New here and need advice

Hi,
I have been lurking around here for a while trying to learn more about the different areas of finance and actually need some advice. I have worked in insurance and financial services (not really finance) for about the past ten years. My problem is I got a B.A. in journalism and then ended up in the business world where my degree isn’t that applicable (that’s a nice way of saying it’s useless). My GPA was 3.75, but were still talking about journalism here LOL, not like I got a 3.75 in rocket science or anything. I don’t really know what to do with my career going forward. I have worked in customer service/admin type roles for most of my life for companies like MetLife, Principal Financial Group and now I work for an independent investment firm in client relations-I’m a client services specialist. It’s not that I mind working with clients, but these positions are pretty low in pay. I am sure some of you probably get bonuses that are more than I make in a year’s time. So I’m starting to ask myself what can I do to move forward and I don’t know. I don’t have the money for grad school and the firm I work for isn’t really willing to pay anything toward that. They are financial planners and they will pay for me to take a paraplanning course, which I am currently doing, but that pretty much just gets me the job I already have-an assistant, and there won’t be any raise involved. I have thought about becoming a financial planner myself, but it is hard for me sometimes to relate to high-net worth individuals when I have no assets, how can I even start to help them manage their money when I don’t have any? That makes me lack a lot of confidence. It‘s one thing to do my job and help them navigate our computer system or place a trade for them or help set up client events, but it’s a different thing to start telling them how to actually manage their money. Plus I don’t exactly have an academic background in finance either. I am starting to wonder if I should just go back into insurance where at least I could go into underwriting or operations or something like that. Since I have so much experience in client relations, I have also thought about trying to get a job in investor relations with a public company.
I just don’t know what to do and could use some advice.

 

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Angela a:
Hi, I have been lurking around here for a while trying to learn more about the different areas of finance and actually need some advice. I have worked in insurance and financial services (not really finance) for about the past ten years.

My problem is I got a B.A. in journalism and then ended up in the business world where my degree isn’t that applicable (that’s a nice way of saying it’s useless). My GPA was 3.75, but were still talking about journalism here LOL, not like I got a 3.75 in rocket science or anything.

I don’t really know what to do with my career going forward. I have worked in customer service/admin type roles for most of my life for companies like MetLife, Principal Financial Group and now I work for an independent investment firm in client relations-I’m a client services specialist. It’s not that I mind working with clients, but these positions are pretty low in pay. I am sure some of you probably get bonuses that are more than I make in a year’s time. So I’m starting to ask myself what can I do to move forward and I don’t know.

I don’t have the money for grad school and the firm I work for isn’t really willing to pay anything toward that. They are financial planners and they will pay for me to take a paraplanning course, which I am currently doing, but that pretty much just gets me the job I already have-an assistant, and there won’t be any raise involved.

I have thought about becoming a financial planner myself, but it is hard for me sometimes to relate to high-net worth individuals when I have no assets, how can I even start to help them manage their money when I don’t have any? That makes me lack a lot of confidence.

It‘s one thing to do my job and help them navigate our computer system or place a trade for them or help set up client events, but it’s a different thing to start telling them how to actually manage their money. Plus I don’t exactly have an academic background in finance either. I am starting to wonder if I should just go back into insurance where at least I could go into underwriting or operations or something like that. Since I have so much experience in client relations, I have also thought about trying to get a job in investor relations with a public company.

I just don’t know what to do and could use some advice.

i am not qualified to give you career advice

however, being succinct will get you more useful advice from others who are

 
Best Response

Honestly, grad school won't even help you right now, so that doesn't even matter. Your entire post screams 'Debbie Downer'.

You need to figure out what you have an interest in doing, before people can really help you.

You mentioned financial planning, so let's use that as an example. Your first problem is that you are lacking basic confidence. Part of the problem is this: you don't feel comfortable making recommendations because you don't know what to recommend and you don't know what to recommend because you haven't done any self-study to frame how you should even think about making recommendations. If this was something you have an interest in pursuing this, start reading books on financial planning techniques, asset allocation, tax laws for retirement accounts, estate planning, life insurance, etc.

Even more important than that, have you thought about what makes someone successful in that role? The answer is more likely to be sales ability than anything technical. All sales people have confidence, based on what you have written here, it seems you are lacking that. It's not your academic background that is holding you back from a position like that.

Bottom line: start reading about a wide array of positions, think about what you are good at (don't lie to yourself), and think about what you enjoy doing. Start taalking to people in different roles and get their perspective on various opportunities. There is a role out there for you, but you need to think broader than the roles that are directly surrounding you in your current and past jobs. You also need to do a lot of reading about various aspects of finance and see if anything piques your interest and delve into that area more. Until you do that, nobody is going to be able to tell you what kinds of roles are appropriate for you.

 
SirTradesaLot:
Honestly, grad school won't even help you right now, so that doesn't even matter. Your entire post screams 'Debbie Downer'.

You need to figure out what you have an interest in doing, before people can really help you.

You mentioned financial planning, so let's use that as an example. Your first problem is that you are lacking basic confidence. Part of the problem is this: you don't feel comfortable making recommendations because you don't know what to recommend and you don't know what to recommend because you haven't done any self-study to frame how you should even think about making recommendations. If this was something you have an interest in pursuing this, start reading books on financial planning techniques, asset allocation, tax laws for retirement accounts, estate planning, life insurance, etc.

Even more important than that, have you thought about what makes someone successful in that role? The answer is more likely to be sales ability than anything technical. All sales people have confidence, based on what you have written here, it seems you are lacking that. It's not your academic background that is holding you back from a position like that.

Bottom line: start reading about a wide array of positions, think about what you are good at (don't lie to yourself), and think about what you enjoy doing. Start taalking to people in different roles and get their perspective on various opportunities. There is a role out there for you, but you need to think broader than the roles that are directly surrounding you in your current and past jobs. You also need to do a lot of reading about various aspects of finance and see if anything piques your interest and delve into that area more. Until you do that, nobody is going to be able to tell you what kinds of roles are appropriate for you.

Excellent response and solid advice. +1

 

Thank you all for your responses. Yes, I am not really that confident of a person, more of a shy person I guess, and since financial planning is more sales than anything, that is why I am not certain that is the direction I want to head in. So that is why I have started looking in other directions and I have interviewed several people in finance about their positions but the problem I keep running up against is the education thing. I interviewed for a position at a bank in operations about a year ago and the interviewer actually pointed out that I have a journalism degree and not something business related, so it can be a problem in job searching. I appreciate your advice and sorry my post was such a "downer".

 
Angela a:
Thank you all for your responses. Yes, I am not really that confident of a person, more of a shy person I guess, and since financial planning is more sales than anything, that is why I am not certain that is the direction I want to head in. So that is why I have started looking in other directions and I have interviewed several people in finance about their positions but the problem I keep running up against is the education thing. I interviewed for a position at a bank in operations about a year ago and the interviewer actually pointed out that I have a journalism degree and not something business related, so it can be a problem in job searching. I appreciate your advice and sorry my post was such a "downer".
You don't need a business degree to work in operations or to be a financial planner. They're just giving you excuses. If you do what I said in the previous post, you will find something you want if you talk to enough people, know what you're talking about, and search for jobs that play to your strengths. If not, you will be in the same spot this time next year. Good luck.
 

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