Financial Analysts

There are many sources of information dealing with the financial services industry. Read publications such as Barron's (http://www.barrons.com), Wall Street Journal (http://www.wsj.com), Forbes (http://www.forbes.com), Bloomberg Businessweek (http://www.bloomberg.com/businessweek), Fortune (http://fortune.com), and Financial Times (http://www.ft.com). In either the print or online versions, you will find a wealth of information on stocks, mutual funds, finance, education, careers, salaries, global business, and more. You can also use these resources to conduct company research. You might have to become a subscriber to access certain sections online.

AnalystForum (http://www.analystforum.com) is a resource for chartered financial analysts and CFA candidates. While this site won't be of much use to you until you've launched your career, you can find links to financial, investment, and security analyst society sites. From within these societies, you can perhaps track down a professional who would be willing to do an information interview with you.

While in high school, you might volunteer to handle the bookkeeping for a school club or student government, or help balance the family checking account to become familiar with simple bookkeeping practices. Your school may have an investment club you can join. If not, ask a parent or teacher to help you research and analyze investment opportunities. Choose a specific industry (e.g., telecommunications, technology, health care), study companies in that industry, and select and track several stocks that appear to have growth potential.

Other ways to learn more about this career include participating in information interviews and job-shadowing experiences with financial analysts; getting involved in summer exploration programs in finance and related fields that are offered by colleges and universities; and participating in finance- and math-focused competitions that are offered by Junior Achievement (https://jausa.ja.org), DECA (www.deca.org), and Future Business Leaders of America (https://www.fbla.org).