Mr. Bikash Nangalia graduated from KIAMS in 2008 and is currently is working as a Financial Analyst at Oracle India Pvt Ltd. Despite a busy schedule, he spoke to us about his current job, future aspirations and the skills required to survive in the finance sector.

  • As a Financial Analyst, what are the different things you could be working on, on a typical day?

 Forecasting, variance analysis, management reporting and allied ad hoc reporting. There is also a need to track the organizational changes that might affect the financials. Apart from these day-to-day activities, there are quarterly financial reviews and annual budgeting activities that need to be done.

  • Three things you like/dislike about your profession.

 What I like about my profession is the profile/job itself. There are certain things about the corporate world which I don’t like but they’re not specific to my profession per se.

  • What are the skills required to be an analyst in an IT firm?

 Typically, a financial analyst would mention strong math, analytical and problem-solving skills along with good communication skills, industry knowledge (at least basic knowledge) and excel expertise as the skills required. In fact, these are what any IT company would expect from an analyst.

But in addition to these, I believe, one should also have good networking skills — to be able to work with different teams — and presentation skills (for presenting analysis/information to management or team members) to have an edge over the others and be more efficient and effective in their work.

  • Where do you see yourself five years down the line?

 I see myself capitalizing on my knowledge to manage a team of financial analysts, managing projects related to process improvement and subsequently, a couple of steps closer to my dream.