Securities and financial sales representatives are often called stock brokers. But stocks are only one of the financial products they sell. Municipal bonds, options, annuities, and shares in federal home mortgage pools with names like 'Ginny Mae and' and 'Freddie Mac' are just a few of the more traditional products. There are also the many new financial instruments Wall Street has created in recent years.

The challenge is to help clients set financial goals and then select the investment products most likely to achieve them. Whether the client is a parent saving for college - or a college investing an endowment, companies, individuals, institutions, and governments everywhere rely on the knowledge and expertise of securities and financial services sales representatives.

Successful representatives must be well informed about economic and political trends. They must also have a clear understanding not only of the complexities of the products they sell but also of their legal responsibilities to their clients and the record-keeping procedures required by the government - all of which makes a college education increasingly important, particularly at larger firms.

In the end however, success in this profession usually depends more on personal qualities and an ability to sell than on an academic background.