Soft skills are incredibly important in any field, and corporate finance is no exception to this. Here are some examples.

If you're seeking to break into finance as a fresh graduate, there are some basic financial skills that you need to establish to be able to do the job successfully. If you choose to choose a position that needs sophisticated numeracy expertise, there are some core technical skills that you must have. For instance, having a deep understanding of accountancy and being competent at using advanced accounting tools and software is non-negotiable. This is essential for common tasks like budgeting and financial analysis. Financial reporting is also one of the more valuable financial skills to learn as you will be required to put together detailed and specialised reports like financial statements and forecasts. Data management and modelling is also a key skill that finance professionals usually need no matter what niche they specialise in. This is simply because the market is data-centric, and companies like St James's Place are most likely to validate this.

Whether you're a project supervisor or the CFO of a hedge fund, there are soft financial skills that you must concentrate on if you wish to succeed in your role. Technical and industry-specific skills are essential but these can be made worthless if they're not supplemented with effective soft skills. In this context, one of the most crucial abilities to establish is problem resolving. This applies to clash resolution within the organisation and also the ability to come up with creative solutions externally to facilitate deal-making. Having the capability to break out of bottlenecks and advancing resolutions that please all parties is vital to keeping strong working relationships and creating new business. Being a collaborative person, especially if you're in a management position, will boost your group's capacity for innovation. Encouraging originalities will develop the space for your reports to innovate, and companies like Axa are likely to concur.

Getting into a new market is constantly difficult but the task can be made even harder when you target extremely competitive industries. Corporate finance, for example, is a field that just brings in the very best and brightest, implying that you have to show that you have more value to the companies you apply for to be considered. In order for you to stand out from the masses, there are some finance skills employers look for and developing these will considerably increase your possibilities of securing your dream job. Flexibility is among the most in-demand skills in finance, especially for individuals who target entry-level roles. This is since it shows to companies that you can add value to different areas of the company, which will make you a more attractive prospect. Firms like Man Group would also concur that having great people skills is important as it demonstrates that you can quickly fit into any group.