Billions of dollars are lost every year by American businesses
who didn't foresee trouble on the horizon before it hit.
Earning a degree in risk management gives you the experience,
methods, and critical skills you'll need to help stop a
corporation, small business, or financial institution from
making costly, sometimes catastrophic, mistakes. You'll
also enjoy the prestige and handsome salary that go along
with the demanding workload carried by risk management experts.
A risk management degree can prepare you to work in various
institutions such as:
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Insurance companies-determining
limitations and rates and approving policies
-
Corporations-assessing
financial and non-financial risks or "exposures"
and working to avoid them becoming liabilities
-
Financial institutions-evaluating
which individuals or companies to extend credit
A degree program in this field teaches you the fundamentals
of business finance theory and operations, before focusing
your studies on the essential aspects of risk management.
The skills and knowledge you'll accumulate will depend on
the particular program or emphasis you choose. But the basic
purpose of all risk management positions is to protect the
organization from known causes of losses and to anticipate
unusual threats and prevent them before they wreak havoc.
The opportunities for finance experts with degrees in risk
management are abundant in a corporate world under constant
attack from fraudsters, hackers, environmental and consumer
litigation, and political and media smear campaigns. Equipped
with a shield of knowledge about rock-solid finance principles
and the techniques to shore-up weaknesses, and armed with
an arsenal of lawyers, PR wizards and security personnel,
risk managers are the guardians of the corporate keep.
A few of the reasons to pursue this education track are
to:
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Find out how to maximize
the potential of a business through careful planning
-
Study business finance
from the level of small business to the global economy
-
Discover the rewards
of working in the upper levels of business management
-
Realize your aspirations
of working with heavy-hitting, like-minded people
-
Work in an exciting,
fast-paced and highly competitive field that is constantly
evolving in unexpected directions as political and market
landscapes change
-
Hold a position of
extreme responsibility and authority, with high expectations
-
Exercise your leadership
and analytical abilities in a professional setting
Programs concentrate on developing analytical thinkers
who understand the financial aspects of organizations from
top to bottom, and who have a comprehensive view of the
financial and non-financial exposures assumed by companies
and banks. Graduates will be important reinforcements to
a specialized workforce that's in high demand. With more
hazardous soft-spots open to computerized attack, with unpredictable
environmental conditions caused by global warming, and with
an ever-changing economy, organizations will always need
new recruits in this field.
By pursuing a degree program in risk management, students
will have many useful resources made available to them such
as scholarship opportunities, access to conferences, internship
programs, career counselors and more.
Other areas of commerce where graduates in the field may
find employment are in consumer and corporate underwriting
of insurance, brokerage houses, and insurance claims departments.
Possible career paths also include work in asset management
with investment banks and other financial institutions,
in financial planning for all kinds of organizations, and
even jobs in political campaigns and administrations.
New hires will work next to senior staff to learn the specific
functions of the professional risk managers in their team.
Each business has a unique set of issues to consider, but
they all need talented, detail-oriented analysts who are
experienced researchers, builders of professional networks,
and articulate communicators.
Maturing through their academic studies and real-world experience,
recruits will:
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Become skilled at
managing a team, coordinating between diverse departments
within the organization, and working under pressure to
deliver
-
Gather the critical
thinking, communication, team-building, and organizational
skills necessary to thrive in this competitive field
-
Train to observe,
evaluate, and safeguard against threats based on the mistakes
other companies and institutions have made
-
Learn to gauge the
probability of specific scenarios occurring and estimate
the potential damage from each
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Diagnose and treat
current shortfalls, and prevent future risks from becoming
wounds
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Master the tools of
financial analysis including financial proposals, statements,
and reports, and gain facility in presenting the results
of inquiries
-
Develop proficiency
conducting research on the financial reports of the company,
on partner and model firms, and on individuals involved
in important transactions; all this while keeping an eye
on the competition
-
Possess an intuition
for preventing unforeseen circumstances from damaging
the company by keeping a finger on its pulse, while listening
to diverse sources of information on the economy, trends
in crime, current regulations and proposed legislation;
and that's just a few of the most obvious!
-
Use vital technological
tools like electronic spreadsheets, research databases,
financial tracking software and presentation aid applications
Stars are being born in this field each year (and they're
not moving slowly); they're racing to the task from exciting
and challenging degree programs in risk management.
