Career family
Business, Finance & Accounting
Keeping organisations’ money, people and operations in order: accounting, banking, finance, HR and management.
- Mainly Organising & Managing Detail
- Also Leading & Enterprising
- Also Investigating & Solving
What the work involves
A closer look.
Work centres on numbers, records, deadlines and rules, plus explaining information to colleagues and clients. Professional exams are common and can be taken alongside work.
Typical roles
- Accountant or auditor
- Bank officer
- Financial analyst
- Tax officer
- Insurance officer
- Human resources officer
- Business or operations analyst
- Administrator
Entry routes in Nigeria
- Commercial subjects at SSCE help (Economics, Accounting, Commerce, Maths)
- Degrees or HNDs in accounting, banking and finance, economics, business administration or related fields
- Professional qualifications, for example ICAN or ANAN for accounting, CIBN for banking and CIPM for HR
- Graduate trainee schemes in banks, firms and corporates
Requirements change. Always verify with the official body, JAMB or the institution.
Skills that matter
- Numbers and spreadsheets
- Accuracy and honesty with records
- Clear reports and explanations
- Working to deadlines
- Understanding how businesses make money
By life stage
Where you could start.
Secondary school
Often-linked SSCE stream: Commercial. Check with your school.
Undergraduate
Accounting, banking and finance, economics, business administration, actuarial science, insurance. Internships: banks, audit firms, finance teams.
Fresh graduate
Graduate trainee, audit associate, accounts officer, bank teller or customer service, HR assistant.
Young professional
People move in from maths, economics, sales and operations, often by taking professional exams while working.
Vocational routes, entrepreneurship, public service and further study are all valid paths. We don’t show salaries or employment rates without a dated, verified source.
Ask a practitioner
Questions to ask.
Use these in a 15–20 minute conversation with someone who works in this family.
- What does a normal week look like for you?
- What do you enjoy most about the work, and what is hardest?
- How did you get into this field? Were there other routes you could have taken?
- Which subjects, courses or qualifications really matter, and which matter less than people think?
- What skills do you use every day that school didn’t teach you?
- What do people misunderstand about your job?
- If you were starting today, what would you do first?
- Who else should I talk to?
Test it
Ways to check if it suits you
Informational conversation
Talk to one person who does the work, using the questions on this page.
Job description review
Read three real adverts for roles in this family and list the requirements that keep coming up.
Small project
Try a small piece of the work yourself, then reflect on whether you enjoyed it.
Short course
Take a free or low-cost introductory course to test your interest before committing.
Job shadow or workplace visit
Spend a few hours watching the work happen. CPI arranges visits for participants.
Mentor conversation
Discuss what you have found with a mentor or coach.
Official qualification research
Check requirements with the professional body, JAMB, the institution or the employer directly.
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ExploreWant to know if this fits you?
Take the self-assessment, then use your roadmap to test this direction.