Databases and SQL

Databases are vital to many businesses. Many employees will need to learn how to use a particular database to extract useful data from it. Next semester I will be taking a Database Management class which will teach just that. I think learning SQL would be a vital skill to put on a resume. What to you guys think? It is known to be easier than regular programming, yet very practical in everyday workplace as a skill. What can we do with data? We can analyze the data and interpret it to make management decisions which will affect the company. We can also better serve clients and help them. Even finding the right entry for the client can make all the difference if it can be done easily without having to search all entries, most of which are irrelevant. It is important to quickly find the right kind of information right at the fingertips. Databases really are powerful. Microsoft Access and SQL can be a very important thing to know and master. Lets work advancing ourselves in that area.

Insurance Industry

Insurance industry is a great one for business majors to enter into. All kinds of people work for insurance companies. Many common professions in the insurance industry include underwriters, actuaries, brokers, agents, database administrators, managers, and much more. Depending on the skill level and certifications obtained a person's salary varies, but is pretty attractive. Almost everyone buys insurance of various kinds. People buy car insurance, health insurance, home owners insurance. Doctors buy malpractice insurance. Insurance is a big part of life, and this industry is not likely to go away in United States. Therefore I can conclude that it will be reasonable to find a job in the insurance industry. However, most specialized professions require some sort of post-bachelor's training or certifications. I guess those are there to prove skill in a certain specialized field. Regardless, it's worth the effort to look into a profession in Insurance Industry.

Banking - Pros and Cons

This semester I will be taking Commercial Bank Management as my finance elective. I think it will be very intersting and fun, since lending money and making interest off of good creditors is not that dreadful of an activity. It will certainly be more fun than financial planning, for sure. Each city has so many banks. Each bank has to have employees. I am considering a career in banking.

However, one of the major turnoffs for me is that I checked a statistic about banking jobs of people who are college graduates. The average salary for a person with a bachelor's degree that starts out in a banking industry is only $31,000 per year. This is relatively low comparing to what other fields pay for a bachelor's in Business Administration. An average salary for a recent graduate with a Business Administration degree from UMSL is 40k. Why would I settle for 9 thousand less than what I'm worth? Not that I'm a gold digger or anything, but truly the number one reason why people get college degrees is to earn more money with it.

Maybe banking doesn't pay well initially because it's a simpler job than other finance fields. I am not sure. Maybe it pays less because it's considered a more desirable profession, that the market doesn't want to oversaturate. Maybe banking can be my backup plan just in case I fail in all other aspects of finance. This almost sounds bad. Lets just see what happens.

About Myself

Hello everybody, my name is Olga Gavrilova. I am a junior at University of Missouri-St. Louis majoring in Business Administration with an emphasis in Finance. It has become my major concern about what profession to choose with this field of study. Business Administration is a wide field that covers many different topics. Even when I narrow down my options strictly to Finance I find that my career options are countless. I still haven't decided what exactly I want to do in the future, but hopefully I will make up my mind after researching and discussing various options that I am considering. Please feel free to leave comments on my blog whether you are a professional in the field, or a clueless student like myself. I appreciate all views and perspectives.