Finance (MS-FIN)

Welcome, MS-FIN students!

W. P. Carey Career Services Center helps you and fellow Master of Science in Finance (MS-FIN) students tell your story through individualized support and targeted resources. Our dedicated team of experienced professionals will assist you in defining career goals, implementing job search strategies, and leveraging your degree. Your success as an MS-FIN student and graduate is important to us. No matter where you are in your career journey, we look forward to supporting your next steps.

Curriculum Employment Outcomes

• Consulting

  Consultants are professional experts who provide solutions and strategies to improve the financial and operational health of an organization. Consulting can be an attractive post-graduation goal, but these roles are competitive and preparation is demanding. It is important to begin establishing advocacy and relationships within target firms early in order to succeed in this relationship-driven market. To that end, if you are interested in consulting, check out the links below to learn more.

  Learn more: Consulting Program | Consulting Career Map | Consulting Workshops

Learn the model

Career management is a lifelong journey you will master at ASU. Learning the steps of our Career Management Model is a great place to start. From Strategy and Market Research to Product Development and Operations, you will discover that resumes and interviews are small parts of a broader, successful plan.

• 1. Strategy

  Taking the space to explore and think about the life and professional experiences you have had to this point is an often overlooked first step. Successful career management begins with developing a strategy that involves taking the time to look backward and forward, so you can set a specific career goal that is attainable and fulfilling.

  Key elements:
  Assessment  |  Personal Career Decision Making  |  Career Blueprint

• 2. Market Research

  Once you have a career goal, performing market research is the process of exploring this more fully, getting information and details to test your thinking and coming to a commitment of how to action it in the marketplace.

  Key elements:
  Day to day: Function  |  Market position: Company  |  Trends: Industry  |  Location

• 3. Product Development

  Now you are ready to test your assumptions in the market, which is done in the product development stage. This will have you active in the market, meeting people, networking, conducting informational interviews and going deeper on the research you have already done on the industry, companies and roles you are exploring. This phase helps you get beyond easy-to-access research and draw more insight from meeting people, asking thoughtful questions and digging a little deeper.

  Key elements:
  Personal introduction  |  Networking & Informational Interviews  |  Executive Presence  |  Mentorship

• 4. Operations

  From there you operationalize your action plan with your marketing communications. This is the resumes, cover letters and interview stage of the process. The effort you put into the first three stages will help to ensure that this stage is less stressful and you are ready to compete confidently.

  Key elements:
  Cover letter  |  Resume  |  Interviewing  |  Offer Assessment  |  Online Profiles

Engage in your job search

There are three primary ways business school students find jobs. Understanding which of these is part of your job search will help you build an efficient plan. Although each of these types of job searches requires a different plan, they all require the same core capabilities for success: Personal narrative, market research, networking, applications, and interviewing. Let us help you figure it out!

• On-campus/Global Job Search
  The majority of on-campus recruiting happens in the fall semester with a smaller set of firms doing campus recruiting in the spring. This requires you to be prepped and ready to interview soon after school starts. If the firms you are focused on do not visit ASU’s campus, then you will need to supplement your On-campus strategy with a Networked or Just-in-time job search.
• Networked Job Search
  All job searches require networking skills. If you are targeting firms that do not recruit on-campus at ASU then a Networked job search is your avenue. This requires a proactive approach to research, as well as developing relationships with the goal of building advocates within a firm. You’ll need to ensure your personal narrative and job search skills are well developed to convince these firms to consider you.
• Just-in-time Job Search
  A majority of firms, whether they participate in on-campus recruiting or not, will have a need for immediate hires throughout the year. Although applications are submitted at the time of need, your preparation and networking should be ongoing in order to be ready when these opportunities arise. These opportunities can be limited and are not predictable, so you’ll want to view this as a back-up strategy, rather than an excuse to delay your job search.