Randeen Espinoza ⋅ Woodbridge, VA U.S. Army, Sergeant First Class ⋅ 22 years served

Thanks Maggie and Jerry. I will look into those certifications and get with the university before graduation.

Thanks,
Randeen

Jerry Welsh ⋅ Middleville, MI Master Military Transition Advisor/HPS GPO ⋅ 30 years experience

I do believe that Maggie has done a good job of summing it up. The CFP®, CeFT® would be valuable if not required in the financial consulting field, but if you look at the business side the CPA is a must for many corporate positions. I would spend some time researching the industry through the university and also conducting Informational Interviews with people in a variety of financial fields. Keep in mind when preparing your resume and LI profile, many of the accomplishments in the logistics field have been financial in nature. You may want to push the university to see what connections they have for internships. These are wonderful ways to get some experience, but also start to network. Thanks for your service and God Bless. Here are a couple of articles on career research and LI profiles.
https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/come-prepared-transition-process-gap-between-civilian-jerry-welsh/
https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/when-more-right-jerry-welsh/

Maggie DeShazor ⋅ Washington, DC Deloitte ⋅ 8 years experience

Hi Randeen -

Because the financial industry is so broad, and the application of financial skills can be applied in a number of different ways and positions, I don't want to give you a few certifications and have that be the end-all. There are obviously the big ones in finance, such as the Certified Financial Analyst (CFA) and Certified Financial Planner (CFP), and both are very valuable - but even those may not be as necessary or AS valuable as a certification more specific to the role you want to do. If you are all in on the CFA or CFP, those are commonly recognized, but I would also recommend looking at the different fields and job positions in the financial industry and what certifications are listed in the required and preferred skills/characteristics so you can target your certifications to the work you want to do.

I hope this helps! Because there are so many certifications out there, I do think focusing efforts to those for jobs you would actively pursue will help you narrow your efforts.

Thank you for your service!
Maggie