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The nature, look, name, and value of money has already changed so many times, and it will continue to evolve in the future as well. However, the need to manage it has remained constant because the need for money management is a concept that is more reliable than money itself!

This is precisely why financial advisors, chartered accountants, investment bankers, and various other financial workers have never been the ones looking for a job, at least not the good ones anyway! However successful one is in this lucrative career of financial management can differ quite dramatically, based on the individual’s qualifications, aptitude, and innate/trained skills. Today, we are going to highlight a number of both essential and advanced aspects, which are crucial to making progress in the field of managing and growing money.

The Right Qualifications

Whether you are just starting out or you have been in the profession for a while, the idea behind the term “right qualifications” can be any training or skill development course that can help you at that specific point in your career. The definition of the right course is, therefore, highly variable, but in order to make progress, training, experience, and skill development in the right areas are all essential and continuous requirements.

All courses accredited by the CISI or the Chartered Institute for Securities and Investment are globally recognised and respected. Which one of the many available programs is suitable for you depends on where you are exactly in your career at this time, and also your specific line of work.

To make matters less confusing, check out the best CISI accredited training programs on findcourses.co.uk, as this could help in finding the exact program which you need to advance from your present position in the industry. From a fairly basic CISI Investment Advice Diploma program to much more advanced courses such as the CISI Chartered Wealth Manager training, there are multiple career enhancement training options listed on the site for financial workers across all levels and fields.

Selective Variability Skills: Communication and Relationship

Now, if you go through random sites on the web, they will emphasise on the importance of financial workers being excellent communicators with amazing interpersonal skills. However, that may or may not be as significant, depending on who you are, the kind of job that you do, and your overall work setting.

No employer on the planet who is worth working for will employ an accountant for their ability to communicate because it’s an accountant’s ability to calculate and manage that matters more in respect of the job! Therefore, communication and interpersonal skills are secondary at best and only applicable in selectively variable circumstances, such as the ones listed below.

• If your job description requires you to make sales/land clients as well
• A financial mentor has to have supreme control over the necessary soft skills
• If you are/want to be the owner of a firm; entrepreneurs must be excellent communicators and relationship builders
• If you want to step up and assume more advanced, leadership roles in the future
• If you, your clientele or your company feels that there is something lacking in your soft skills

To conclude, one would have to say that having excellent interpersonal skills and communication skills is always going to be advantageous, irrespective of the profession. However, completing dedicated courses to improve upon and develop those skills is only necessary when you have to deal with clients directly or if you have aspirations and ambitions beyond your current role. Completing a CISI accredited course in relevance to your position should still be a priority, but if you have high ambitions, soft skill development programs can prove to be quite beneficial.

Relevant Technical Familiarity

This is where things might get a little complicated, especially so for financial workers who completed their education years ago. Technology is everywhere these days, and it’s an intricate part of effective money management today. Although software did not replace accountants like the rumour mill was predicting, it has made things a bit confusing for older professionals who are less acquainted with evolving tech.

Make no mistake, modern tech has made accountants/financial experts infinitely more productive and capable. These are the tools on which the entire business of financial management relies on quite heavily these days. However, technology and software are constantly evolving, which can create a confusing scenario for many.

If you want to progress and stay on top of your game in finance today, it is highly advised that you take the training course/courses necessary to familiarise yourself with the most important and widely utilised tools in your specific field of work. If you neglect it, sooner or later, the knowledge gap will catch up and by then, it may very well be too late and too wide to fill!

An Innate Skill of Utmost Importance: Solving Problems

Not every financial professional is an excellent problem solver, but all successful financial experts are decent problem solvers, nonetheless. How successful they are in their respective careers will depend largely on how good they are at problem solving, After all, be it financial advising or chartered accountancy, they are all by definition problem solving jobs, both mathematically and practically!

Although problem solving is an innate skill, based on intelligence and aptitude, it is possible to sharpen it significantly with the right kind of training. However, it’s worth noting that if you are still a student who is looking at a career in financial management, do make sure that you have the innate tendency to solve mathematical and real-life problems frequently. In the absence of a basic inclination and ability, money management might not be the best career option.

Business Education

Aside from getting the necessary qualifications in your specific field of financial management, this would have to be the second most important training for financial career advancement. This will effectively eliminate the gap which separates core departments from the business itself.

An accountant for example, must understand business well enough to be able to do the job, butt that’s just a rudimentary understanding at best. It’s usually not sufficient to help them run the actual business. Even the head accountant in most companies have little to no idea about how to run the business, and that’s where business education comes in to fill the gap.

These courses are meant to turn experienced financial managers into potential entrepreneurs and business leaders of tomorrow. Even if you want to continue working as an employee, your chances of being promoted to the executive level will become much higher, because an accountant who understands both business and money is an asset by all means.

To sum it all up, the steps to career progression in finance can be divided into the following categories.

• Acquiring advanced skills specific to the job
• Estimation and sharpening of innate, relevant skills possessed by the professional
• Staying updated with relevant tech
• Expanding career horizons beyond the immediate

At least a majority of everything we just discussed should have some relevance to you, either as a working financial professional, or as an aspiring student. Either way, now you know the guidelines to follow, in order to meet your current and future goals for career progression.