Finance is one of the fastest growing profession across the world and with a huge demand supply gap in India, the youngsters planning a career in finance have abright future and can advantage of many opportunities coming across in the financial services industry. Acquiring an appropriate professonal qualification is the first step towards a successful career. A bachelor'd degree in commerce or economics is a good starting point. The three professional bodies offering finance related certification are chartered accountancy, management accountancy or company secretary allow students to puruse their courses after finishing school by enrolling for foundation stage without having to wait for completing a bachelor's degree. Though the chartered accountancy course has enjoyed wide popularity with those keen on traditional finance, accounting and tax career, icwa and cs programme have gained popularity over the last few years. An MBA finance or amsater's programme in finance and control are some other promising options to consider.

After acquring a degree in finance one can make a career in :-

Merchant/ Investment Banking- Investment banking comprises two major branches. One is the advisory/ corporate finance role which entails mergers and acquistions . The work will involve understanding valuations , finding targets and compliance with legal regulations. The second role is equity capital markets role. This entails helping corporates raise funds from the investors or public.

Corporate Banking- the role involves entire plethora of banking services required by corporates. Within corporate banking some of the departments are credit borrowing to companies fopr their expansion and working capital requirements. Work involves doing a credit evaluation of the company and sanctioning a loan. Treasury helps companies manage various types of risks such as foreign exchange, interest rate fluctuations.

Fund management- As a fund manager one is an important decision maker typically at a mutual fund. The fund manager has good overall understanding of the macro factors which affects the markets as well as te micro factors about which company to invest in. Heinvests money in stock markets, debt markets, directly into companies etc.