I have been reading this thread for more than a week and I found it time I said something. Forgive me for being blunt, but I am a New Yorker, born and raised and its in my blood.
First a little background. I've been with a large insurance company for 13 years, was with a mutual fund company 4 years before that and was series 7 licensed in 1998 when I was 22. I've been fortunate enough to know what field I wanted to pursue early in the process.
I have networked with other planners throughout the country (also with MassMutual) and the fee only option is an extremely challenging one. In my experience, no client ever comes to the planning discussion with tons of liquidity and just needs advice. Most people come seeking a problem solver, a person that can straighten their situation out. I've had a lot of experience doing that.
Also, my experience has been that while clients want an unbiased advisor, the guy that's writing the plan is usually the one implementing it. Why would anyone hire an engineer to draw up the plans only to have to then interview contractors to implement? Part of our duty, our "value proposition" (hate that phrase :)) is knowing where they've gone wrong and prioritizing for them what to do first and then second, and then third. If we have no experience in that field, or only want to "fee plan" without implementing "Because insurance/investment/annuity products are evil", then we will be quickly out of a job. And that's okay too.
There are many 2 or 3 person shops that just need someone to write the plans. But those planners are usually only there until they gain enough experience to spread their wings. Its never a long-term thing. A particular shop in the nyc area has had about 4 planners in the past 7 or 8 years.
Anyway, just thought I'd give you something
different to think about. We belong to a noble profession and we've taken the steps to make our clients better. But if we don't get out there and actually help people, we're doing ourselves-- but most importantly our clients a disservice.
Good Luck,
-peterc
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Peter C. Canale
NY-MassMutual
914-433-1477
pccanale@gmail.com------------------------------
Original Message:
Sent: 05-20-2017 13:14
From: Bryan Ruiz
Subject: Getting hired as career changer
Margery,
I read your story and other than having the CPA, active or not, it's nearly identical to mine. I'm even working with Caleb Brown from New Planner Recruiting directly. At this point, I would even be fine with part-time paraplanning. I just want something in planning. To your point about finding yourself between experience and background, I do plan on getting a masters in tax with the goal of CPA. I don't know if it's a good idea to do that now because I worry about being over-educated and under-experienced. What after that? Academia? I don't love research. I would be back at the same place, or worse--in public accounting's busy seasons. That's a regression, in my opinion. Sorry, but I like my body too much to subject it to busy seasons again. It's staggering to experience how impersonal filling out and filing tax returns can be. That's definitely a regression.
You know, I thought that the CFP® exam was difficult to pass. I also thought that finding something in tax accounting was difficult in 2007-2009. Somehow I'm being proven wrong about both despite the overwhelming lack of succession plans and therefore inevitable planner/advisor shortage.
For everyone telling me to expect a pay cut, I'll put this in perspective. I currently work in retail about 35 hours a week and making ends meet. My pay standards right now are laughably low.
As frustrating as this is, knowing I'm not alone is comforting. I'm prone to self-doubt, so it's oddly reassuring that I'm not the only one stuck and frustrated. However, two of my core strengths are persistence and patience. I know that this is temporary. It's pretty much impossible that I won't be noticed eventually because I'm going to keep at this; I can't give up. I love this stuff too much to be defeated by a small setback.
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Bryan Ruiz
Atlanta, GA
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Original Message:
Sent: 05-19-2017 02:19
From: Margery Neis
Subject: Getting hired as career changer
I'm a career changer who passed the CFP® exam last year (still working on fulfilling the experience requirement for certification) and I feel the frustration of others who've commented in this forum.
A bit of my story: before I ever left my full-time job, I talked to an experienced financial planner and others in the industry about whether pursuing a career in financial planning would be a worthwhile move to make, particularly if I had to start at the bottom. Everyone was extremely encouraging, told me it's a great career, and had great confidence that I would have no trouble at all entering the financial services industry with my education and experience; no one told me how difficult it would be to get hired as an experienced financial professional. I've had informational interviews with dozens of successful planners (who have been very willing to sit down with me to talk about how to get started in financial planning), but most of them started in the industry decades ago, quite often selling financial products, or perhaps in the tax practice of a CPA firm, a path which I've been told is not necessary to replicate in today's financial services industry with more RIA firms existing than ever before. I'm not opposed to selling, but if I have to sell something (who doesn't?), I'd rather focus on selling myself or my firm than selling financial products. It seems nearly universal among my network that working for a fee-only RIA was the way to go and I should just continue to network, which I've done continually including many volunteer gigs. And, as one commenter suggested, I'm registered with New Planner Recruiting.
After interviewing for many openings with several fee-only firms (and participating in the CFP Board's online career fair), it seems that I'm too INEXPERIENCED for some roles (which require 3-5 years' client-facing experience) and too EXPERIENCED for roles that don't require a CFP® certificate and which almost invariably go to candidates who are getting started in their careers. After about 9 months of networking and volunteering, I finally found some part-time contract work at two local RIA firms, but it's been extremely part time and I'm still trying to find more contract work to approximate a full-time equivalent. I've explored what's involved with starting my own RIA, but I'm not ready to make a go of it on my own yet.
I've observed during my networking that most of the RIA firms with which I've explored potential working relationships are still run by their founder(s); it's their business and, I'm speculating here…they want entry-level help, but don't necessarily want to bring another wealth manager to the business they built from the ground up (Michael Kitces published a blog post a couple of months ago that includes commentary about 'sharing a revenue pie'). To the commenter in this forum who described the cost/revenue aspect of an RIA: As a CPA/MBA, I understand the economics of a small business very well, and in the past I let potential employers know that I'm ready to contribute clients to their firm, but when one is interviewing for an associate role, I wonder whether this mismatch between potential employers' expectations of a starting associate (crunching numbers at a desk) and my readiness to start bringing in clients right away is an automatic interview killer, so I stopped mentioning that I'm willing to introduce clients to their firm. Now, I always tell potential employers I'm willing to start at the bottom.
Right now, I'm following up on every lead, applying for as many roles as possible, trying to develop a list of potential clients (I've had a few people approach me already), working on passing the Series 65 exam, developing a source of referrals, and am ready to draft a 'situations wanted' ad to ask who would like to employ me and wants my (potential) clients. But applying for associate roles as a career changer seems to come with some difficult presumptions to overcome – if anyone has any suggestions, I'm all ears.
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Margery Neis, CPA (Inactive), MBA, Candidate for CFP® Certification
San Francisco CA
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Original Message:
Sent: 05-14-2017 03:28
From: Christopher Crooks
Subject: Getting hired as career changer
I am switching careers to become a CFP. I have seven classes left. I have been trying for a year to get hired in numerous financial services positions in order to begin gaining experience hours. I haven't been hired for the same reasons over and over. The managers filling the entry level positions want someone that is going to remain in that position indefinitely. I have been told repeatedly that when they've hired someone at my education level, the individual is promoted in 6-12 months and they are looking for candidates to fill the position permanently. The financial advisor positions all want bachelor's degree completed, 2-4 years direct client experience and your licensing already completed. I have had offers for 100% commission jobs, but I can't afford to go without a salary. I have a great work history and references. I have tried getting hired from the lowest entry level positions on up. How can I get my foot in the door in the financial services industry?
Thanks,
Chris