Career in Microfinance: Best Jobs Opportunities in Microfinance

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How You Can Build Career in Microfinance

Sustainable access to microfinance helps alleviate poverty by generating income, creating jobs, allowing children to go to school, enabling families to obtain health care and empowering people to make choices that best serve their needs.”— Kofi Annan, Former U.N. Secretary-General

What is microfinance

The concept of microfinance was first originated as a measure to bring some relief to those poor people who did not have any access to financial assistance in the form of small loans. The most important reason behind introduction of microfinance was the lack or low access of the poor to credit from the financial institutions. Initially, it started as a non-profit making institution but later profit became a part of it.

Microfinance is a provision under which small loans are made available to very poor families or low-income clients, including consumers and the self-employed, having no access to financial institutions. It is done with the objective to help them to get engaged in productive and some income-generating activities, which could lead to production and improvement in living standards. In broader terms, it is a movement whose aim is to provide the poor a permanent access to an appropriate range of high quality financial services, including not just credit but also facilities like savings, insurance and fund transfers.

Scope in Microfinance

Microfinance covers a variety of products and services such as insurance, credit, savings and money transfer. Microfinance Institutions (MFIs) have come up for reaching out to low income client segments. The areas of consumer finance, primarily auto finance, housing finance, and consumer durable finance, have emerged as high growth areas.

Career Prospects in Microfinance

There is always a need for dedicated people in microfinance who can work to improve the living conditions of the poor by providing sources for earning their livelihood. A career in microfinance is not only a career with lucrative incentives and future prospects but also an opportunity to work for a social cause.

The emergence of Microfinance Institutions (MFIs) has also helped people to make a career in microfinance. Jobs are available at three levels for undergraduate, graduate and professionals. The minimum qualification required to be a field staff is 10+2 pass. However, graduates are most preferred. For a higher management position you need to have a MBA degree. The undergraduate individuals are appointed at the entry level, middle level or executive level. At the entry level, you can start as a field credit assistant. After that you can become a senior field credit assistant, manager, area manager, deputy divisional manager, divisional manager and go up to vice president’s position.

Categories in Microfinance

The different Models of Microfinance are Self-help groups (SHGs): (i) promoted and financed by microfinance institutions (ii) promoted by government organizations and financed by banks, (iii) promoted and financed through Non-government organizations by raising bank loans, (iv) individuals directly financed by microfinance institutions, (v) SHGs promoted by NGOs/Societies/other organizations and financed by Microfinance Institutions.

Skills required in Microfinance

Good communication skills, knowledge about social, economic and cultural details of the area where one wants to operate, with an urge for growth. You must know about the microfinance and how microfinance is regulated by the Reserve Bank of India.

Education Needed in Microfinance

To make a career in this field, you must be at least 10+2. After completion of your graduation degree, you can go for MBA to acquire managerial positions in this field.

Remuneration in Microfinance

The field staff gets around Rs. 10,000 p.m with incentives/bonuses, Area managers earns around Rs. 6 lacs p.a. and officers at senior positions are paid at par with mainstream industry.

Final Thought To Make Career in Microfinance

With the growth of microfinance institutions and many other organizations engaged in the areas of development issues joining microfinance and international financial institutions becoming part of different microfinance institutions, career opportunities will hopefully grow. As the area of microfinance has increased ever since one can think to make career in microfinance now-a-days.

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