Biggest Challenges Faced by a Financial Analyst at Apple
Frank's biggest challenge as a Financial Analyst at Apple is "forecasting the anomalies and being able to predict what you haven't seen before," requiring the ability to "put a number on it" and defend that number despite the inherent uncertainty and multiple potential approaches to the problem. This highlights the analytical and persuasive skills needed for success in a finance career.
Forecasting, Financial Analysis, Problem-Solving, Decision-Making, Communication
Advizer Information
Name
Job Title
Company
Undergrad
Grad Programs
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Frank Gallagher
Financial Analyst
Apple
Cal Poly San Luis Obispo
N/A
Finance
Technology
Finance
Scholarship Recipient, Worked 20+ Hours in School, Greek Life Member
Video Highlights
1. The difficulty of accurately forecasting financial data, especially unforeseen events or anomalies.
2. The need to justify financial forecasts with solid reasoning and analysis, even when multiple approaches exist.
3. The importance of defending one's financial projections and being able to support them with strong arguments, even when facing disagreement from others.
Transcript
What is your biggest challenge in your current role as a financial associate?
My biggest challenge is honestly forecasting anomalies and predicting what you haven't seen before. Forecasting anything means you're never going to get it exactly right. In fact, the one certainty in a forecast is that it will be wrong.
I probably struggle the most with the technical aspect of my role. It's difficult when there are many things on the horizon for your program, product, business, or company, and you have to assign a number. There are always factors that can drive your forecast up or down.
Forecasting is the hardest because you receive feedback and have to put a number on it. You need to do the work and the analysis. There's always more than one way to arrive at an answer.
That's also what I like about finance: there isn't always a single right answer. You might believe you have the right answer and can argue or debate for it, but someone else might disagree. Your argument and your forecast have to hold water.
So, the hardest part is coming up with a forecast and then standing by it and defending it.
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