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It is the job of credit rating agencies like Fitch, Moody's and Standard &Poors to assess the likelihood that organizations issuing debt sold on public markets (for example organizations issuing bonds or their derivatives) will pay those debts completely and in a timely fashion. The issuer of the debt and the debt itself are given ratings that indicate their creditworthiness. Issuers can include companies, sovereigns (national governments), local governments, or charities. The safest debt, which is almost guaranteed to be repaid, is assigned a triple A (AAA) rating. The least safe debt is issued a CCC rating or below, indicating that it's in danger of default and is an unwise investment.

Credit ratings agencies hire a large number of information analysts to judge the creditworthiness of debt issuers. Lower level jobs in information services are normally focused on data- gathering and analysis. Senior analysts have more responsibility for interpreting data given to them by the junior analysts and officially assigning the rating. For this, agencies hire people with quantitative expertise who can create models that verify the ratings process. Agencies may also need specialists in specific sectors and people who understand the effect of the macroeconomic climate on sovereign debt repayments, depending on the types of organization and debt being rated.

Data Providers provide financial markets and global media with critical current information like company share prices, exchange rates, research and analytics, with tools and software for tracking portfolios. They also provide financial and business news services through a number of media outlets. The data providing industry is today dominated by Thomson Reuters and Bloomberg. Other companies do exist, usually smaller and more information-specific, such as Dealogic, which provides coverage of global capital markets, credit markets and mergers and acquisitions. Another example is Initiative Europe, which supplies information on private equity deals.

Jobs within data providers can include graduate information services roles, including roles for data analysts (analyzing information on companies and different industry sectors) and journalists (analyzing and writing about breaking financial news as it happens) as well as jobs in technology (IT and software development) and even business development (development of the company).

Both data providers and credit ratings agencies will also hire people for "operational" jobs in accountancy, HR, IT and technical support, among other sectors.