6 answers
Kyren
Student
Gallup, New Mexico
1
Question
Asked
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I would greatly appreciate if I can learn more about getting into business and investing
I'm the type of person who is too nice to others and will try to help out, sometimes they don't need it or i do too much but that's because I wanna do it out of my own free will. #business #career #therapy
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6 answers
Madi T
Corporate Communications
4
Answers
New York, New York
Updated
Madi’s Answer
Hi Kyren,
Vibhu is right - investing and business are often related, but two different things.
There are many different ways to become an investor and participate in the market. You can join a company as part of their investment team and help them make decisions about where to invest their money. You can also invest as an individual, choosing companies or funds to invest in that you think will give you returns. If you are interested in investments and following markets, start watching CNBC, and read Bloomberg News and The Wall Street Journal. A career in investing requires lots of education and almost always passing the CFA exam, which is a 3-part exam that takes years of preparation to complete. Some companies will pay for their junior staff to take the exam, so keep that in mind when looking for junior jobs in investing. It is a very rigorous career that requires strong math and analytical capabilities, and especially in the early parts of your career you may be working long hours. Almost all investors studied economics, finance, and/or business as part of a four-year undergraduate program and completed internships before graduation.
Business is simply the practice of buying and selling goods and services as a company. You can get involved in business in all sorts of ways, in big and small companies, and large companies will often have a central "business" team that is supported by "functions" (like human resources, finance, IT, etc. that are shared by the business team). For example, a company like Foot Locker has a "business" team that handles choosing which shoes to have in stock, making sure those shoes are available through their supply chain, and picking a strategy to sell the most shoes to different kinds of customers. Foot Locker also has a human resources team or a finance team that isn't directly involved in selling shoes, but helps the company's operations. All of these are ways to be involved in business. Most large companies require a four-year bachelor's degree to work on the corporate side, but many accept a two-year or technical degree or even equivalent work experience to join a store, manufacturing, supply chain or other areas.
One piece of advice - being nice and helpful is great, especially early in your career. You will be noticed and recognized for your willingness to help and your positive attitude. It will set you apart from others. However, don't forget that the only person that can manage your time is you - no company or manager will be better than you at protecting your time. The most important thing you can do is to manage your time well, prioritize the way you need to, and sometimes that means saying "no" so you can focus on something else that you need to do. When you have control over the way you spend your time, you will be seen as a strategic thinker.
Best of luck!
Vibhu is right - investing and business are often related, but two different things.
There are many different ways to become an investor and participate in the market. You can join a company as part of their investment team and help them make decisions about where to invest their money. You can also invest as an individual, choosing companies or funds to invest in that you think will give you returns. If you are interested in investments and following markets, start watching CNBC, and read Bloomberg News and The Wall Street Journal. A career in investing requires lots of education and almost always passing the CFA exam, which is a 3-part exam that takes years of preparation to complete. Some companies will pay for their junior staff to take the exam, so keep that in mind when looking for junior jobs in investing. It is a very rigorous career that requires strong math and analytical capabilities, and especially in the early parts of your career you may be working long hours. Almost all investors studied economics, finance, and/or business as part of a four-year undergraduate program and completed internships before graduation.
Business is simply the practice of buying and selling goods and services as a company. You can get involved in business in all sorts of ways, in big and small companies, and large companies will often have a central "business" team that is supported by "functions" (like human resources, finance, IT, etc. that are shared by the business team). For example, a company like Foot Locker has a "business" team that handles choosing which shoes to have in stock, making sure those shoes are available through their supply chain, and picking a strategy to sell the most shoes to different kinds of customers. Foot Locker also has a human resources team or a finance team that isn't directly involved in selling shoes, but helps the company's operations. All of these are ways to be involved in business. Most large companies require a four-year bachelor's degree to work on the corporate side, but many accept a two-year or technical degree or even equivalent work experience to join a store, manufacturing, supply chain or other areas.
