PRACTICE MANAGEMENT
Recruiting New Financial Planners to Your Firm
By Daniel Yerger
As a Fee-Only financial planning firm owner or manager, you can create an incredible opportunity for new financial planners: a safe, salaried, stable work environment where the priority is serving clients and developing the skills of a financial planner rather than cold-calling former neighbors and knocking on doors to sell financial products. However, there is often a curious gap between the expectations of financial planning program graduates and those of financial planning firms. It’s not rare at a NAPFA conference to hear a firm owner remark on the difficulty of finding new financial planners on the same day that you hear a financial planning student complain about how hard it is to find a place to start their career. So today, we’re talking about how to develop an enticing job offer, how to market that offer, and what to consider for your interview process.
The Job Posting
The biggest mistake firms make when they list an opportunity for a position in their firm is that it’s all about them. “Our firm is incredible, our clients love us, and you would be so lucky to work among incredible people like us!” says the job posting. While that might be true, none of that says anything about what’s in it for the financial planning student or career changer considering joining your firm. Instead, focus on writing to your audience: the talented person you hope will join your firm.
Start by clearly explaining what the role is and what any candidate should expect from it. For example:
This is an entry-level position for a financial planning student or career changer. Responsibilities will include attending client meetings, taking notes, developing financial plan models, and providing client service as needed. This position is the first step in the ABC Financial career path and would be a wonderful opportunity for someone interested in becoming a lead financial planner. We encourage anyone with a finance background or an education in financial planning to apply.
Simple. It states the expectations of the position, explains where the position might take them, and signals to people who might be on the fence about applying if they meet the base-level criteria.
From there, you should immediately lay out the compensation. The phrases “competitive compensation” or “compensation based on the applicant’s experience” should be avoided because they are meaningless to your candidate and alienate candidates who do not have time to apply in the hope that you’ll offer them compensation sufficient for their needs. Clearly state a compensation range for salary, indicate if there is a bonus structure, and state point-by-point the benefits you will offer. Remember, this is your opportunity to state what’s in it for them, so don’t skimp on the perks of working at your firm.
Past this point, you should lay out “minimum qualifications” and “preferred qualifications.” Minimum qualifications should include your dealbreaker requirements, such as being local or willing to relocate, speaking the language or languages common among your clients, and having the prerequisite experience or education to perform the job. Preferred qualifications are where you can indicate your nice-to-have elements, such as specific amounts or types of experience. Do not confuse “wants” with “needs” when hiring for entry-level positions, and take the time to again encourage any candidate who meets the minimums to apply. You will see a significant increase in applications by women and racial minorities by stating that not having every single preferred qualification is okay.
Finally, lay out expectations for the application process. A simple timeline will suffice here: “We will accept applications between Jan.1 and 15 and schedule interviews via Zoom from Jan. 16 through 22. An offer will be extended and should be accepted no later than January 30. The start date for this opportunity is February 1.” Ensure that you proactively communicate with your applicants—not only those you are interested in interviewing but also those you decline. Nothing can hurt your firm’s reputation more with potential hires than ghosting your applicants and disrespecting the time they took to apply, so ensure that you reach out to all candidates to let them know your decisions.
Sharing the Opportunity
It is critical in marketing your opportunity that you share it beyond your personal network. All too often, small firm owners and even larger firm managers fall into the temptation to post openings only on their company’s Facebook page or their website in a “careers page” accessed via a link in the footer and then expect the world will find it.
Think about that from your potential candidate’s point of view. Do they know you personally? Are they following your company on Facebook or LinkedIn? What about your website? Do they peruse the career page daily in the hopes that you’ll post an opportunity? The probabilities are so slim as to be practically invisible.
You can share the opportunity on popular industry pages like the NAPFA career center, CFP Board Career Center, and FPA Job Board. You will find that many top-tier candidates look in these places, but the number of candidates might be lower than desired. Other role-specific platforms include Simply Paraplanner for firms looking to hire remote workers or New Planner Recruiting for firms that want an extra helping hand in finding talent.
However, you would be surprised at the number of applications that more broad recruiting platforms such as LinkedIn and Indeed can provide. While the quality of these candidates may vary more broadly than the quality of candidates from profession-specific platforms, recognize that not all brand-new entrants to our profession may be plugged in well enough to know that those profession-specific hiring platforms exist. If you are particularly interested in recruiting students from local colleges or a specific university, Handshake is the most popular platform for recruiting students directly from schools.
Finally, note that Handshake, CFP Board, and NAPFA will publish internship job postings for free. Internships can be a terrific way to test your hiring and recruiting process, as well as to provide a great opportunity for the student to learn while you learn about your hiring practices and preferences before making bigger offers. Who knows, perhaps your intern will become your first hire! (See “How to Create a Diverse Internship Program” in the September 2023 NAPFA Advisor).
Interviewing
Ensure the interview is a meaningful conversation. Skip questions like “What’s your biggest weakness?” Questions like this aren’t going to get forthright answers. Because most people have been coached to expect such questions, they use them as opportunities to describe a strength as a weakness. Instead, focus on questions that indicate that the candidate clearly understands the position and your expectations and that they have the skills or knowledge to perform the role. Avoid asking candidates to perform substantial skill assessments or complete big projects early in the interview process. If you want to test their skills and see their work product, ask if they have a portfolio of work to share rather than asking them to take hours to produce something for you. Finally, remember that an interview is a two-way street. You are there to learn about them and whether they’re a good fit for your firm and opportunity, and they are there to learn about whether this opportunity is right for them. Treat the interview like a conversation between equals, and you’ll find that you’re having a friendly conversation with your future team member rather than performing an interrogation.
Daniel M. Yerger, MBA, CFP®, ChFC®, AIF®, CDFA®, is a financial planner and the owner of MY Wealth Planners, a Fee-Only RIA in Longmont, CO. Daniel is also a Ph.D. candidate in personal financial planning at Kansas State University.
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