Financial Specialist, All Other Career Assessment
The catch-all group for finance jobs with no category of their own
Welcome
This one is different. "Financial Specialists, All Other" is not a single job. It is the leftover bin the government uses for finance jobs that do not fit any of its other codes.
You cannot apply for this title. But the pay and projection numbers here tell you something useful, and the jobs inside it are real. You will explore what they are.
This takes about 15 minutes.
What is a Financial Specialist, All Other?
When the government counts jobs, every job gets a code. Jobs that do not match any specific code land in an All Other category. O*NET says plainly that "All Other" titles cover occupations with a wide range of characteristics that do not fit one of the detailed categories. Under this code O*NET does list two real specialties: Financial Quantitative Analysts, who build math models of investments and risk, and Fraud Examiners, Investigators, and Analysts, who look into suspected financial crimes. O*NET reports that finance and insurance companies and government employ most of these workers.
The Reality: Here is the honest part. You will never see a job posting that says "Financial Specialist, All Other." Employers post real titles: fraud analyst, compliance analyst, treasury analyst, trust officer, quantitative analyst, financial systems analyst. Because it is a mixed bag, the wage numbers here are an average of very different jobs and should be treated as a rough guide, not a promise. North Dakota shows only about 190 of these workers and about 20 openings a year. Use this page to learn what exists, then go research the specific title that interests you.
Your Responsibilities:
- Analyze financial data that does not fit a standard job
- Look into suspected fraud or unusual transactions (fraud examiner work)
- Build math models of investment risk (quantitative analyst work)
- Check that a company follows financial laws and rules
- Manage a company's cash, banking, and short-term investments
- Administer trust accounts and estates for a bank
- Write reports and explain findings to managers
- Keep confidential financial information secure
You do the finance work nobody else at the company knows how to do.
A Day in the Life
8:00 AM — Run yesterday's flagged transactions through the fraud alert system.
9:00 AM — Review 20 alerts. Most are fine. Two look wrong.
10:00 AM — Pull the account history on the two and build a timeline.
11:30 AM — Call the branch that opened one of the accounts.
12:00 PM — Lunch.
1:00 PM — Write a case summary for the compliance officer.
3:00 PM — Work on the quarterly report showing fraud trends.
4:30 PM — Take a training module on new anti-money-laundering rules.
This is one example. A treasury analyst or a trust officer would have a very different day.
Training in North Dakota
Almost all of these jobs want a bachelor's degree in a money field. Because this is a mixed group, there is no one training path. What the jobs share is a four-year degree in accounting, finance, economics, business, or sometimes math or computer science, plus experience in a bank or company. The quantitative side wants heavy math. The fraud side wants investigation skills.
Training Pathways:
- Bachelor's in finance, accounting, or economics (4 years): The broadest door. It fits compliance, treasury, trust, and fraud analysis work.
- Bachelor's plus a math-heavy focus (4 years): Add statistics, data analytics, and programming if the quantitative analyst side interests you. This is the hardest and best-paid corner of this group.
- Two-year degree plus a bank job, then finish the bachelor's (4 to 6 years): Start as a teller, clerk, or bookkeeper, get into the fraud or compliance department, and finish the degree while you work. Many employers help pay.
Where to Train in North Dakota:
- University of North Dakota (Grand Forks) — Banking and Financial Economics, BBA, 120 credits, on campus or online. UND names bank examiner, credit analyst, budget analyst, and financial analyst as career outcomes — und.edu
- University of North Dakota (Grand Forks) — Finance, BBA, 120 credits, on campus or 100% online — und.edu
- North Dakota State University (Fargo) — Finance, BS, 120 credits, including investments, derivatives, and financial institutions management — catalog.ndsu.edu
- Minot State University (Minot) — Finance, BS, 120 credits, on campus. Minot State lists claims adjuster and examiner and insurance underwriter among its outcomes — minotstateu.edu
- Bismarck State College (Bismarck) — Financial Technologies, AAS, online or on campus, with a stackable Data Analytics certificate, leading into BSC's Bachelor of Applied Science in Finance — catalog.bismarckstate.edu
Before You Start: High school diploma or GED, then a bachelor's degree for nearly all of these jobs. Strong math for the quantitative side. Careful reading and clear writing for the fraud and compliance side. Expect a background check for any job inside a bank.
Tip: Start with financial aid, scholarships, and any help an employer offers — that is where the money starts. After that, ask a career counselor or Job Service North Dakota whether WIOA or other programs can help with what is left over, like training, tools, work boots, or exam fees. What can be paid for depends on the program and on your own situation, so ask before you sign up rather than after. Registered apprenticeships let you earn a paycheck while you learn — see jobsnd.com/job-seeker/apprenticeships for ND programs.
Certification & Licensing
No single license. Which credential helps depends entirely on which job you pick. Because this is a catch-all, there is nothing you can get that covers all of it. Pick the specific job first, then the credential that goes with it.
