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The post below offers an insider’s perspective on the four best finance and accounting jobs that might be a fit for your extroverted personality. Of course, this is all a bit subjective. After all, what might be the right job for one person, is not necessarily the right job for another. An in-depth analysis should always be conducted with the customer (you) so that we know exactly what you are looking for.
That being said, when we surveyed a few of our senior contacts, there seemed to be certain positions in finance that lent themselves to an outgoing personality. Here are the top 4:
Sales Operations: As a part of a business development team, using your finance skills to help grow the company
as you act as the finance “voice of reason” for the sales and marketing group. A great sales operations analyst will provide financial information to make sure they are profitable to the business. As part of the sales process you will meet with clients and present data that helps close the deal so you also have to be confident enough in your abilities to speak up when deals or sales contracts are not beneficial to the company’s overall profitability. A key trait is that you must be able to communicate complex financial scenarios to non-finance individuals.
Pricing Analysis: A pricing analyst gathers and analyzes data to help a company make wise purchasing and sales decisions. In this role you will likely be determining the price your company will charge for the products and services it sells. Where does the extroverted part come in you ask? Part of this role will likely be dealing with cross-functional teams within your own organization, to understand how they contribute to your organization’s delivery, a great role for a powerful communicator who can see the big picture.
Planning and Analysis: In this role you will be working with sales forecasts and forward market projections. To do this well, you will need to communicate extensively with other groups within the company, gathering data on such things as financial and expense performance, rate of return, depreciation, working capital, and investments. On a daily, weekly or monthly basis you will need to analyze, forecast, and execute the financial initiatives of the company and communicate results across the organization as this role involves a high level of internal visibility and diplomacy.
Public Accounting: A person working at a senior level in public accounting will often be asked to hit specific target numbers, thus working in a quasi-sales capacity. As a Sr. Manager or a partner in public accounting, you are responsible for the overall delivery of services to the clients in an effort to both retain and grow the relationship. You need to know all of the people internally to make things happen for your teams and you need to know all of your clients so they don’t go elsewhere.
As I said at the start of the post, what is a fit for one personality, is not necessarily a fit for another. The key part of the entire process is to know what you are looking for in a finance job and then work to make sure your vision is fulfilled. Now, go out and get the job that’s right for you.