a great way to get started, but you won't receive the same feedback or build your skill set and portfolio as you would from a live in-person or online course.

You can also benefit from the free seminars offered by Noble Desktop. The Exchanging Excel for Python seminar examines why so many industries, including finance, are switching out Excel for Python.

Read the full guide on how to learn finance.

A Brief History of Finance

Finance has been with humanity, in one form or another, since the beginning. If we look back to 3000 BC, there is evidence of banks and interest-bearing loans. Banking was created during the Babylonian Empire. They used palaces and temples as secure spots to store valuables. The Code of Hammurabi included several rules regulating the renting or ownership of land and credit, among other financial issues.

In 2400 BC, history recorded its first bond. Etched into a stone tablet was the debt and how it could be repaid — with grain, of course. History contains numerous examples of militaries and wars paid for by governments issuing debts. One example is the United States helping pay for the Revolutionary War by issuing Treasury bonds.

Many believe that Belgium housed the first stock exchange in 1531. In 1773, the London Stock Exchange went live, with the New York Stock Exchange following shortly behind. In the 1940s and 50s, the study and practice of finance emerged as its own field.

Comparable Applications/Programming Languages/Fields

The real estate industry might not be the first thing that comes to mind when you think of learning finance, but real estate professionals with a solid grasp of the subject set themselves apart in this crowded yet lucrative field. Whether in the commercial or residential sector, real estate professionals work closely with clients to form processes and strategies to fund everything from a starter family home to a strip mall.

Possible career paths for pairing finance with real estate include life insurance professionals, Mortgage Brokers, and mortgage company professionals. As with any field, there are ups and downs. However, in the second quarter of 2022 in the United States, owner-occupied real estate measured $41.2 trillion.

Learn Finance with Hands-on Training at Noble Desktop

Some believe the only way to learn finance, whether for a career or personal benefit, is through a lengthy, time-consuming degree program. Luckily, there are many alternatives. Many people feel the bootcamp or certificate training model is the superior path.

As a premier provider of online education, Noble Desktop provides multiple ways to learn finance. They offer numerous thoughtful educational options to expand your finance skill set quickly, whether you're new to the field, already working in finance, or in a position that requires a deep understanding of it. Here are some of Noble Desktop's most popular programs.

FinTech Bootcamp - Taught by expert instructors, this extensive FinTech bootcamp is intended for beginners. You can complete this course in four weeks full-time or four months part-time. Among the topics covered are the fundamentals of Python, data structures, and how to use SQL to query databases.

Python for Finance Bootcamp - This 18-hour detailed Python for Finance Bootcamp is designed for Risk Managers, Financial Analysts, Portfolio Managers, and those seeking a career in finance technology and data analysis. Students will learn the major Python financial libraries, how to analyze financial statements from the SEC website, and how to apply statistical measures.
Financial Analyst Training Program - While some knowledge of accounting and finance is helpful for this seven-day Financial Analyst Training Program, it is not necessary nor required. If you're looking to carve out a career path at a top financial firm, this bootcamp is the most effective and affordable course to learn these skills.

Other Noble Desktop courses to consider are the Premiere Pro Bootcamp, Video Editing Certificate, and Premiere Pro classes and bootcamps.

Key Takeaways

Finance is a far-reaching field that deals with managing money.
Investing, saving, budgeting, forecasting, borrowing, and lending all fall within the purview of finance.
The main areas of finance include corporate, public, and personal finance.
Those who learn finance are better problem solvers and better able to attend to the financial health of their current situation in the future.
Top careers for those with finance training include Investment Banker, Chief Financial Officer, Commercial Banker, Financial Planner, Hedge Fund Manager, Venture Capitalist, and Real Estate Agent.
Finance students have numerous methods to receive finance training from Noble Desktop. The most popular include in-person training and live online courses.