Before the bond matures, the bond holder receives interest payments as an exchange for lending the issuer money. Because these interest payments are a fixed cash sum paid at regular intervals, bonds are now also known as fixed income products.

Positions in Debt and Fixed Income

Work as a debt specialist can be widely varied. The job could include anything from originating to structuring or syndicating. On the legal side, you may find work at a law firm that deals with the legal requirements of submitting registration paperwork and other tasks. Origination specialists working in an investment bank are often senior capital markets bankers. These jobs involve traveling, often around the world, to meet clients so they can better establish their financing needs and make a case for them to offer business to their bank.

Positions in structuring usually involve more work in the office. Your job will be to create debt products to match a company's financial requirements. After that, people working on the syndication desk ready the products for sale. It's their responsibility to calculate the best interest range, assess demand, and arrange correct documentation.

Fixed income job titles could be Municipal Bond Sales, Global Fixed Income Product Specialist, Fixed Income Trader, Investment Grade Credit Investor, Capital Markets Credit Risk Analyst or Senior Structured Finance Specialist.

Some of the skills you'll find useful when working in fixed income include analytical ability and an aptitude for statistics, strong communications skills, multi-tasking and perseverance.