One piece of advice - being nice and helpful is great, especially early in your career. You will be noticed and recognized for your willingness to help and your positive attitude. It will set you apart from others. However, don't forget that the only person that can manage your time is you - no company or manager will be better than you at protecting your time. The most important thing you can do is to manage your time well, prioritize the way you need to, and sometimes that means saying "no" so you can focus on something else that you need to do. When you have control over the way you spend your time, you will be seen as a strategic thinker.
Best of luck!
Pavel Korzh
Client support
6
Answers
Singapore
Updated
Pavel’s Answer
For investing I would recommend to start with 3 things. First start tracking expenses in a convenient mobile app to understand where you spend money. Second put aside around 10% of the monthly income for the investment purposes. Finally you can open a brokerage account, e,g, you can start with the bank where you have your account and check what investment services they can provide.
Ryan Fergen
Account Executive
3
Answers
Steamboat Springs, Colorado
Updated
Ryan’s Answer
Hey Kyren, Great question!
Getting into Business/Finance is an awesome career path and can be achieved in a number of different ways. I definitely recommend looking into the courses offered at your school and see if there are business classes that you can take to start learning.
I took some business classes at my high school and loved them. This led me to pursuing a business degree at a state school in Colorado. I started out with a general business degree and focused on finance as I progressed through my classes. Finance is an incredible path to take if you are looking to learn more about how a business is run and what it takes to make smart financial decisions. If you decide to take the College route, there are a ton of great resources at schools that will connect you with local businesses. Take advantage of these career fairs/opportunities to grow your network and find people that do what you want to do!
After college, I worked for a number of different companies doing both finance and sales. I recommend working for multiple companies while you are young to get a chance to see different industries and see where your skill sets and interests match. I worked for a number of different industries before landing in Tech, and now I love it!
You can also continue learning about investing/finance either through your job or on the side. I took some free courses through investopedia and started investing at a young age. The mistakes I made in early investing have been incredible lessons as I've grown older... it's never too early to start investing!
Last piece of advice, the earlier you start looking into internships and opportunities outside of school the better. You will learn a ton about business and finance from classes but real world experience is always the most valuable. Make sure you have an up to date resume, LinkedIn, and cover letter and you can start reaching out to companies to get your foot in the door.
Best of luck!
-Ryan
See if your highschool/college offers business classes
Look for internships, it's never too early to start!
Go to career fairs and events to network with employers.
Start learning to invest on the side. Start small and grow your investments as you learn!
Getting into Business/Finance is an awesome career path and can be achieved in a number of different ways. I definitely recommend looking into the courses offered at your school and see if there are business classes that you can take to start learning.
I took some business classes at my high school and loved them. This led me to pursuing a business degree at a state school in Colorado. I started out with a general business degree and focused on finance as I progressed through my classes. Finance is an incredible path to take if you are looking to learn more about how a business is run and what it takes to make smart financial decisions. If you decide to take the College route, there are a ton of great resources at schools that will connect you with local businesses. Take advantage of these career fairs/opportunities to grow your network and find people that do what you want to do!
After college, I worked for a number of different companies doing both finance and sales. I recommend working for multiple companies while you are young to get a chance to see different industries and see where your skill sets and interests match. I worked for a number of different industries before landing in Tech, and now I love it!
You can also continue learning about investing/finance either through your job or on the side. I took some free courses through investopedia and started investing at a young age. The mistakes I made in early investing have been incredible lessons as I've grown older... it's never too early to start investing!
Last piece of advice, the earlier you start looking into internships and opportunities outside of school the better. You will learn a ton about business and finance from classes but real world experience is always the most valuable. Make sure you have an up to date resume, LinkedIn, and cover letter and you can start reaching out to companies to get your foot in the door.
Best of luck!
-Ryan
Ryan recommends the following next steps:
Vibhu Jain, PhD
Marketing
2
Answers
Seoul, South Korea
Updated
Vibhu’s Answer
Investing and Business are two different things, for Investing, one need to be strong in financial analysis as well understanding pulse of market. It require you to gain knowledge on how healthy a company is or how macroeconomics impact commodity market.
