Whether you’re starting your first finance job or you’re setting up your own finance business, there are key areas that you should focus on in terms of skills.

Jobs that are available in the finance sector include accounting, stock broker, financial advisor, investment banker, actuary, and more. Your skills can be transferable between these different roles so keep an open mind about your career path and don’t feel pigeon-holed into pursuing just one area of finance.

Here are some tips to take with you into your first finance job:

What Skills Will You Need?

Some of the skills that you might need to succeed in your finance job include:

• Strong Communication Skills

You’re likely to be working with a range of people, ranging from those with limited finance knowledge to finance professionals. You must have strong written and verbal communication so you can build positive relationships, which is key to retaining business.

• Problem Solving

Being able to take on a challenge and solve it is something that appeals to all employers, but especially those in the finance sector. Contributing to discussions and finding solutions to problems is a key skill when working in the finance sector.

• Strong Numeracy Skills

You’re likely to be working with lots of numerical information so it’s important that you’re able to understand it, draw conclusions from the data and explain your findings to others.

Keeping on Top of Invoices

Being able to keep on top of invoices is so vital that it’s worthy of its own section. This is not only one of the most important parts of running your own business, but it’s also a skill that you’ll need to learn if you’re working in the finance sector.

Creating invoices, sending them to clients, chasing up late payers – this can all take up a lot of time.

. Chase up invoices quickly and make it as easy as possible for your customers to make a payment to you – this will ensure that the process runs smoothly and you won’t get bogged down. Also, be crystal clear about the payment period and any penalties or charges for late payments when you are drawing up the payment terms.

If you own your own business and struggle to stay on top of your invoices, consider using a company like Market Invoice, who can assist you with your finances and have a solution to tackle long payment terms that may be delaying the money going to your business.

For those who are starting their first finance job, or starting a finance business, there are key skills that are transferable to any role within the sector. Importantly, you should have an understanding on the importance of invoicing and how this contributes to the success of a company. Take these tips and use them to develop and grow into a knowledgeable finance professional.