A one in five ratio, is today’s survival rate for trainees across financial firms. They quickly eliminate candidates from their large pool of trainees who can’t keep up the pace. With these facts, the long term does not look appealing to most candidates. So how does the Financial Industry identify and attract the next generation of advisers?
With the ever changing role of the financial adviser, it is hard to specifically define the skill set and behaviors of the ideal adviser candidate. Important traits such as hunger, drive, resilience are traditionally used, but new terms are developing. Candidates should be able to collaborate, problem solve, and provide a new level of customer service. Successful brokers come from varying employment and educational backgrounds and there hasn’t seemed to be a specific source of talent.
To narrow the field, firms should start looking at a new breed of advisers developing in over 200 colleges, who offer degrees or certification programs in personal financial planning. These students upon graduation should have several career options and the high risk, high reward potential model that exists at many firms could be a deterrent. During the hiring process firms will need to understand the appeal of the positions they offer over other choices.