The Finance Career Cluster encompasses careers that focus on money and asset management, such as banking, insurance, tax preparation, accounting, financial planning, investing, and risk management. Careers in this field require problem-solving, organization, and communication skills.

Career Pathways

The Finance Career Cluster has four career pathways:

• Banking and Related Services
• Business Financial Management
• Financial and Investment Planning
• Insurance Services

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Teacher Resources

To help students learn more about careers in finance, download and distribute the Finance College and Career Planning Guide. The guide makes an excellent critical reading assignment for students in this career cluster.

The Finance Career Cluster does not have a practicum course or TEKS. If your students want to participate in a work-based learning (WBL) experience in the field of finance, use the Practicum in Business Management, which was covered in Lesson 11.4 of this training.

Incorporate appropriate TEKS from the Practicum in Business Management course or use TEKS from the student's previous courses or from courses that match the work site learning experience. For example, to create a training plan for WBL experience at a bank, include TEKS from Banking and Financial Services. To create one for a finance WBL experience at a manufacturing company, use TEKS from Manufacturing.

For a finance-related practicum, you should use the Practicum in Business Management. It is recommended that students be in grade 12 and have completed the following::

• Touch System Data Entry
• Principles of Business, Marketing and Finance

In addition, students must complete at least one of the following Finance courses:

• Accounting I
• Banking and Financial Services
• Securities and Investments
• Insurance Operations
• Financial Analysis
• Statistics and Risk Management

You should always discuss safety and legal considerations with each training sponsor. For students participating in work-based learning experiences in the Finance Career Cluster, they will be similar to those in Business Management and Administration. Typically, the responsibilities are organized as follows:

• Training sponsors normally provide job-specific safety training.
• Teacher-coordinators are responsible for providing general safety instruction and for ensuring that all training takes place according to schedule.

In Section 5, you learned about and bookmarked Child Labor Bulletin No. 101 (WH-1330) and Child Labor Bulletin No. 102 (WH-1295). You may want to review hazardous occupations related to careers in finance to refresh your memory. In addition, consider assigning students to research and report on specific safety and legal considerations for their job or industry.

Pre-Employment Requirements

For occupations in the Finance Career Cluster, pre-employment requirements for student workers can vary widely. Some of the most common are

• background checks:
• security clearances:
• fingerprinting:
• OSHA 10-hour training for general industry: and
• non-disclosure agreements regarding proprietary information.

Before a student begins working at their training station, employers in the financial sector may require occupation-specific training on topics, such as

• identify theft prevention and consequences;
• money handling procedures; and
• security and safety procedures.

To promote educational excellence in career and technical education, the Texas Education Agency (TEA) launched the Texas CTE Resource Center.

 

 

 

 

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Take a moment to bookmark the Texas CTE Resource Center website. Later, be sure to explore curriculum guidelines and instructional resources for the Finance Career Cluster.

Career and technical student organizations (CTSOs) provide students with additional opportunities to acquire and demonstrate skills and abilities related to their chosen career field.

There are several CTSOs related to careers in finance. Become familiar with them to better help finance students find the organization that best meets their interests.

Your students can also use any of the nine state-recognized CTSOs listed in Section 10.

 

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Take a few moments to bookmark the CTSO websites below to explore later. 

Business Professionals of America (BPA)
Future Business Leaders of America (FBLA)
DECA, Texas Association

 

 

Get involved in at least one CTE professional association. They are excellent sources of cluster-specific teaching tools, ideas, networking, and mentors.

The professional associations that most closely relate to finance are the Texas Business and Technology Educators Association (TBTEA) and Marketing Educators of Texas. You may also want to consider membership in other CTE professional associations recognized by the Texas Education Agency (TEA). 

 

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Take a moment to bookmark the links to explore later.

Texas Business and Technology Educators Association (TBTEA)
Marketing Educators of Texas

View the entire list of TEA-recognized state and national CTE professional associations at the link below.

Professional Associations for CTE Educators