I. Career Paths

B. Characteristics of Career Paths

1. Analytical vs. Conceptual. Career paths vary across a variety of dimensions. Some career paths call for a great deal of education and training while others do not. Some career paths require considerable interpersonal interaction while others may require a limited amount of such interaction. Still other career paths are analytical while others are conceptual.

   Analytical careers generally require significant mathematical ability and great attention to detail, precision and accuracy. In contrast, conceptual careers require the ability to think in the abstract. They require great creative ability and the capacity to deal with ambiguity.

   It is important to determine whether your abilities and preferences reside with conceptual career paths or analytical career paths. Any of the personality assessment instruments as described in the previous section can help you to determine where your preferences lie and toward what career path you would be most suited.

2. Extended vs. Dead-End. It is important to identify jobs that will provide opportunities for growth and advancement. Therefore, when choosing a particular job along your career path, it is important to identify jobs that provide training or help to develop skills and opportunities that lead to growth and advancement into other areas along the career path. Jobs that provide more limited growth or potential for advancement are often referred to as dead-end jobs.

3. One Employer vs. Multiple Employers. Not too many years ago, it was fairly common for an employee to remain with one or two employers throughout his or her career. Job stability and continuity was the rule, not the exception. This is not the case today, however. With increases in global competition, technology, communication, and transportation, workers are very mobile.

4. Salary and Compensation. Each year, the Association for Finance Professionals (AFP) conducts a comprehensive compensation study developed for financial professionals which features more than 150 questions addressing career development, compensation, and benefits. Summary tables from the 2000 Survey appear below. The Survey separated salary by Practitioner (those involved in corporate financial management) and Bankers.

Average Compensation of Practitioners (U.S. Dollars)

Titles	January 2000 Salary	1999 Cash Bonus	Deferred Compensation	Total Salary Compensation	Percentage Change in Salary
President/CEO	$ 170,317	$ 38,941	$ 8,833	$ 210,039	13.0%
Chief Financial Officer	142,898	33,548	6,733	175,870	9.3%
Vice President-Finance	134,265	36,767	8,375	175,047	10.8%
Treasurer	112,490	31,116	8,507	145,304	8.9%
Assistant VP-Finance	100,604	26,785	6,850	130,368	11.8%
Controller/Comptroller	102,544	20,812	4,153	123,828	7.2%
Assistant Controller/Comptroller	93,764	13,880	4,059	109,909	6.7%
Director	92,245	14,957	4,974	108,198	8.6%
Assistant Treasurer	81,523	11,220	4,515	94,100	8.0%
Manager	69,903	7,452	3,427	78,419	8.0%
Accountant	57,643	7,351	2,556	64,434	6.1%
Cash Manager	55,794	4,162	3,039	61,116	8.1%
Analyst	55,060	3,782	3,426	59,754	7.7%
Assistant Cash Manager	49,120	2,608	3,432	53,744	7.2%
Other	95,445	19,949	8,247	117,873	9.5%
Total	$ 93,782	$ 18,243	$ 5,434	$ 112,986	8.5%

Average Compensation of Bankers (U.S. Dollars)

Titles	January 2000 Salary	1999 Cash Bonus	Deferred Compensation	Total Salary Compensation	Percentage Change in Salary
Senior Operations Officer	$ 102,250	$ 29,500	$ 6,428	$ 133,942	9.3%
Director, Cash Management Product/Marketing Sales	80,240	20,165	6,409	104,218	9.3%
Director, Cash Management Services/Product Development	87,197	15,591	3,987	101,093	7.7%
Product Manager	78,297	15,072	3,287	96,789	8.5%
Account Executive	65,423	20,418	4,060	88,617	9.6%
Assistant Director, Cash Mgmt. Services/Product Development	63,763	8,277	4,838	75,318	10.9%
Operations Analyst	55,500	8,120	2,970	66,590	6.5%
Operations Officer	57,860	3,109	4,875	63,491	8.5%
Other	80,308	20,218	7,087	106,422	7.7%
Total	$ 75,419	$ 17,629	$ 5,498	$ 96,477	8.9%

Click here to view the complete results of the Association for Finance Professionals 2000 Annual Compensation survey.

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