Hello, and welcome to another well-written article on financial planner resumes.
In this post, we’ll go over the tips, methods, and stages for writing a killer professional resume that will have hiring managers lining up to offer you a position in financial planning.
Invest in perfecting your professional financial planner resume to improve your chances of landing a job in the financial services industry.
Even if you have no experience, our guide will hold your hand and help you through the process of writing an amazing resume.
We will expressly cover the following essential scopes:
Did you know that recruiters spend less than 20 seconds on average evaluating resumes?
This stunning figure demonstrates the importance of a polished Resume in a job search.
If you’ve been having trouble crafting a superb financial planning resume, this article is for you
Let’s get started without wasting any more time!
What is a Financial Planner Resume?
A financial planner résumé often called a CV outside of North America, is a formal document developed and utilized by a financial planning job applicant to itemize their qualifications and exhibit their background, skills, and accomplishments for a position in the financial services business.
A resume is typically accompanied by a personalized cover letter in which the candidate indicates interest in a certain job or organization and highlights the most important details on the CV.
Many people consider resumes to be marketing documents designed to pitch an applicant to potential employers.
The four main elements of most resumes are the objective statement or summary, education, career history, and contact information.
Features of a Good Financial Planner Resume
Right before you delve into the act of writing a resume, you should have it at the back of your mind that a certified financial planner helps clients achieve their financial goals and client satisfaction.
An excellent or perfect resume for a prospective financial planner resume should show that the candidate is an able financial analyst capable of performing activities including financial analysis, establishing and implementing estate planning, reviewing customers’ financial situations, investment products, retirement planning, risk management, and recommending them to organizations that provide the services outlined in the plan.
A bachelor’s degree in business administration, business development, accounting, or finance, as well as professional certifications, are required.
Financial planner resume samples highlight capabilities such as handling complex financial papers, maintaining compliance with financial laws, meeting up with client needs, keeping track of client base, excellent computer skills, and analytical skills.
Here are some paramount features that will make your financial planning resume stand out:
Extensive Work Experience
Make sure the experience, positions, and honors you provide are all relevant to the position you’re looking for.
Having the Right Skills
This is an excellent opportunity to use the job description’s keywords liberally.
If they’re seeking someone with financial aid experience, for example, make sure to include it in your resume’s skills section.
Achievements that Can Be Measured
Your achievements at work reflect the story of the distinct value you bring to a company.
Avoid using a list of work history or responsibilities that are too long and boring. To assist in contextualizing your accomplishments, use numbers.
ATS-Friendly
A software that allows businesses to gather, organize, scan, and rank resumes is termed ATS or Applicant Tracking System.
The use of smart keywords is the key to getting your resume past the ATS and into the hands of hiring managers.
Flawless Formatting
It is critical to format a resume in a professional and appealing manner.
You can create a modern-looking resume in less than 10 minutes using Zippia’s resume builder.
Simply pick a resume template that matches your personality, answer a few questions about your background, and you’ll have an attractive resume that will wow both the hiring manager and ATS.
The Aim of a Financial Planner Resume
A resume’s main goal is to introduce your qualifications and skills to potential employers.
It’s a document that explains your professional story, laying out all of the details in an easy-to-understand format.
Resumes have meaning in and of themselves.
Showing a résumé to an employer, for example, indicates that you want to apply for a job.
Tips for Writing an Excellent Financial Planner Resume
If you’re a financial planner, here are some pointers you could find useful for your resume writing.
Here’s how to write a winning financial adviser resume:
1. Decide on the Best Resume Format for Your Financial Planner Resume
You will appear shoddy if you have a shoddy financial advisor resume.
That’s the death knell for a financial counselor.
So, to get your ducks in a row, follow these template steps:
- Select a reputable resume format (the chronological resume format is appropriate for financial adviser positions. It puts your most recent and greatest items in the spotlight.)
- Put your name and a professional job title in a beautiful big resume heading at the top (Financial Planner)
- If you don’t use white space, your resume will resemble a stock ticker. To prevent the hiring manager’s eyes from strain, use understandable resume typefaces
- Finally, do you require a resume in Word or PDF format? Unless the job ad specifically states “no PDFs,” PDFs are more stable
Pro Tip: For financial adviser employment, how long should your resume be? Use two or more pages if you have too many wonderful moments to fit on one page.
2. Create a Resume Objective or Summary for a Financial Advisor/Planner
You require their attention.
So, create a resume job profile for a financial planner that stands out.
