Banking careers are more than dealing with money (and making it!). These career paths can involve anything from advising major corporations on mergers and acquisitions to helping individuals manage their personal finances. If you want to work within a financial institution, banking careers have various options depending on your skillset, goals, personality, and work environment. So, how do you know which banking careers are right for you?
We’ll go through the main types of banking careers so you can better understand each career path and the types of skills, personality types, and work environments it may align with. Plus, we’ve got a fun quiz to help point you in the right direction.
Main Types of Banking Careers
Banking careers are any role within a financial institution. These careers focus on financial resources, providing financial services, and ensuring the stability and growth of financial institutions.
While all banking careers center on, well, banks, there are a variety of opportunities no matter what your skills, interests, or even work preferences are. For example, maybe you’re an analytical thinker who can work well under pressure — working on complex financial deals in a role like an investment banker might be right for you. Or, maybe you’re more of a problem-solver who likes to be on the cutting edge of technology. In that case, working in a cybersecurity role at a bank might be right for you.
Investment Banking
Investment banking is a high-stakes, fast-paced area of banking that focuses on helping investors, corporations, and governments raise capital and navigate complex financial transactions. Investment bankers work on mergers and acquisitions, underwriting, initial public offerings (IPOs), and other corporate finance activities.
Investment banking professionals need strong analytical skills to assess financial data and use that data to predict and evaluate market trends. They also need excellent communication skills to translate these findings to clients, share advice, and negotiate deals.
Investment banking is usually a more competitive, high-pressure field with demanding work hours; however, it can also be quite lucrative and set you up for long-term success in the finance sector.
>>MORE: Is Investment Banking a Good Career Path?
Investment Banking
Review a hypothetical client's historical financial performance, then select an acquisition target and present your recommendation to the client.
Avg. Time: 4-5 hours
Skills you’ll build: SWOT analysis, financial analysis, M&A screening, financial modeling, valuation, presentation
Wealth Management
Wealth management is a type of banking career that involves helping high-net-worth individuals and families manage their financial assets. These professionals may offer services like investment advice, tax planning, and estate planning tailored to the client’s needs and goals.
Wealth managers must have a solid understanding of various financial products and strategies.
They also need excellent interpersonal skills to build and maintain relationships with clients. This career path is ideal for those who enjoy working closely with people and have a knack for explaining complex concepts in simple terms.
Wealth and Personal Banking
Gather a high-net-worth client's investment objectives, risk appetite, and investment restrictions, then recommend an investment solution.
Avg. Time: 2-3 hours
Skills you’ll build: Identifying investment profiles, fact finding, relationship management, client communication
Risk, Compliance, and Audit
Risk, compliance, and audit roles are all career paths that ensure that banks operate within legal and regulatory frameworks and manage their risks effectively.
Risk managers assess and mitigate various types of financial risks. Compliance officers ensure the bank follows all relevant laws and regulations. Auditors check that the bank’s financial statements and processes are accurate and efficient.
These types of banking careers are great for people with strong analytical skills, attention to detail, and a focus on following regulations and rules. These professionals also need to be able to communicate complex ideas clearly, as they often need to explain risks and compliance issues to other departments.
Audit
Ask follow-up questions about a hypothetical company's purchasing process, then conduct control tests of its purchasing process.
Avg. Time: 3-4 hours
Skills you’ll build: Analysis, documentation, communication, policy interpretation, compliance analysis, issue identification
Technology and Support
As banking becomes increasingly digital, technology roles within banks have become crucial. These can range from developing and maintaining banking apps and websites to ensuring cybersecurity and managing big data for business insights.
Banking technology roles require strong technical skills in areas like programming, data analysis, or cybersecurity. These roles are a great fit for people who enjoy solving complex problems and staying up-to-date with the latest technological advancements.
Software Engineering
Develop a data model for a new investment management system that helps your financial advisors better manage their customers' portfolios.
Avg. Time: 3-4 hours
Skills you’ll build: Data modeling, system design, Java, Spring
Retail and Commercial Banking
Retail and commercial banking are types of banking that focus on serving people and businesses, respectively. Retail banking involves providing financial services to individual consumers, such as checking and savings accounts, personal loans, and mortgages. Commercial banking focuses on providing similar services to businesses, from small local companies to large corporations.
Retail and commercial banking professionals need strong customer service skills to help solve their clients’ issues promptly and effectively. They also need to be comfortable with sales, as part of their job often involves promoting the bank’s products and services to customers.
Commercial Banking
Advise lending terms to help your client achieve sustainability performance targets.
