Help a Reader: Getting Needed Experience

I recently received the following email from a reader:

Sorry for this extremely long email but I have found your blog very helpful and am not sure where else to go for great advice.

I’m at the stage where I am wanting to take the next step in my career but am unsure of how to go about it, given the current employment market. Some background information - I am 23, live in Sydney and work at one of the major financial services companies in Australia. I will have completed the Advanced Diploma of Financial Planning (not sure what the equivalent is in your country) at the end of this year and intend to study beyond this. I want to become a paraplanner and am currently on secondment in this area, having worked in administration before this. My contract is up at the end of October and I would like to move elsewhere at this time.

Basically my issue is that I am finding it hard to get a new position as a paraplanner due to the fact everywhere wants experience and I don’t have it. I have applied for several jobs but the only issue is experience, which has been a consistent problem since I started working. I know that I can definitely do the work and do it well but I just need to get a position first. I have been thinking about my career a lot lately and have come up with two options.

1 – stay in my current role where they are likely to make me permanent until I have one years experience

2 – get a job in a financial planning firm as an administrator and get promoted into a paraplanning position

I really don’t want to stay at my current job, as a paraplanner or in my old position. I am not enjoying it and won’t be able to last another nine months. I have tried to enjoy it but I don’t like the environment and the fact I continually run out of work. I would prefer to go to an actual financial planning firm where they are able to recommend numerous products and there will be more scope for learning and responsibility. This leaves me with the option of starting as an administrator and getting promoted – however this is obviously going to take time.

I am not interested in become a financial planner in the future, my long-term objective is to be a career paraplanner and start my own paraplanning business where I contract out to numerous firms. The first step though is to move into a position where I can gain experience and learn as much as possible.

So I guess my question is what would you do in this situation? Do you see any other options that I have overlooked?

Another issue is that I have only ever found jobs through advertised positions. I think the best way to get a new job would be through networking or identifying companies I would to work for. I’m just not sure how to do this.

Finally, I would love to have a mentor that is in the financial planning area but am unsure of how to go about finding one. I have signed up to online networking sites such as LinkedIn but haven’t made use of them yet.

I have a lot to offer and have exceeded expectations in every job I have had by focusing on results and having a great attitude, just like you mention on your site. I’m just at a crossroads right now in what to do next.

I responded with a couple questions to make sure I understood the issues:

1. If you stayed at your current firm, would it be as a paraplanner or as something else?

2. Are the companies you're interviewing for literally saying, "we'd hire you in a minute if you had a year's worth of experience" (or something like this)?

She responded:

1. I would have the option of staying as a paraplanner or going back to my old department but a different team. I have been thinking about it a lot the past few days and have decided I will go back to my old department as I will learn a lot more in the different team and expand my knowledge. It is useful experience for when I do get a paraplanning position but obviously not as useful if I were to stay as a paraplanner. My reason for this is that it is a lot more flexible in my old area, it is always busy so I never run out of work and I am able to study/research and basically do what I want as long as the work gets done.

I believe that if I were to stay as a paraplanner I would probably end up quitting within a few months regardless of whether I had a job or not. I constantly run out of work (despite being proactive about finding more work to do) and the work is quite different to what a paraplanner in a financial planning firm does. Also, if I did stay there the salary increase would not be enough of a difference for me to want to stay there.

2. I have applied for under ten jobs in the last couple of weeks and had a few interviews which went well. Most of the jobs were through recruitment agencies who basically said I don't have enough experience but they have other positions I would be suited for - ie administration roles. The interviews were all for companies I applied directly to and they told me that while they were impressed with me, they have chosen someone with more experience. One firm offered to put me forward for an administration position they have that could eventually lead into the paraplanner role I interviewed for.

I guess the issue is that at the moment a lot of experienced paraplanners are out of work so it is quite competitive. When applying for jobs in the past, I would get job offers for nearly everything I applied for, although they were for administration roles and it was before the GFC. My problem is that despite not having the experience, I know that I can do a better job than a lot of paraplanners out there. I work very hard, learn very quickly, get results and enjoy having a reputation for being a top performer. My concern is that if I get an administration job with a company and then get promoted to paraplanner, the salary increase won't be as much as it would be if I were to start as a paraplanner.

From this, I told her what I would do if I was her. She also gave me permission to ask FMF readers for their advice, so have at it -- what are your suggestions for this young lady?

Comments

[Jan]

Not knowing what a paraplanner is, I would think that taking up the administrator role would be beneficial on two front.
1. She will gain experience in another part of the business which will help her in her future paraplanning role. It'll also help her in future employment prospects.
2. The same experience I'm sure would be useful when she decides to start her own practice. No doubt that she'll need the skills of an administrator or at least know enough to hire a good administrator.
Just my two cents worth. I wish her good luck in her career ^_^

[Nate]

Good questions to ask. Here are some thoughts that may help:
-You're young - a baby in the professional world. Building a good career takes time. Many people I see jumping around too much end up old and inexperienced.
-Keep searching to identify your long-term career goals, particularly, find and talk to people who are where you want to be.
-The administrative position, unless that's your goal, gives me pause. The ones who make money in companies are the ones who drive the revenue - administrators are viewed as cost centers and are given raises only as necessary. Get onto the revenue-driving side of the business.
-Be excellent with everything you do. The single best way to achieve your goals is to give your very best effort at what you're doing now.
-If given a choice, pick the most challenging one; and, give particular weight to technical difficulty, especially in the planning/consulting industry.

Good luck!
Nate, CPA

[Financial Samurai]

Do you guys mind explaining what a financial "paraplanner" is? Never heard of this occupation.

You're so young right now, you should take a lot of risks early and go with your gut! Now is the time to take chances.

[Mike Piper]

You say, "My concern is that if I get an administration job with a company and then get promoted to paraplanner, the salary increase won't be as much as it would be if I were to start as a paraplanner."

In my experience with getting promoted from one position to another, that's absolutely true. That said, once you have experience in the position you want, you can try to switch firms to get the market rate for your new position.

[Beverly Houterman]

I know it is hard to have doen all the educational work. It is often the case where advertised jobs want someone age 23 with 5 years experience! and I know you are impatient. Moving into paraplanning is often difficult and from my experience, it is often hard to make the jump out of parraplanning as most dealer groups higher parraplanners and do not want them to move. If you heart is set on financial planning (and women make really good planners), might I suggest the following.
1. Stay at your job for right now.
2. Make a schedule to talk to people working as planners i.e. go to the bank branch near you and ask to speak to their planner
3.go to FPA lunches or workshops, talk to people there
4. Instead of jumping into full planning, look to see if a financial planner will hire you on as a trainee to assist them.
5. If you can, see if you can get on FINSIA's job-ready page
6. The banks are the most likely group to higher young new planners, but you will be in a very 'small' position and will have to accept that it will not be much better than what you are doing for a number of years. A good planner is 10% education, 30% keeping up and 60% experience