For Business - two critical things are required - A Business Case which include financials with right assumption and second is passion to give it your best
For Business - two critical things are required - A Business Case which include financials with right assumption and second is passion to give it your best
Matthew Cohen, MBA
Global Compliance
2
Answers
Miami, Florida
Updated
Matthew’s Answer
Hi Kyren, while others here are giving great advice on how to develop knowledge, let me give advice with some tools you can use now to help start your learning (for investing):
1) Have you heard of investopedia? Google this if not - this website is a database that teaches a lot about terms and concepts in the investing world. Get your feet wet and learn some basic concepts. They even have an option to set up a fake portfolio where you can practice investing in the stock market and see how you do over time. Pay attention to things (what increased or decreased over time? Why do you think it happened? How did their competitors do? Why? Any trends I see like where the price usually goes up or down as a pattern?). Curiosity will be your greatest motivator and teacher, so get in there and find out!
2) Have you done any reading yet on the subject? Try your local public library and get a few basic concept books. One recommendation I'll give you is "Rich Dad Poor Dad" by Robert Kiboyashi. This does a great job of teaching young people basic investment concepts (but don't be fooled, it relies heavily on real estate as an example, but it's not the only solution! Learn to thing about money in new concepts and it'll help you with investments in general!)
3) Business - Do you currently have a job somewhere? Maybe something like in retail or a restaurant? Start asking your managers questions beyond your role. Ask them to teach you about how to make a schedule, how to manage people/teams, how to document different activities (hopefully using Microsoft Office programs). Start developing these skills so that later on when you want to work in another business or start your own, you have background knowledge.
4) Start developing your Microsoft Office skills. SERIOUSLY. Start learning how to do more advanced formulas/functions in Excel - you wont regret it and may become someone dependable in a future business/office job. If you can learn to automate your day to day functions, your life and problems can be much more managable.
I hope any of this helps!
1) Have you heard of investopedia? Google this if not - this website is a database that teaches a lot about terms and concepts in the investing world. Get your feet wet and learn some basic concepts. They even have an option to set up a fake portfolio where you can practice investing in the stock market and see how you do over time. Pay attention to things (what increased or decreased over time? Why do you think it happened? How did their competitors do? Why? Any trends I see like where the price usually goes up or down as a pattern?). Curiosity will be your greatest motivator and teacher, so get in there and find out!
2) Have you done any reading yet on the subject? Try your local public library and get a few basic concept books. One recommendation I'll give you is "Rich Dad Poor Dad" by Robert Kiboyashi. This does a great job of teaching young people basic investment concepts (but don't be fooled, it relies heavily on real estate as an example, but it's not the only solution! Learn to thing about money in new concepts and it'll help you with investments in general!)
3) Business - Do you currently have a job somewhere? Maybe something like in retail or a restaurant? Start asking your managers questions beyond your role. Ask them to teach you about how to make a schedule, how to manage people/teams, how to document different activities (hopefully using Microsoft Office programs). Start developing these skills so that later on when you want to work in another business or start your own, you have background knowledge.
4) Start developing your Microsoft Office skills. SERIOUSLY. Start learning how to do more advanced formulas/functions in Excel - you wont regret it and may become someone dependable in a future business/office job. If you can learn to automate your day to day functions, your life and problems can be much more managable.
I hope any of this helps!
Sikawayi Williams
Counselor
227
Answers
Hampton, Virginia
Updated
Sikawayi’s Answer
Hello Kyren, thank you for your question. It sounds like you have a really good heart, and you want to do the right thing I will tell you being in business can change that about people, I would hate to see that happened to you so here's my suggestion. Why don't you look into opening some sort of non-profit organization this way you will be able to help people and the money you need will come from donations, not the people you're trying to help. Best of luck.