Industry This Blog

What to do after MBA - Top Courses after MBA Finance

5 min read

Business world is an intense and competitive field. An MBA Finance degree can help develop skills that can be used in a number of situations. In a dramatic shift versus a decade ago, finance jobs are as much in-demand as roles in technology sector or other domains. MBA graduates in Finance are proving that they can make a difference as leaders in many different industries. Yet, many still have the question of what to do after MBA to enhance their career. Which is why this article lists the top courses after MBA finance that students can take up.

Any list does involve a certain bit of subjectivity and thus it will never be perfect. Despite all this, one must attempt to create a list. After all, a list helps us in the simplest way to know why we decide to take a certain action.

The list is a series of technical skills and practical expertise which are not covered fully in an MBA program These courses after MBA finance  will definitely add to your learning

  • Company Secretary: Involved in creating policies for the company, maintaining legal records, taking care of public issues, managing mergers and acquisition related activities. Primarily the mediator between the management and the board of directors. If you’re in India, you can do this part time and can enroll any time of the year.  Click here to get started as a Company Secretary.
  • Actuary: Your job as an actuary is to assess the financial impact of risk and uncertainty. Actuaries assess the financial security systems, keeping a hawk’s eye on their complexity, the mathematics involved in the same and their mechanisms. Click here to know how to get started.
  • Executive Programme in Algorithmic Trading: Cutting edge tools have become the trend in the trading industry. To have a lucrative career in a financial institution and to have an edge over other applicants knowing algorithmic trading is imperative. You could become an Algo Risk Analyst, Quant Analyst, Quant Algo Developer or a Market Risk Analyst. QuantInsti® from Mumbai provides a comprehensive online course on Algorithmic trading, you can check it out here. Alternatively, QuantInsti® also offers short term self-paced online courses through their learning portal, Quantra™. The courses are full with many interactive exercises and covers complex concepts with ease, check out the courses here
  • Chartered Financial Analyst: In the financial services world, the CFA charter holder is one of the few courses that give a MBA-Finance a serious run for the money. A CFA charter holder is one of the most valued people in any organization. You are looked up to for your insights backed by analytical inputs. Click here for more info.
  • Certificate in Quantitative Finance: A rigorous and practical certification promises to train people and help them find jobs in derivatives, quant IT, quant trading, risk management or insurance. We have covered a whole blog post on how to become a Quant even if you think it’s too late for you to start. Check out our blog post, ‘Can I be a quant in my 40’s?’. And if you’re curious here is a blog post on ‘How much salary do Quants really earn?’, reading this blog will leave you puzzled.
  • Certified Financial Planner: To have a career in wealth management this course give you in-depth training in various aspects of personal finance like tax planning, insurance planning, estate planning etc. In a country like India where financial education is on the rise, the need for CFPs will be higher too.
  • Chartered Alternate Investment Analyst: The CAIA Charter designation is the highest standard of achievement in alternative investment education and provides broad knowledge, demonstrated expertise, and global credibility in alternatives. While CFA and CAIA might sound very similar, in fact they do share some similarities like the hard work required and high fees for the exams. However, there are some differences in these two, you can check out this link for more information on the difference.
  • Financial Risk Manager: Designation is the most globally respected and widely recognized certification for financial risk management. The exam is globally recognized standard for measuring the skills and knowledge of those who manage financial risk. If you were to choose to become a Financial Risk Manager, then you would be expected to manage the risk that accompanies any investments and would like to broaden their knowledge of the same. Click here to get started.

Here is a brief list of other things which are not taught in an MBA

  1. Reality is different: No amount of academic theories on efficient pricing will prepare you completely for the job, finding the “optimal” price is really hard.  In the meantime, remember that a sub-optimal price is a lot better.
  2. There’s always more than what meets the eye: The ways you can spend money on marketing is infinite. Experiment broadly and learn lessons cheaply. On a related note, no amount of MBA marketing classes will prepare you for the day that you have to produce leads in order to close sales.  As it turns out, marketing is about more than product feature matrices and the right shade of blue for your logo.
  3. Key to Hiring?: Recruit the best people, fair compensation, and equity? True but what they don’t tell you is that company culture and a demonstrated passion for your vision is equally important. (Oh, and your vision should be on the larger path to truth, justice, and overall goodness).  Your vision should not involve harming kittens.  They’re adorable. This becomes more important when you set out starting your own venture.
  4. Leave the theories of college in college: AThe advanced game theory is exceptionally useful.  The basic game theory is dangerous – because it assumes that you’re dealing with a bunch of rational “players”.  It’s like trying to design a real car that’s going to be driven on a theoretically frictionless surface, with no air resistance and no idiots on the road.And It's Gone
  5. Master of Business Administration?: Doing business should foremost be taught in an MBA, that’s what it does not teach you. If you want to be an entrepreneur, MBA is a definitely not a requirement. A few years of practical experience will teach you much more than bookish academics.
  6. Communication!: Well they do teach you this in college but that’s just corporate communication but day to day communication and assertive behavior is different and equally required in your job and if mastered will also take you to the top but it won’t be taught in a b-school.
  7. Programming and Technical Skills: Technical Skills are not taught in an MBA. There are a lot of theories and models and more theories. But technically how to implement the theoretical knowledge is not taught. There was a time when professionals in finance were not required to have programming skills, but now many companies for profiles like analysts have made it compulsory to have programming skills. Not to worry, we’ve got you covered, you can enroll for our ‘Python for Trading’ course which teaches you Python (an open source and widely used programming language) specifically catered for finance applications. Here’s the course link.

What if I told you

Although you might be technically sound and have learned quite a few principles during the MBA, if you had to venture into a skilled field such as quantitative analysis or quantitative strategist you would certainly need something much more than just an MBA. Quantitative strategies have evolved from back office boxes to mainstream complex tools. In order to utilize the best minds in business and fastest computers and to exploit inefficiencies and use leverage to make market bets. To achieve this you will have to equip yourself with practical technical experience and mentorship.


Next Step

Learn how an aspiring Algorithmic trader from a finance background managed to secure his career in Algorithmic trading domain. The case study 'How Can Algorithmic Trading Add Value To Finance & Tech Grads?' takes you through the journey of Rohit Gupta and how Executive Programme in Algorithmic Trading (EPAT™) helped him to shape his career.

Mega Quant Sale 2024