After graduating from Boston University School of Management in May, 2004, I weighed several factors before deciding on a job. In addition to seeking a position in as a financial analyst with a growing company, I wanted a balance between work and life.

My job at Intel in operations finance offers all of that and more. Typically, I work 45 to 50 hours a week as a senior product line analyst (PLA) for Intel's Enterprise Platforms & Services Division, which designs and builds server boards and systems building blocks for customers.

I'm responsible for a line of products consisting of five specialized server systems targeted at telecom companies. Although these systems cost more to build than Intel's standard systems, they also bring higher profit margins.

As a PLA, I'm essentially a CFO for the product line. My responsibilities include: looking for ways to expand the business and reduce costs; performing financial analysis to determine whether to invest in research & development for a product; working closely with marketing and field sales to identify new opportunities for follow-up products; establishing costs and prices; and influencing management financial decisions.

Operations finance is different from corporate finance. The most important distinctions are that my job doesn't include raising and investing capital. Nevertheless, an MBA grad with a concentration in finance and some marketing courses should have the background to do my job.

Here's a typical day:

7:25 a.m.: I'm in my car, reverse commuting to Hillsboro, a suburb of Portland, Ore., and listening to the radio and catching up on the day's market and headlines.

8:00 a.m.: Arrive at my desk. I check and respond to urgent e-mails and voicemails and prepare a to-do-list for the day.

9:00 a.m.: The first conference call is with one of the product development teams. This is a weekly scheduled meeting where we go over milestones, project status and progress, schedules and deliverables, and risks and issues for one of the products I handle. My role is to provide the team with cost and financial updates, so I can understand the financial impact should issues arise.

10:00 a.m.: Another conference call, this one to address an opportunity to customize one of our existing products for a new customer who's interested in a large-volume deal. We'll hold a regular weekly meeting until all issues have been resolved, a process that can take weeks. My role is to analyze cost and pricing issues and to determine whether it makes sense financially to proceed with the deal.

11:00 a.m.: Update costs and prices of our products for the Price Book. The Price Book is essentially the master copy of the prices of the products we sell. Also, since the quarter is coming to a close, I need to start putting together the Profit & Loss Statement for our product line.

12:30 p.m.: Lunch -- at my desk, usually. "Dining out" means heading to a burger joint or else Thai or Mexican food. Nothing fancy -– this isn't New York or Chicago, but we can take our time unless we have to be back for a meeting.

1:00 p.m.: Another conference call, this time with Marketing to analyze the follow-up to our current product. Typically, our products have a three-year lifespan, though we sometimes can extend it by a year or two. Regardless, we need to look ahead to the next-generation product well before we stop selling the current model. We discuss market share, competition, and the features and functions to be included in the future product.

2:00 p.m.: A request comes in from sales and marketing: A customer wants to buy below list price and Finance needs to approve the discount for the deal to go foward. Before I approve the asking price (or make a counteroffer), I look at the margins, number of units requested, the strategic importance of the deal, and offers from our competitors (if any).

2:30 p.m.: A brief phone call with the product marketing engineer to share some financial information with him and get details on another product. Also, we discuss things we can do to improve our margins.

3:00 p.m.: Finish up those e-mails and requests that I started earlier in the morning. There will probably be another request or two (such as price approval or cost update) still coming between now and the end of the day, but I should have plenty of time to respond.

3:30 p.m.: Finally, no more meetings or phone calls to make. I can now focus on my daily responsibilities. Today, my priority is to work on the financial analysis for the opportunity that I mentioned in my 10 a.m. meeting. I need to analyze whether the deal will bring us a profit. This is an NPV (net present value) analysis. But it will take a while since I have to get costs and headcounts from different teams (materials, engineering, etc.). Still, I have time. I don't have to present to the management team for a few more weeks.

5:30 p.m.: Check calendar for tomorrow, pack up, and head downtown to the gym.

8:30 p.m.: Most evenings, I'm home by now.

Intel usually hires MBAs for product-line analyst roles, but you still can get this job with a bachelor's degree. You have to start at a lower grade and rotate your way in, which typically takes a few years. With an MBA, on the other hand, you can get such a position on the first day.

The best way to gain entry at Intel is to know someone who can get your résumé into the hands of a recruiting manager. In my case, I got this job by submitting my résumé through my school career center, which then forwarded it to Intel. This is a great job with a great company.