Fill it with your most impressive achievements.
Have you worked as a financial planner for at least two years? Use a resume summary that is well-written. That’s it: a few lines, a few abilities, and achievement-based evidence.
Do you have lesser than two years of work experience? Make a resume objective that is appealing.
You’ll focus on your skills, but you’ll also include a few transferable “wins” from another employment.
What about, for example? Show how you increased sales by 15% if you worked in sales. That’s a skill that can help you land a job as a financial counselor.
Pro tip: Don’t leap in with all feet when drafting your financial skills resume profile. Write the rest of your sections first. Then go back to your profile and summarize them.
3. Create an Effective Job Description for a Financial Planner on Your Resume
How can you demonstrate that you’re the best candidate for the job?
So, what exactly is a financial adviser?
It’s a person who gives clients financial advice, prepares financial plans, and delivers financial services.
So, demonstrate that you’ve done so.
Instead of saying, “I performed ABC”, instead, “I increased A metric by D percent”.
That’s exactly what the employment history portion of your financial adviser resume should do.
- At the very top of your resume, mention your most recent position. Use a professional-sounding work title (Financial Planner)
- List the name of the company and the dates you started and quit working there
- Include a few bullet points (three to five is ideal)
- Fill those bullets with a mix of responsibilities and accomplishments. Not only did they “manage report generation”, but they also “slashed reporting errors by 54 percent”.
- Make your resume accomplishments specific to the FP&A position you’re seeking for
- Make use of numbers. The story is brought to life through the use of dollars, percents, hours, and the number of clients or trainees
- Use resume power words or action words to catch the employer’s attention
- Put five bullets in your most recent employment, four in the next, and three in the next, and to focus on your new financial adviser job, taper off your bullets
4. Include a Strong Education Section on Your Financial Planner Resume
You are aware of the following:
A good education section is required for an excellent financial planner resume.
But—
You must make it sellable.
Demonstrate your financial adviser abilities with these crucial educational accomplishments:
- List your degree, the name of your school, and the years you attended
- Do you want to be a leader? Talk about the student group you were in charge of
- Do you need to demonstrate an interest in investing? Include a completed client portfolio project
You can even brag about sports teams, academic distinctions, and even professorial accolades.
Unless the sky has fallen in or you’ve recently graduated, don’t bring up your GPA.
Pro Tip: To employ more real estate in an entry-level resume for financial planner positions, break your education into projects and roles. Just remember to concentrate on your financial achievements.
5. Demonstrate Your Expertise as a Financial Planner
Use the following list of financial advisor resume abilities in your resume:
Skills for a Financial Planner Resume
Hard Skills:
- Education
- Financial statements
- Sales
- An examination of the financial situation
- Organizing your finances
- Analysis of the financial plan
- Investing
- Research
- Microsoft Excel
- Seminars Presentation preparation and delivery
Soft abilities:
- People abilities
- Accountability
- Confidence
- Dependability
- Honesty
- Listening
- Communication (verbal & written)
- Dedicated to the minute details
- Organizing your time
- Organization
Wait a minute!
In a resume for financial planner employment, don’t forget to include all of your professional skills.
Only apply to a couple of the candidates listed in the job post. Make use of both hard and soft skills.
Have you got any experience as a financial planner? Career changers and entry-level applicants should concentrate on transferable abilities. That just implies demonstrating accomplishments from previous jobs.
6. Expand Your Financial Planner Resume with Additional Sections
What do you really want to do with your life?
You must demonstrate that it extends to your personal life.
Add a couple of “other” sections to your financial planner resume to accomplish this.
Fill them up with more achievements. You can also include:
- Certifications for financial planners
- Work done as a volunteer
- Conferences
- Mentions in the media
- Publications
- Activities
- Sports
- Hobbies and extracurricular activities
- Honors and awards
- Kudos
- Languages you can communicate in
Don’t go overboard, but include at least a couple of non-work accomplishments that demonstrate your financial abilities.
On a resume, how to list certifications: Put your CFP in a special “Certifications” box under “education” near your name. You can also incorporate it into each job title.
Volunteer work looks fantastic on a resume for a financial planner. Just make sure you connect it to your professional abilities by demonstrating how you made a significant contribution.
7. Make Sure to Add a Cover Letter with Your Resume as a Financial Planner
“No one reads cover letters from financial planners”.
They do, in fact.
Because most hiring managers prefer cover letters, you must write one. But don’t let yours go to waste.
