Using Economics and Strategic Analysis to Evolve Business Needs

“My path to corporate finance was not linear and it took me some time to discover what I truly enjoyed,” recalls Certificate Program in Financial Planning and Analysis graduate Briseida Uriarte.

After migrating to the United States, Briseida’s parents settled in California’s Inland Empire, where they raised their family in the agricultural community of Coachella. Briseida’s mother helped shape her daughter’s strengths, values and ambitions, and with her boundless support to advance her education, Briseida was determined to excel in school.

That support led Briseida to attend the University of California, San Diego (UCSD), and to originally consider engineering for her career. However, Briseida quickly realized that this particular field was not her calling. Instead, she paved a path toward earning a bachelor degree in international studies, with a concentration in economics. 

“My college experience and education opened doors to roles in university alumni relations to regulatory affairs—all which helped me develop skills relevant to financial management.”

As an example, Briseida points to her participation in a Spanish-immersion exchange program between UCSD and Universidad Carlos III de Madrid.

“I developed my business writing skills in Spanish,” Briseida relates. “The exposure to different cultures shaped an appreciation for inclusion. It helped me grow my network and contributed to getting my first job as a student worker at the International Faculty and Student Office at UCSD, which set things in motion to get where I am now.”

In 2015, her international business experience led to what was supposed to be a short stint in the San Francisco Bay Area: a six-month contract for the UC Berkeley International Office and a year at McCown and Evans, LLP.

“I left the Bay Area in the early summer of 2016 with the intent to pivot to finance and no job lined up,” she says. However, a return to the Bay Area a few months later was in her career cards.

“It was nerve-wracking to make that leap but I found that the most engaging part of my previous work had an element of data analysis.”

After deciding to change career paths, Briseida began searching for financial analyst roles in various industries and got the opportunity to interview with UC Berkeley’s University Development and Alumni Relations. “The responsibilities of the role aligned with some of the responsibilities that were common for financial analysts,” Briseida explains.

“I also enjoyed working in a university setting and was excited at the prospect of returning to the UC system. For about a year and a half, I developed my communication skills, supported operations related to gift management and conducted financial data analysis. This was an important experience because it highlighted which parts of the job I wanted to expand on and which ones I didn’t. I would continue developing my skills in data analysis but moved on to the regulatory industry.”

Making a Leap to Regulatory and Financial Reporting

In 2018, Briseida began working for the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco, where she now serves in a financial analyst role.

“I wanted to use my degree in international studies in economics so I found it natural to apply to the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco,” she says. “This associate regulatory data analyst role was in regulatory and monetary financial reporting and the responsibilities were dynamic.

“I was in college when the 2008 recession plagued the world economy and I followed the events that unfolded,” Briseida recalls. “The Dodd-Frank Act had put in place material restrictions on risk-taking activities in the financial industry, and by the time I applied to the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco, the Crapo Bill was about to loosen some of those restrictions. The nature of the regulatory data analyst role and the work I conducted with deposit and financial data from banks was directly related to my academic background in economics. My experience in this role was instrumental in developing a business acumen and advancing my data analysis skills.”

While in the regulatory role, Briseida began to look for positions within the organization that aligned even more with her interests and career vision.

“I wanted to pivot to a role in financial management and expand my future opportunities,” she says. “I was working with a great team and I had enjoyed collaborating with analysts from other Federal Reserve Banks, but ultimately the career objectives of a finance business partner were better aligned with my goals. The activities associated with budgeting and forecasting—such as building working relationships, navigating evolving business needs and, most importantly, strategic analysis—foster the dynamic responsibilities I look for in a role.”

In order to open herself up to more opportunities in the field, Briseida began taking courses in our Certificate Program in Financial Planning and Analysis.

“The financial analysis courses also helped expand my library of analytical approaches, and the modeling class in particular is one I recommend to anyone going into FP&A.”

“While I was learning the foundations of corporate budgets and strategies in the office, I was also establishing an academic background in finance. In 2021 and for the better part of 2022, my job was mostly remote, and so I took advantage of taking classes in the evenings. The UC system is the best in the country, and UC Berkeley Extension has a program with engaging coursework in FP&A.”
 

“Corporate Financial Analysis and Modeling with instructor Tee Lim had the most applicable content to my work tasks,” she says. “All the assignments required the use of Excel and they provided an opportunity to explore additional features, including ‘what-if analysis.’

“Enterprise Risk Management with instructor Giovanni Chin-A-Sen was an engaging course, and I recommend anyone interested in going into corporate finance should take this class. It provides a useful overview of risk scenarios and how large companies can be impacted when weak risk-management controls are put in place.”

While Briseida’s undergraduate degree helped her establish a background in economics, politics and analysis, it was the knowledge gained through our FP&A certificate that laid the foundation to navigating her company’s operating expenses.

“The case scenarios I examined in the risk management course highlighted how strategic decisions impact the success or failure of a business and the reputational cost,” she continues. “The accounting classes were instrumental in supporting my career in finance. Understanding accounting data facilitates adjusting forecasts and identifying expense trends.

“Finally, the financial analysis courses also helped expand my library of analytical approaches and the modeling class in particular is one I recommend to anyone going into FP&A.”

The courses in the financial planning and analysis certificate have expanded her corporate finance knowledge and shown her employer that she is serious about her career growth and focus on the data analysis aspect of finance.

“The common denominator in my financial planning courses I most enjoyed have been those with an element of data analysis. The state of the financial industry runs parallel to the state of the economy, so where there is correlation there is often causation. The material from economics courses such as data analysis and chart development had some similarities to the courses in accounting and finance. The primary difference being that the former is a broad discipline and the latter focuses on practical business operations.”

“I want to continue to advance in the FP&A field,” she states. “The rise of AI may change the landscape of finance and as that happens, I may consider additional academic training.”