There exist plenty of opportunities to begin a professional future in financial technology and join its increasingly global ecosystem: like going through our own courses or directly through a regional scene. Part of the allure of a prospective career in Fintech is in its perceived modernity and agile business models, especially when compared with so-called ‘immobile’ financial institutions built upon legacy systems and may be slow to swift operational changes. While we’ve previously discussed the growing importance of holding Fintech knowledge in financial careers, this all begs the question: what are the skills needed to have a successful career in Fintech?
The Fintech Skills Professionals Need
In the following sections of this article, we explore skills which are both in-demand and crucial if you are seeking a successful professional future in Fintech startups or the wider industry.
Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML)
The rising expectations of digitally-inclined consumers and aggressive smartphone market penetration has meant an emphasised demand for talent with the appropriate skills to fuel necessary changes in this period of rapid digital transformation. These multidisciplinary skills spread across Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning and cloud computing – and include experience with data science toolkits like Python & NumPy; and data visualisation tools such as D3.js & ggplot.
Supporting this notion, Andrei Kirilenko, Director of the Centre for Global Finance and Technology at Imperial College London, said the following in Chapter 2 of our foundation programme:
“One of the things that happened around the financial crisis is that three key technologies entered and come-to-be… These three technologies is what gave rise to Fintech: Mobile Phones; Blockchain; and Cloud Computing.”
Programming Skills
As with many other technology sectors, there is great demand in Fintech for talent with programming skills in Javascript, Java, C#, C++, Python & SQL.
Professionals who can develop websites and integrate mobile applications hold extreme value to an industry powered by usability and responsive design. Software engineers create necessary API (Application Programming Interfaces) for a business’ products & services, and the importance of this cannot be overstressed.
Additionally, proficient coders who also happen to have expertise in AI & Machine learning, as outlined above, are known as the “full-stack quant” – as coined by the Haas School of Business— University of California Berkeley.
Soft Skills
Despite popular perception, Fintech firms do not hire based on a candidate’s problem solving or technical skills alone. As emphasised by Gillian Cribbs in her late 2018 webinar with CFTE, Fintech companies also care about the portfolio of a potential hire’s soft skills. These include:
- Emotional Intelligence and Communication
- Creativity
- Flexibility and Industry Adaptability
The point being: twist some of your personal development inward and you may find the fact that you know no programming languages isn’t as big an issue as you thought.
How can I learn these Fintech Skills?
So, what now? Professionals have an obligation to seek the most comprehensive and accessible methods to survive in the changing global industry. This means an a learning approach that provides a clear framework of emerging technologies and their foundational concepts of Fintech. Few courses achieve this more comprehensively than CFTE’s Fintech Foundation.
Fintech Foundation Course by CFTE
Our no-prerequisite foundation course designed for novices and professionals who want to join the flourishing Fintech scene.
Join the Fintech revolution in Finance today!
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