Financial Analyst For A Concert Promoter
Career review from a person working in the job
How I Got The Job
My Education: BA, Banking and Finance, University of Georgia
My Prior Experience: When I graduated from college I got a job as a financial analyst for MCI but a year and a half later I decided to move to a company called Biolab. Shortly thereafter, Biolab was bought out by Great Lakes Chemical Corporation and I was downsized. I then moved to California where I got a job as a financial analyst with the company I currently work for.
My Job Profile
My Company: My company is the largest concert promoter in the world. We work with artists and pay them money to go on tour and we get the profits from those shows.
Job/Career Overview: As a financial analyst I mostly take data and try to use it to spot trends that will help us make better decisions in the future. Decisions my analysis can affect are what ticket prices, for example, we should charge for a U2 concert or how to change what we charge for entertainment at a venue that's lost money for the past several years.
More Insights: A common misconception about my job is that you don't actually have to be good at math to be a financial analyst. Paying close attention to detail is more important that actually being a math wizard. Even I have a calculator at my desk.
Love It? Hate It?
I rate this career 4 out of 10.
What I Love or Hate
The best part of the job is that I work in the entertainment business and the subject matter is interesting. I often get to go to concerts and sometimes even meet the musicians. I've met Dave Matthews, Steven Tyler of Aerosmith and Madonna.
The worst part of the job is it can sometimes be tedious. You look at large amounts of data all day at a computer screen and the hours tend to be long.
My Career Tips
Learn to use Microsoft Excel. 98% of the work I do is in Excel, and there is so much you can do with the program. My supervisors are always impressed when I can come up with new tools using Excel. Learn to be flexible. People change their minds all the time on how they want to see the data laid out. I can finish a project one day and then come in the next and have to start all over because management wants to see it a different way. You just have to remember that this is what they pay you for. My last tip would be to ALWAYS double check your work. Make sure your numbers tie out and your work is print-ready. Double checking will save you a lot of time and mistakes because everyone makes them.
