Advising jobseekers on careers in financial services begins with an understanding of the sector’s business lines, areas of high demand and being able to match jobseekers’ soft and technical skills to the needs of the employer

By Kamini Sahadeo

Toronto’s financial services sector ranks among the world’s top financial centres, is an important driver of the economy of the Toronto region and it is the second largest employer in the region. According to the Conference Board of Canada[1] the sector directly accounts for about one out of every 13 jobs in the Toronto metro area and, as a percentage of the total workforce, Toronto has a higher proportion of people in the financial sector than either New York or London.

Financial services is a knowledge-based industry and, as such, talent is an important strategic asset for its continued growth and success. People with the right skills, knowledge and competencies are therefore always in high demand. The many business lines in the sector provide a vast range of career opportunities for jobseekers at different stages of careers and from a variety of academic and experiential backgrounds.

While this is an exploration of Toronto’s sector, the employment areas discussed in this article are also in demand across Canada. Career professionals can assist their clients in preparing for a career in the financial sector by becoming familiar with the steps outlined in this article.

Understanding the financial services sector ecosystem

An important first step in understanding how to chart a career path in this sector is to have a clear understanding of what it looks like. In its Financial Services Sector Comprehensive Workforce Model, the Centre of Excellence in Financial Services Education has mapped out a model of the sector’s workforce which outlines seven distinct business lines:

Deposit-taking: banks, trust companies and credit unions.

Lending:  companies, other than deposit-taking institutions, whose primary business is lending money.

Insurance: companies that underwrite insurance policies to compensate policyholders against specific risks.

Asset and Investment Management: manage clients’ assets, which involves making careful decisions about the best use of the clients’ assets in order to meet the clients’ investment objectives.

Securities: engaged in the buying and selling of stocks and other financial instruments that are traded but are neither the owners nor the managers of the underlying assets.

Independent Distribution: independent intermediaries between buyers and sellers of financial products.

Business and Professional Services: support financial services activities and the people in financial services firms such as lawyers, accountants, advertising, management consulting and more.

Each of these business lines is also broken out into its respective segments, totaling 35 separate segments.[2]

Targeting in-demand areas of the financial services sector

The second key step in planning a career in the sector is to understand where there is employer demand for people with specific knowledge, skills and competencies. Financial services employers in the Toronto region have identified 10 in-demand areas for talent:

  1. Insurance – this segment is projecting the highest need for talent given demographic and business factors.
  2. Compliance/Audit – these roles protect the integrity of financial institutions by monitoring, reviewing and investigating internal processes and functions.
  3. Financial Advisory and Investment Management – these professionals are responsible for understanding the financial goals of their clients and designing the right investment or financial plan to help meet those goals.
  4. Risk Management – these areas monitor, identify, measure and mitigate risks that can cause damage to the organization.
  5. Technology – this function is constantly evolving and touches every aspect of financial services operations.
  6. Project Management – these roles apply specialized knowledge, skills and techniques to execute projects efficiently and effectively.
  7. Business Analysis (IT) – these roles help organizations achieve business objectives through the effective use of IT.
  8. Business Analysis (Non-IT) – these roles focus on identifying the required changes to an organization, for it to achieve strategic goals. These changes can include strategy, structure, processes, information systems and finance.
  9. Back Office Operations – these areas are concerned with the timely and efficient processing and reconciliation of information and relate to processes such as account administration, underwriting and securities services, treasury settlement, and claims management.
  10. Contact Centres – as an alternative distribution channel that provides sales and services to customers of financial institutions over the internet or telephone, roles in this area include sales, account management, control, help desk and process improvement.

Details of over 30 in-demand roles within these areas may be found on the Financial Services Career Advisor portal explorefinancialservices.com .

Leveraging transferable skills and experience equivalencies

Finally, a third important step in planning a career in the sector is to understand how one’s skills, knowledge and experience could be applied to new and different areas. A new graduate from an accounting program, for example, might find that his or her interests and knowledge could be taken far beyond a narrowly-defined accounting role, which is in relatively low supply, to areas of higher demand such as compliance, audit and risk management. A mathematics grad would be very much in demand in an actuarial role in insurance. For those with some work experience, there could be equivalent occupations with a very high overlap of skill, knowledge and activity requirements with these in-demand areas. For example, a nurse could become a health insurance underwriter[3]. The in-demand roles on the Financial Services Career Advisor portal provide details of the main duties and key competencies required, and enable career professionals to aid jobseekers in best positioning themselves for these roles.

A demand-driven approach to career planning

This approach of targeting in-demand careers can also be applied to other sectors. By taking a more holistic view of an industry, seeking to understand the breadth of its ecosystem, and understanding how to tailor one’s knowledge and experience accordingly, career professionals can help jobseekers vastly increase their chances of building a long and fulfilling career in today’s economy.

Kamini Sahadeo is the Director, Strategy Implementation at the Centre of Excellence in Financial Services Education (workinfinancialservices.com). She has over 15 years’ experience in project management, policy implementation, business analysis, adult learning and community development. Sahadeo holds a Master of Business Administration degree from the Schulich School of Business at York University and a Master of Social Science in International Studies and a Bachelor of Social Science in International Studies from the University of Birmingham in the United Kingdom.

[1] M. Burt, K. Audet, & G. Sutherland. “Ensuring the Future: Understanding the Importance of Toronto’s Financial Services Sector”. Conference Board of Canada, 2013 study commissioned by the Toronto Financial Services Alliance
[2] For further information, please refer to “The Financial Services Sector Eco-System in the Toronto Region,” Centre of Excellence in Financial Services Education, February 2015 https://www.workinfinancialservices.com/Files/Resources/3-20-2015/COE_FSSEcosystemReport.pdf
[3] “Talent Opportunities in Insurance”, Centre of Excellence in Financial Services Education, April 2015 https://www.explorefinancialservices.com/Download/Publications/27D7CE12A0-19F458924E