Where to Find Financial Modeling Classes

There are countless schools through which to obtain a financial modeling education, and while this is a blessing in many ways, it can also make it more challenging to find a class that’s worth your hard-earned coin. Understanding the lay of the landscape, including what types of classes are available can help immensely when it comes to finding what you’re looking for. To help get you started, this article will examine key differences between financial modeling class types and offer resources to help you locate classes near you. 

Noble Desktop and Other Vocational Training Schools

While college is one of the most popular ways to prepare for a career, certificate courses like the ones provided by Noble Desktop make it possible to become a Financial Analyst for significantly less time and money. These vocational training programs provide fast-paced, comprehensive training that’s more immersive than a shorter class but less thorough than a college finance degree. While you may not be able to obtain a senior job role right out of a bootcamp, financial modeling certificates can provide enough skills and experience to help you get an entry-level finance job. 

To save time and get your career afloat sooner, you’ll focus most of your energy on developing practical skills and applied knowledge rather than theoretical principles. The accelerated timeline that certificate training provides is particularly advantageous for rapid career launches and can get you into the workforce ASAP. 

You can discover and compare relevant vocational classes by searching your location in Noble Desktop’s free classes near me tool. For your convenience, this tool also includes a variety of other types of classes, including shorter financial modeling courses for amateur enthusiasts. 

Colleges and Universities

If you plan on a long and lucrative career in a financial modeling-related field, you may want to earn a finance degree from a university. In addition to qualifying for more jobs, finance professionals with college degrees are paid more. An undergraduate BBA degree emphasizing a finance topic such as financial analytics, FinTech, or accounting will give you four years of financial modeling experience. This is no short amount of time to commit to training, however, and may not be ideal if you need a quick entry into the workforce to support your living. MBA degrees (which are often required to secure senior finance positions) can take an additional two or three years. As more advanced degrees, most MBA programs require applicants to have previously completed a four-year undergraduate degree, meaning that your schooling could span over seven years. 

While finance degrees offer the best education you can get, college-run finance programs can also be hard on your wallet. Many programs cost tens of thousands of dollars; although financial aid is available, it can be challenging to obtain. In most cases, you’ll be expected to attend classes on a full-time basis to receive scholarship funding. 

On-demand Education Platforms

The Internet has made it possible to share educational content at lightning speed across the globe, meaning that you can learn basic financial modeling skills anywhere in the world. On-demand learning platforms such as Masterclass, Udemy, Skillshare, and Coursera have popularized a variety of self-study resources that enable you to learn without a live instructor. You can explore financial modeling basics on a small scale through pre-recorded tutorials, reading lessons, and other self-study materials. 

The flexible format of these courses is a great match for self-reliant students who need to fit learning into an erratic schedule. However, on-demand training has several limitations that may make it a poor choice for some students. For instance, many students find it hard to stay focused, motivated, and clear-headed without a structured timeline or live feedback. A lack of hands-on activities can also make it harder to grasp new skills. Additionally, format constraints make it nearly impossible for an on-demand financial modeling course to take students beyond the beginner level, making them a relatively finite resource.

Internships

Since experience is often needed to qualify for entry-level finance jobs, it’s worth taking advantage of experience-building opportunities such as internships. Training courses can provide you with practice, but internships typically offer experience working inside a real finance company, which hiring managers often take more seriously. In addition to helping you develop finance skills and expand your knowledge, internships can act as shoe-ins to the companies you’re working for, while also providing you with credentials and references for other jobs. 

Many internship opportunities are available as part of college finance degrees, while others are funded independently by companies looking to hire new finance experts. Although some internships are unpaid, many internships will pay you a decently-sized salary for the work you do. You're more likely to be accepted for an internship if you already have some financial modeling training and have tailored your application packet to that internship’s focus. 

Free Education Resources

Through free education platforms such as YouTube and Investopedia, you can gather armfuls of beginner tips on financial modeling, stock market investing, Excel, FinTech, and more. By dint of the Internet, free resources are readily available in various formats, including video tutorials, blog articles, and online finance seminars. 

Not all free resources are created equal, however, and you’ll benefit immensely from taking a few extra seconds to assess the quality of sources before diving straight in. The best free financial modeling resources tend to come from established financial institutions and education providers. Some schools even share free sample courses (like Noble Desktop’s Stock Market Fundamentals class). The danger in simply going with whatever source pops up first is that you’re less likely to get accurate information and more likely to learn from fellow amateurs. 

An additional caveat to bear in mind is that free resources are most helpful at the beginner level and aren’t likely to be as useful later on. Since substantial expertise and on-the-job experience are needed to build a finance career, you’ll also need more training if becoming a finance professional is your end goal. 

Learn Financial Modeling Skills with Noble Desktop 

Whether you plan to learn financial modeling for a career or to improve your personal finances, Noble Desktop can supply you with top-notch education. Start learning today with in-person and live online financial modeling training classes designed with a variety of goals in mind. 

Noble Desktop’s immersive certificate courses make it possible to prepare for a financial career in record time. The Financial Analyst Training Program will connect you with an active restaurant company to give you on-the-job experience building real financial models. With help from an expert and hands-on training activities, you’ll gain a well-rounded skill set in Excel, financial modeling, market forecasting, accounting, corporate valuation, and other finance techniques. With these skills, you’ll develop a Discounted Cash Flow (DCF) model and a three-statement financial model to display in your professional portfolio and earn your future employers’ respect. 

You may not want a finance career, and in that case, Noble Desktop still has plenty to offer. Amateur-friendly financial modeling courses such as the Excel Bootcamp will give you all the tools you need to do financial modeling at home or for your small business. With basic computer skills as the course’s only prerequisite and Excel as its only topic, you won’t be expected to add on complex skills such as stock market terminology or coding. This class will teach you how to use commonplace office software to analyze numerical data, generate charts, and create your own database. 

If you’re an intermediate learner who’s ready for more heat, you can build on your former Excel experience in Noble Desktop’s Financial Modeling Bootcamp. Learn advanced Excel skills alongside corporate finance practices with guidance from a finance expert. To help you gain theoretical knowledge and practical skills simultaneously, this course (like all Noble Desktop courses) takes an activity-based learning approach. As you perform your own financial modeling projects, you’ll get comfortable applying important finance concepts, including enterprise value, accrual versus cash accounting, and market capitalization.