On ThE JOb
What Employers Want

eduCation
“a four-year degree is not a requirement, but nine-
tenths of the time, if someone has a degree, it’s a
competitive factor,” says myron kyser, a recruiter
for state farm Insurance in dallas. “financial
services classes are also helpful, especially those
that prepare you for financial planner certification.
That signifies job candidates are qualified to handle
financial matters.”
rosie ramirez, senior vice president and director
of human resources for Ibc bank of laredo, likes to
Take It to the
see specific coursework on an applicant’s resume
and the grades he or she received.
“when hiring for professional positions, we
request school transcripts be provided”—not only
to analyze the candidate’s course of study but also
to review the grades and the length of time it took
Bank
the candidate to obtain his or her college degree,
ramirez says. This is particularly important if the
applicant is a full-time student. “we find that a
review of the student’s transcripts may reveal
Count on a Career in finance to deliver
certain levels of aptitude and dedication to work
rewarding work.
during their years of study.”
extraCurriCular experienCe
“The more extracurricular activities a job candidate
participated in, the more flexible I am on the
I
magine walking up to a Texas state legislator there as a resource, to explain the technical
and telling him or her to rewrite a bill. Well, details of a given bill and possible financial
that’s not exactly what John Heleman does in consequences.”
gpa,” says kyser. “I want to see students who are
his job as chief revenue estimator for the Texas
involved—and that’s something they can do even in
Comptroller’s Office—the state’s bookkeeper selling Yourself
high school.”
and tax collector—but it’s pretty close. Heleman has reached one of the top positions
“we encourage community involvement with
“Sometimes a legislator authors a piece of in Finance, but his daily duties working with
all of our employees,” says ramirez. “we think it
legislation that would cost the State money both numbers and people are typical of those at
allows us to become better leaders and to help our
when he or she didn’t mean to,” says every level of job responsibilities in the cluster.
community grow and prosper. Hiring applicants
Heleman. “In cases where it is unclear, I “There are two facets to my job,” explains
who already have those values can only help
visit the legislator to determine if that is Charles Tuggle, who works as a financial
enhance their continued development with
intentional. If the legislator does not associate with a major national brokerage
our organization.”
intend to incur the costs in the bill, firm in Houston. “I have analytical skills for
I let him or her know that he or understanding securities and how they work,
proBlem-solving skills
she may need to restate portions but first and foremost, this is a sales job. I
The Texas comptroller’s office in
of the document to eliminate the have to convince people that, first, they need
austin evaluates the likely financial
excessive spending.” to invest for the future and, second, that they
effects of bills introduced in the state
need to invest with us.”
legislature. “I look for signs that an
Protecting the state As part of the sales process, Tuggle makes
applicant is a good problem solver,” says
Dealing with legislators is telephone calls, attends networking events
chief revenue estimator John Heleman.
just one part of Heleman’s job. and seminars, and registers a lot of “face-to-
The comptroller’s office presents
Understanding Texas law and face time.” In addition, he spends many hours
potential employees with a series of
protecting the State’s “bank account” doing paperwork, because Finance is a highly
questions to determine their problem-
is his major responsibility. regulated industry.
solving skills.
“While I spend time crunching There’s also customer service work to be
“It’s especially important here,” Heleman
numbers, I also spend a lot of time at done, such as maintaining accounts, reporting
says, “because we need to be able to read
the Capitol, meeting with legislators gains and losses for taxes, and recommending
a piece of legislation and understand its
and their staffs,” he says. “As a state changes to financial portfolios so that his
financial impact.”
employee, I’m not allowed to favor clients’ investments remain as sound as
one bill or another, however. I’m possible. New clients rarely come through the
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