60% of Academy joiners on the St. James’s Place Financial Adviser Academy have no previous experience in the finance sector!
Whilst this might surprise you, there is a very good reason why having previous experience in finance is not a pre-requisite of changing careers into a financial adviser role.
In reality, transferable skills such as adaptability, problem solving, decision making, resilience, communication and relationship building are highly sought after skills of a successful financial adviser: Skills that can be developed from a variety of career backgrounds.
In this article, we share three inspirational changing careers adviser stories taken from St. James’s Place ‘Your Future, Your Choice’ campaign. The series celebrates advisers who transitioned into advising, after previously working in a different profession.
Whilst teaching and financial advice may seem worlds apart, in reality there are many transferable skills that can make the transition from one to the other, a smooth one.
As a former teacher, Catherine had strong communication and interpersonal skills, as well as an ability to simplify complex concepts and break them down into manageable parts. Her skills proved invaluable when she decided to take the leap, changing careers and retraining as a financial adviser with the SJP Academy.
View Catherine full story by watching the video below:
Tom Barnes came from having a 12-year career in physiotherapy.
Ready for a fresh challenge, he felt a natural pull towards financial services, following in his brother’s footsteps by joining his father’s practice, Barnes Wealth Management.
Watching the positive impact it had on his brother’s life, Tom decided to investigate his options for changing careers by attending an open evening with St. James’s Place Financial Adviser Academy.
Tom describes the Academy as a safe place to learn as he always had someone to go to with any concerns or questions. He also valued the peer support around him, many of whom he made strong connections with as they were also going through the same journey.
Joining an established practice gave Tom the space and time to develop with a team of people around him. From Tom’s fathers perspective, he describes there being many benefits of taking on newly qualified advisers from outside the industry and sees the SJP Academy as a way of taking on people who have the right attitude and mindset.
Watch Tom’s video below to find out more:
Neither Martin Welsh nor Kieran Taylor had set out to work in financial advice. But today, they are the proud owners of Aberdeen-based Welsh & Taylor Wealth, a partner practice of St. James’s Place, with several of their former colleagues from the oil and gas industry among their most loyal clients.
Martin’s decision to step away from the oil and gas industry in 2014 followed a period of market uncertainty and redundancies which led him to consider ways to build a more sustainable career. Despite having been a client of St. James’s Place, Martin didn’t know much about the Academy before joining!
Kieron and Martin met during their time on the Academy and quickly spotted attributes in each other which led to the formation of their joint business venture, Welsh & Taylor Wealth.
Watch Kieran and Martin’s video below to find out more about how they went from friends to business partner through the St. James’s Place Adviser Academy:
To find out more about the opportunities with St. James’s Place Financial Adviser Academy, check out their Featured Company Profile page.
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Read more real-life career change adviser stories in the articles “From Banking to Financial Advice” and “From Investment Banking to Financial Advice” below.
