4.3. Job Descriptions

Quick Link 1. Welcome 2. Introduction to career planning 3. Assess yourself (define your product) 4. Conduct market research and target your market 4.1 Networking 4.2 Information interviews 4.3 Job descriptions 4.4 Company presentations 4.5 Researching 4.6 Set preliminary goals 5. Develop and implement your marketing plan 6. Interviewing 7. Discussing compensation 8. Evaluating job offers 9. On-campus recruiting program 10. The summer internship 11. Taxes, visas and other legal information

Some of you may enter the job search process without having a clear, complete idea of all the opportunities available to you and what different positions entail.

The following is a list of job descriptions in different industries; the list is clearly far from exhaustive, but it will give you a sense of the different jobs for which companies are interviewing MBA graduates. The job content differs from company to company, so these descriptions are merely indicative.

We hope that you find this overview helpful as you begin to think about your job search.

Corporate finance (company based)

Treasurer

Duties involve supervision of the Treasury department, which is involved in financial planning, raising funds, cash management and acquiring and disposing of assets. This is an upper management job that requires both analytical skill and the ability to manage and motivate people.

Financial analyst

Duties involve determining financing needs, analyzing capital budgeting projects, long-range financial planning, analyzing possible acquisitions and asset sales, visiting credit agencies to explain firm's position, working on budgets, analyzing competitors, implementing financial plans, monitoring the market price of your firm's securities, analyzing leasing agreements and determining needs and methods of dealing with derivatives. Often you will be assigned to a specific area such as revenue, planning, capital budgeting or project finance. This challenging job requires good analytical skills, computer skills and a broad understanding of finance.

Credit manager

Duties include establishing policies for granting credit to suppliers, setting guidelines for collecting from creditors, and considering whether to securitize receivables. This job requires knowledge of the customer and ability to analyze accounting statements.