Avg. Time: 3-4 hours
Skills you’ll build: Data analysis, presentation, fact finding, client communication, judgment
Which Banking Careers Are Right for Me? Quiz
Ready to figure out which types of banking careers are right for you? Take the quiz! You’ll need to sign up for your results, but it’s 100% free.
How to Land a Career in Banking
Congratulations! You’ve figured out what banking career might be right for you. So, how do you land that first banking role?
Get Experience
Before you land your first professional role, getting banking experience is crucial. But how do you get experience without any experience?
Internships
Many banks offer internships or summer analyst programs for students. These programs are an excellent way to get hands-on experience and often lead to full-time job offers; however, they are notoriously competitive, so it’s crucial to be prepared early (more on that below).
Organizations and Affiliations
Joining finance-related clubs, student organizations, or even professional associations can help build your connections and finance knowledge. Many universities have finance clubs, investment societies, or business fraternities that organize networking events, case competitions, and workshops. Some national organizations have student memberships, offering access to industry resources, educational resources, and networking.
Volunteering
Volunteering at non-profits, community organizations, or school projects that require financial planning, fundraising, or budget management can provide useful exposure to banking-related tasks. For example, you could help with financial literacy workshops or assist in managing a small organization’s accounts.
Job Simulations
Forage job simulations show you what a day in the life is like working for a top employer. When you complete a banking job simulation, you’ll build the professional financial skills employers look for and get a better sense of the everyday tasks you’ll do in the role.
Not only can these experiences help you get the experience you need to land a role, but they can also help you further understand what roles you actually like (and don’t like!).
“I was fortunate to be placed in a management trainee program that allowed me to rotate through several departments in the bank,” says J.D. Koontz, a banking expert at JD Koontz, LLC, with over 20 years of experience in the field. “I started as a teller, then moved through several areas before eventually landing in lending. This experience gave me a comprehensive understanding of different aspects of banking. It helped me discover what I enjoyed most — working directly with customers and watching their businesses succeed. Being a lender felt like the right path because I found satisfaction in building relationships and supporting the growth of businesses.”
Build the Right Hard Skills …
Banking careers require a variety of hard skills that help you parse through financial information, make predictions, and offer recommendations. Some banking hard skills include:
- Financial modeling and valuation, including how to calculate net present value and discounted cash flow
- Data analysis
- Excel
- Accounting fundamentals, including account balancing and financial reporting
- Market and investment research
Specific banking hard skills will vary depending on the type of banking career you choose. For example, if you choose a technology banking career, you’ll likely need strong programming skills.
… And Soft Skills
Soft skills, or the skills you use to get your work done and interact with others in the workplace, are equally important in banking.
Koontz emphasizes building soft skills like public speaking and sales.
“Banking is increasingly about sales and presentation,” he says. “My first boss, a senior vice president, pushed me to improve my public speaking skills by sending me to a Dale Carnegie course. He also shared motivational books that helped shift my mindset. While I wasn’t thrilled then, it became a crucial part of my success. For students, developing public speaking skills early will set them apart. Programs like Dale Carnegie, Toastmasters, or even improv classes are affordable and great ways to practice speaking in front of others. These in-person experiences mirror real-world banking scenarios, where clear communication and confidence are essential.”
Other crucial soft skills for banking include:
- Communication
- Teamwork
- Attention to detail
- Adaptability
- Time management
Get Started Early
If you’re interested in banking careers, it’s almost never too early to get started in building your career path. Many banks, especially large ones, recruit for internships up to a year and a half in advance. Some banks even have pre-internship programs you can apply for as early as your first year of college.
Start by looking up internship application deadlines and open dates so you can get a sense of when you might need to apply (that is, if you’re looking to land an internship — which is a great way to build experience and set yourself up for future career success).
Then, you can focus on ramping up your skills and experience to help build your application, whether that’s through coursework, academic projects, extracurriculars, or job simulations.
Which Banking Careers Are Right for Me? The Bottom Line
Banking careers offer a wide range of opportunities, from high-stakes investment banking to customer-focused retail banking. By understanding your skills, interests, and preferred work style, you can find a banking career that’s right for you.
Remember, whichever path you choose, building skills early — and practicing continuous learning — is key in the ever-evolving world of finance. Stay curious, keep up with industry trends, and be prepared to adapt as the banking sector continues to transform in the digital age.
Ready to start your journey towards a role in banking? Check out Forage job simulations to get hands-on experience and build the skills you need to succeed in the industry — and more than triple your chances of landing a banking career.
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