Finance Jobs in Seattle: How to Find Them and Get the Offer

While Seattle may not be as famous for its financial industry as New York or California, it doesn’t mean job opportunities aren’t out there. Look at any of the recruitment sites or do a basic online search and you’ll find plenty of jobs, from entry-level to senior staff and everything in between.

In Seattle, a large area of growth has been in the Fintech industry. Over the past five years, Seattle’s Fintech sector has raised $703 million in funding. Some predict Fintech will keep transforming the finance sector with companies like Stripe, Credit Karma, and Square Inc. being among the major players.

If the city’s efforts are successful to turn Seattle into a Californian-style financial hub, then there may be many more finance job opportunities in the future. Meanwhile, where do you look for a job in finance and improve your chances of getting a job offer?

• Find companies online. The Internet has made finding vacancies easier than ever before. If a local company interests you, check their website to see if they have any vacancies. If there aren’t any jobs advertised, you can send a speculative resume or sign up for job alerts.
  
  
• Recruitment agencies. Recruitment agencies offer a large selection of finance positions in Seattle. These vary from entry-level and data analysis jobs, to more experienced roles like senior financial analysts.
  
  
• LinkedIn. The digital age has taken networking online. LinkedIn offers networking opportunities, including the Seattle Young Professionals group. The group is open to people in the accounting and finance industries. It also holds community events you can get involved in.
  
  
• Networking groups. You may find that networking with others in the finance industry opens up some doors of opportunity. You could do this online with groups like the LinkedIn one mentioned above, or try Meet Up. They have a good list of local finance groups that meet regularly in the Seattle area.
  
  
• Job fairs. Job fairs give you the chance to meet business representatives and local employers. They also allow you to share your resume, find out more about the company, ask about online recruitment, and set up interviews. There are several financial job fairs held every year in Seattle. These include fairs hosted by National Career Fairs and the Seattle Job Fair & Career Fair. This latter fair is held quarterly and offers finance opportunities, among others.

You have seconds to impress your potential employer with your resume. This means creating a resume that scans easily, shows your skills at a glance, and that markets you effectively. The following tips will tell you how to do this.

• Sell yourself. Many of us are uncomfortable with highlighting our abilities, but your resume is not the time to hold back. Just like you, your potential employer will have aims and ambitions. It’s up to you to convince the employer that you can help their company achieve its goals. Ask yourself what skills you have that the employer is looking for, and how can you use them?

• Create an eye-catching headline - If you can’t grab the employer’s attention with a headline, then chances are you won’t grab their attention at all. Think of an eye-popping — but appropriate — statement as your opening line on your resume.

• Expert summary. Think of all the skills you have that can help your employer, and then detail them in a summary at the top of your resume. Be sure that your summary makes an impact.

Once you’ve done all that, you can then go into your work history. View some good examples of finance resumes here.

You should prepare yourself for a finance interview in the same way you would for any job, so this will include some research. This could mean looking up any recent news stories about the company, or reading company brochures.

Also, if you’re taking your resume with you, maybe highlight the sections you consider most important, so you don’t forget them.

During the interview, the interviewer is likely to ask questions to assess your hard skills, also known as technical skills. Additionally, they’ll want to know about your soft skills, or interpersonal skills. This will give the employer a better idea of your personality and how you may perform as a team member.

However, there will be other areas of the interview that may be different from the average. You’ll need to be ready to highlight your suitability for the job by showing your financial expertise. This may include detailing the following:

Excel is vital to your financial career. At an interview, you’ll want to show that you know your way around the program. If it’s been a while since you’ve used Excel, or if you’re just starting out, take some time to understand it better, and make sure you’re up to date with any recent changes. If you have a good knowledge of macros, pivot tables, and cash flow management in Excel, highlight this too.

Ahead of the interview, prepare some examples of your past work with Excel, and be ready to take an Excel test.

Workers in the financial sector need to be up to date on industry trends, technology, and regulations. As all these things can change quickly, make sure you’re well-read on them ahead of the interview. Also, be ready to answer questions about current financial news and how it may affect the industry.

You’ll be up against many other applications, so you will need something that makes you stand out from your competition. This is much easier if you’ve worked in the financial industry for a while and have a list of achievements that you can talk about.

If you have a limited work history, think about the other ways you could show your worth. For instance, perhaps you excel at PowerPoint presentations or design work.

The interviewer will also ask industry-specific questions that assess your suitability for a financial job. These questions may vary from company to company. However, according to experts, there are four common questions asked during finance interviews. They include:

• Why do you want to work in the financial industry?
• What achievement are you most proud of in the last 12 months, and why?
• Has anyone asked you to do something unethical or to bend the rules? Explain how you managed the situation.
• What are your extracurricular activities, and why are you passionate about them?

Other questions will test your financial know-how. The Corporate Finance Institute has a detailed list of some questions you may face. Some notable questions include:

• What is working capital?
• Why would two companies merge?
• What makes a good financial model?

As you may expect, the highest paying jobs belong to the most senior staff. Chief executives, or the CEO, CTO, CRO, CFO, and COO, earn salaries that range from $156,000 to $200,000 a year.

There are plenty of entry-level jobs and admin positions that can help you get your foot on the ladder. However, if you want something to aim for, the average financial salary in Seattle, Washington, is $63,063 a year.

Even though Seattle is not a major financial hub, there are still hundreds, if not thousands of opportunities out there.

Perhaps you’re looking to get your first big break as an entry-level worker or intern. Or maybe you’re further up the career ladder and are looking for a bigger challenge. Either way, you’ve got many opportunities open to you and perhaps a rewarding career in finance ahead.