With September seeing the much-anticipated launch of the Financial Planner Life Academy, we’re more excited than ever to talk about the journey of second careerists!
Switching from a well-established profession that has demanded years of dedication to an entirely new and unfamiliar industry can be intimidating, particularly for individuals who may not have complete clarity on the various job opportunities, career paths, and specialties within that sector.
We recently spoke with Financial Planner, second careerist, and friend of the podcast Ryan May, of Sound Financial Management Ltd. With a previous career in Law. Ryan spoke with us about his decision to move into Financial Planning, the reasons for his decision to pursue a new calling, and what he’s learned along the way both about the profession, and himself.
Why make the career change?
Ryan had some slight bugbears with his previous career choice, and although he’d developed well and was making good progress in the legal sector, he felt there were some areas that were lacking. An important point to consider when changing career is identifying your ‘why’ – what is it that you’re looking to get out of your change in direction, and what is the chance of these being fulfilled in your new choice? Ryan had his clearly laid out, BEFORE jumping 2 footed into the unknown:
“I want to tick 3 boxes, and I’ve got them in a certain order as well! My most important is flexibility, with my young family. The worst thing for me would be turning around to my daughter and saying; I can’t go to your sports day because Daddy’s not allowed.”
Flexibility is climbing higher and higher up the list of benefits within firms looking to attract the best talent, especially with the big focus on mental fitness we’ve seen in recent years. The financial planning profession is increasingly focused on addressing burnout and stress, whilst promoting a healthy work/life balance among its professionals. Simply put, this is because happy teams work harder.
“The [second] thing for me was progressing. I wanted to see something where I had a clear line of progression and I was always working toward something. That’s probably why I moved around so much in law.”
This is something that we’re very passionate about at Financial Planner Life. We frequently speak with individuals who make lateral moves in their previous careers, taking incremental increases in job satisfaction with each change. In Financial Planning, progression is a priority for many, so much so that even established advisers are required by the FCA to carry out Continued Professional Development (CPD) as part of their commitment to maintaining competence within their role.
“The third box is money, and to a lot of people that’s quite surprising, because normally money is either second or first, but I find that with career progression, money will follow inevitably, and financial planning does offer a very good remuneration package. I definitely wouldn’t be in the situation I am in now, if I stayed in law.”
Selfish? Not really. Justified? Absolutely!
Being fairly remunerated for your hard work is a major must-have for many of us, whichever industry you’re working in. Some professions are very top-heavy in terms of earning potential, meaning there’s a lot of groundwork to be done before you can begin to make a sizeable income. Financial Planning on the other hand, besides paying very reasonably for even entry-level roles, has a ‘skies the limit’ attitude toward earning potential which accurately reflects an individual’s experience and skill level.
So, take some time to think about your WHY, and rank them in order of importance. This will help you streamline your focus when changing careers, in order to establish what exactly it is you’re looking for, and whether your new chosen career path is the right fit!
Thinking about a career change into financial planning? Click here to sign up to the Financial Planner Life Academy now.
Check out the full episode here:
Or listen here: Spotify: https://bit.ly/3t408pD Apple: https://apple.co/3PLDLhr
