If your education and work experience have given you solid skills in diligence, quantitative analysis, computer software and communication, then you’re well on your way to becoming a highly valued member of the workforce. But why would a career in Credit Risk be a good choice over the myriad of other jobs that would welcome someone with those particular skills? Here are a few compelling reasons: It’s a very lucrative professionWith a huge proportion of your life taken up by work, nobody should do a job purely for the money. The monthly paycheck may look nice on your bank balance, but there’s a lot to be said for being in a job that makes you happy, not just rich.There’s no denying that a Credit Risk Analyst salary is a good one, with research from payscale.com suggesting the average salary sits at just over $80,000 with bonuses potentially adding another $10,000 to that figure. The benefits that come with that aren’t to be sniffed at either. With companies competing for the best talent, they need to be come up with a range of added extras to tempt candidates including holiday allocations well above average, private medical insurance and flexible work patterns. It’s a job that’s based on dataAfter the industrial age and the technological age, now many analysts say we’re now living in the data age. Never before has it been easier to collect, collate and cross-reference information from a vast number of sources. You no longer need to rely on a basic credit report and salary history to make a sound assessment of creditworthiness. Many roles have been revolutionized by so-called ‘Big Data’ and credit risk jobs are no different. It’s a role that has always been governed by information, and the more you have at your disposal, the better decisions you’ll be able to make and the better strategies you’ll be able to put together. There’s a positive job outlookA study from Oxford University suggests Credit Analyst sits 26th on a list of roles most at risk from automation, sitting just above Parts Salespersons and below Milling Machine Setters. However, contrary to this and other reports that AI is going to make all our jobs redundant in the not-too-distant future, Credit Risk is an area that’s actually expected to grow; data from the US Bureau of Labor Statistics suggest an increase of 10% between 2012 and 2022. While computers can do an excellent job of presenting data, there’s a huge amount of human interpretation that needs to be done to deliver reasoned and thorough insight – humans may not be perfect, but nobody wants to put a potential repeat of the 2008 economic meltdown in the hands of machines. There’s an excellent career pathMany of those sitting in boardrooms in some of the country’s biggest companies will have begun their careers in Credit Risk. It’s a position that gives you an excellent insight into the interests of the company you’re working for as well as the typical applicants you’re assessing. Whether you decide to climb the credit risk ladder to more senior finance positions or branch out into sales or marketing functions, this grounding of business acumen and customer insight is sure to stand you in good stead. For the latest opportunities at Harnham, take a look at our credit risk jobs here