Credentials That Fit Different Jobs in This Group:
- No license required for most of these jobs. Employers care about the degree and your experience
- Certified Fraud Examiner (CFE) — for the fraud investigation side. Join the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners as an Associate Member, earn at least 40 points to sit for the exam and 50 to be certified (a bachelor's degree counts as 40 points, and two years of work experience can substitute for each year of college you did not finish), have two years of fraud-related experience, pass the exam, and agree to the Code of Professional Ethics (acfe.com)
- The CFE exam — covers fraud schemes and financial crimes, fraud investigations and legal issues, and fraud prevention and deterrence (acfe.com)
- CPA — for jobs that touch financial reporting. A separate state license from the North Dakota State Board of Accountancy (ndsba.nd.gov)
- FINRA exams — needed only if the job involves securities. The SIE can be taken by anyone 18 or older with no sponsor, but the Series 6 and Series 7 require sponsorship by a FINRA member firm (finra.org)
- Section 19 (working at an insured bank) — if the job is inside an FDIC-insured bank, federal law bars people convicted of a criminal offense involving dishonesty, breach of trust, or money laundering, or who entered a pretrial diversion for one, from working there without FDIC consent. The Fair Hiring in Banking Act of 2022 removed many older, youthful, minor, and expunged or sealed offenses from that rule, some minor offenses now receive automatic consent with no application, and the FDIC has said people denied before may reapply under the new standards (fdic.gov)
The Exams: It depends on the job. The CFE exam is the one most often tied to this group, and it covers three areas. Securities work adds FINRA exams. Accounting-heavy work may point you toward the CPA exam.
Cost: ACFE membership and CFE exam fees are set by the ACFE; check acfe.com for current amounts. FINRA lists the SIE at $100 and the Series 7 at $395. Your degree remains the largest cost.
Keeping It Current: CFEs keep their certification with continuing education set by the ACFE. CPAs renew through the state board. FINRA registrations require ongoing continuing education.
Salary & Job Outlook
North Dakota Financial Specialist, All Other Pay (May 2025):
- Starting out (bottom 10–25%): $23.59–$28.63/hour ($49,070–$59,550/year)
- Middle (median — half earn more, half earn less): $37.63/hour ($78,260/year)
- Experienced (top 25–10%): $46.86–$55.39/hour ($97,470–$115,210/year)
What that means: Read this table as a rough middle of many different jobs blended together, not as the pay for one job. The middle North Dakota worker in this group earns about $37.63 an hour, or about $78,260 a year, close to the US middle of $38.99. The sample is small, about 190 people statewide, so these numbers can move a lot from year to year. A fraud analyst, a treasury analyst, and a quantitative analyst are all counted here and can be paid very differently. Once you pick a specific job title, look up wages for that title instead of this one.
Jobs in North Dakota: About 190 people do this work in ND today. By 2034, that should be about 200 (about 3% growth). Expect about 20 job openings every year in ND from growth and people retiring or changing jobs. Across the U.S., the change is about 3% growth — average.
Outlook: Steady but small, and growing at about the same rate as the country. About 20 openings a year in North Dakota. The fraud and compliance corners of this group are the ones hiring most, because banks keep adding monitoring staff.
Who Hires in ND: O*NET reports that finance and insurance companies and government employ most workers in this group. In North Dakota that means banks, credit unions, insurance companies, state agencies, and larger employers with their own treasury or compliance departments.
Work Setting: An office or a home office, at a computer. Some fraud work involves interviews and coordinating with law enforcement.
Physical Demands: Low. Sitting and screen work. Eye and back strain are the real issues, and a good chair and screen software are common and reasonable requests.
Sources: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, North Dakota, May 2025 (SOC 13-2099); North Dakota and U.S. long-term employment projections 2024–2034, via O*NET OnLine. Numbers are rounded.
Where This Leads
Path 1: Bank Clerk or Teller — A common way in with no degree.
Path 2: Fraud Analyst — Review flagged transactions and build cases.
Path 3: Compliance Analyst — Check that the company follows financial law.
Path 4: Treasury or Trust Analyst — Manage a company's cash or a bank's trust accounts.
Path 5: Certified Fraud Examiner — The credential for the investigation side.
Path 6: Financial Quantitative Analyst — Build risk and investment models. Heavy math.
The Real Talk
What's Great:
- Several very different jobs to choose from
- Solid pay near the national middle
- Fraud and compliance work is growing
- Skills transfer between industries
- Mostly steady office schedules
- You can specialize and stand out
What's Hard:
- You cannot apply for this title directly
- Wage numbers blend unlike jobs
- Very few positions in the state
- Most need a bachelor's degree
- Background checks for bank jobs
- You must research a specific title yourself
Be Honest: Are you willing to do the extra research to find the specific job title you want? Can you plan for a four-year degree? Does detailed, quiet analysis work suit you better than sales?