7 Secrets To Unlocking A Career In Fintech

What's the most practical way to bolster your chances for a rewarding career in the fast-paced field of financial technology or fintech? There's no single strategy that will work magic for applicants and job seekers, but there are several hacks that offer positive results for most who want to earn a living in fintech. Besides landing top internship positions, candidates can get college degrees, focus on the specific skills fintech companies want, establish an online reputation by blogging, build an extensive professional network, and more. Here are specifics about the most powerful methods.

Practice Strategic Interning

Strategic job searches can launch your career in an efficient way, and there are no added expenses or courses to take. The process is about being deliberate and targeted when looking for summer or other internships. There are two concurrent goals. The first is only applying for positions that offer pay, even if it's just a stipend or minimum-wage level compensation. While non-paying opportunities can be a way to gain high-level experience, they can also give companies nothing more than a way to get free work from desperate people.

Don't be desperate and instead, strive to be calculating. After narrowing down your intern choices to paying slots, take time to carefully screen the organizations to make sure they offer the type of experience you want and need. Don't accept an offer just because it comes with a paycheck and is in the financial industry. Aim for fintech specific businesses that have a reputation for treating interns well. Whenever possible, try to select offers from firms that are known to hire interns after graduation.

Degrees Matter

As noted below, skill sets play a pivotal role in landing a position in the fintech industry. But the great majority of those skills, both the hard and soft ones, can be acquired in college. Earning a degree is an essential part of the career puzzle for future fintech workers, managers, entrepreneurs, and corporate leaders. Note that there are two distinct parts of the pursuit of a diploma. The first is earning high grades in the courses you take during the four-year program. The second is paying for it all.

Few aspirants have the cash to cover the cost of higher education, but almost anyone can apply for and get a student loan. Then, they can use the cash to pay degree associated bills that go along with the program, like fees, textbooks, tuition, etc. For individuals who have the intellect and dedication to follow through with a formal course of study in the competitive fintech market, the rewards can be remarkable. Both in terms of personal satisfaction and financial compensation, entry-level employees can find excellent chances set their sights on building a long-term career path.

Start a Relevant Blog

For a small-time investment, typically about 20 minutes per day, those who want to work in the fintech industry can build up their personal brand by creating a no-frills blog on one of the many relevant topics. What's up for grabs? Explore the possibilities of adding at least five short pieces of content each week in banking news, computer languages used in the finance sector, machine learning, and data mining. Of course, there are hundreds of other applicable subjects, so choose a few that not only interest you, but will draw attention from readers as well to help monetize as best you can.

Be Diligent About Networking

Because the field of financial technology is expanding so rapidly, anyone interested in landing a job needs to be serious about building a professional network. There are no shortcuts, so the smartest way to proceed is to gather all the contacts you already have and get busy adding others. Don't forget to include college professors, internship supervisors, former coworkers, mentors, and anyone else who can give your career prospects a push forward with the right contacts.

Research the Leading Players in the Industry

Don't leave anything to chance. Hop online and use your favorite search engine to scan news feeds about the industry and its most important players. Pay special attention to organizations that are on your job search radar. Hiring agents spend time investigating every applicant's social media, professional profiles, and whatever else they can dig up. You should do the same by trying to identify the best companies and the ones that might not present good long-term job prospects.

Leverage Your Resume's Power to Get Interviews

Pay the going rate or slightly more for a polished, potent resume. This is not the time to save money or cut corners. Use an experienced and certified writer who has at least five years of exposure to fintech job applicants to help your resume land attention and strive for the job you’ve been waiting for.

Focus on Skills

The fintech space is all about skills, and there's no other industry in which meritocracy is so prevalent. In short, if you know your stuff, then there are excellent opportunities available. Breaking into the niche is much easier if you possess one or more skills and abilities from a common list. It's not necessary to have certificates in each one, but taking a verifiable course and being able to prove it can help a lot. What is on the all-important list? It includes both soft and hard skills, namely:

• Personal flexibility for adapting to any work situation
• General and specific programming
• A teamwork mindset
• Interpersonal adeptness
• AI (artificial intelligence)
• Time management
• Interpersonal negotiation
• General customer service ability
• Knowledge of insurance issues
• Computer programming languages
• Problem-solving
• Business-based fundraising
• Data mining
• Wide communication experience
• Experience with troubleshooting
• Group leadership
• IT operations
• Data analytics
• Various kinds of machine learning
• Cybersecurity

Don't assume that you'll need to master all the items on the list. Instead, find out which ones are applicable to the industry niche you're targeting and the kind of job you want to do. In general, shoot for a decent mix of soft and hard skills, and hone in between two and four programming languages that are most relevant to your career goals.

This post was authored by an external contributor and does not represent Benzinga's opinions and has not been edited for content. The information contained above is provided for informational and educational purposes only, and nothing contained herein should be construed as investment advice. Benzinga does not make any recommendation to buy or sell any security or any representation about the financial condition of any company.