Many people work in the finance field as analysts, actuaries, accountants and administrative assistants. As with most industries, many of these positions are full-time although some companies also employ people in part-time finance jobs. Generally, finance companies require part-time employees to have the same kind of academic and professional credentials as their full-time counterparts.
Colleges and universities offer a variety of finance related degree programs such as financial accounting, economics and mathematics as well as general finance degrees. Postings for part-time finance jobs often list a finance related degree as a pre-requisite. Additionally, many firms prefer to offer jobs to individuals who have prior experience working as accountants, bankers, insurance agents or in other similar types of occupations. Some companies also offer entry-level part-time finance jobs to college students who are currently enrolled in finance degrees.
Analysts study financial data and attempt to draw conclusions from economic trends and the performance of specific companies. Investment firms and media companies employ large numbers of analysts some of whom work on a part-time basis. Analysts employed by media firms may write articles for newspapers or journals a few times a week. In other instances, part-time analysts make occasional appearances on television to talk about aspects of the financial market. Part-time analysts employed by investment firms are generally tasked with assisting full-time analysts during busy periods such as at the end of the fiscal year or prior to the end of the quarter.
Insurance companies and investment firms employ actuaries, some of whom are part-time workers. These individuals are responsible for developing risk management strategies and calculating the likelihood of the firm losing money in certain circumstances. Additionally, actuaries review data to calculate the average life expectancy of different groups of people on behalf of insurance firms. Since some of this data changes very little over short periods of time, many companies employ actuaries in part-time finance jobs since there is insufficient work to keep full-time employees busy.
Many part-time finance jobs involve accounting or bookkeeping. In some countries, people filling these traditions have to be licensed or certified accountants. Junior bookkeeping clerks often work under the direction of a senior accountant in which case these positions are often entry-level roles. Small businesses with minimal accounting needs often employ part-time clerks while large companies usually employ full-time clerks and accountants.
Managers at finance firms often have administrative assistants. These positions are sometimes part-time jobs because the assistants only work when a manager is out of the office. In other instances, major companies employ two or more part-time assistants so as to avoid having to pay benefits to one full-time employee. Generally, people filling these part-time finance jobs must have prior secretarial experience while some employers prefer to hire college graduates.