Instead:
The three-paragraph covering letter structure is a great way to get your foot in the door.
Start your job application letter with a bang by highlighting one of your biggest accomplishments or some other eye-opening truth.
Make a positive comment about the firm.
Make them an offer at the end of your cover letter. “I’d be pleased to explain how I increased BWT by 15%”, for example.
Set a calendar reminder to track your submission and resume for a financial advisor. Your chances of getting hired will plummet if you don’t remind the busy hiring manager.
Similarly, a strong cover letter that complements your resume will put you ahead of the competition.
That’s just about it!
This is how to write a resume for financial planner positions.
More Tips
Finding employment as a personal financial planner that is suited for you still requires having a well-written and focused resume. Here are some interesting guidelines to assist you in making your document the best it can be.
1. Consider making your own template. A design that you construct with cleanliness and readability in mind will instantly stand out from other resumes made using comparable templates.
2. Provide your most up-to-date contact information. If feasible, provide potential employers with your email address, phone number, city, state, and website URL so that they can reach you regarding the status of your application.
3. When writing about your employment background, avoid phrases like “responsibilities included.” Recruiters are more interested in specific contributions and accomplishments than in job descriptions.
4. Whenever possible, assign numerical values to tasks and successes. This detail adds to the rememberability of your past work and demonstrates your enthusiasm.
5. Don’t be too set in your ways when it comes to adhering to one page. Most employers are willing to look at one- to two-page resumes as long as the information contained therein is relevant.
The search for a job as a financial planner might be difficult, but with the correct mindset and a well-defined strategy, you can go ahead of the pack in financial planning.
What to Include in Your Resume
Dos and Don’ts for Crafting a Finance Resume
In so many ways, your resume is your cash-on-hand when applying for a job in finance. A well-written resume should include industry keywords necessary to show your value to a potential employer. Here are some Dos and Don’ts for crafting a Finance Resume.
Do incorporate a Strong Professional Summary
Your professional summary permits a hiring manager to determine if the rest of your resume is worth a more consolidated glimpse.
Cite your experience with banking and financial establishments if you have it, or accentuate your finance or business degrees.
Go on and add in detail-oriented soft skills since such mastery is sought-after by hiring managers.
Do Centralize Your Resume on Job Positions that are Relevant to You
Instead of listing every position, you’ve held since your first job, just add the ones that are directly related to finance.
Operating as a bank teller for a year is more pertinent than working as a carpenter for four years.
Include previous roles that helped you gain transferable skills relevant to finance, such as customer service.
Do Remember to Add Finance-related keywords in Your Search
Many hiring managers rely on application tracking systems (ATS) to assist them in screening out incompetent candidates from the puddle.
Finance-related phrases on resumes are more likely to be tolerated.
“Extensive understanding of tax rules”, for example, is more beneficial than “team player”.
Do Consider Volunteering or other Non-work Experience
Consider mentioning volunteer work on your resume if it took up a significant amount of time or taught you skills related to the job you’re applying for, even if it’s unusual.
Pro bono work, side projects, and temp jobs are all excellent methods to expand your portfolio and display additional skills.
Don’t Panic if You Don’t Have Any Relevant Experience
Whether you’re a recent college graduate or switching careers, emphasizing your transferrable skills, related side projects, and relevant coursework can help in compensating for a lack of relevant work experience.
Don’t Copy the Exact Wording from the Job Description
However, you should not copy and paste exact sentences from the job description.
If a company says it wants people who “learn quickly” and “know a variety of programming languages”, your talents section shouldn’t say “learns quickly” and “knows a variety of programming languages”.
Instead, find a new method to convey the same thing—dedicate a resume bullet to a piece of software you mastered in two weeks or mention the seven programming languages you’ve worked with.
Don’t include Work with controversial organizations
Perhaps the volunteer activity involved raising funds for a candidate or answering the phone at an LGBT assistance center.
Don’t Include Hobbies that are Random, Unrelated, or Off-putting
However, keep in mind that hiring supervisors are unlikely to care if you enjoy basketball, participate in a book club, or belong to a Dungeons & Dragons organization.
Remove anything that isn’t completely applicable to a work environment.
Resume Examples
First Resume Sample
Mary Jane
City, State, Zip Code
Home: 000-000-0000 | Cell: 000-000-0000
email@email.com
Professional Summary
Proactive Financial Planner who can successfully network with both professional and personal customers.
By consistently growing professional knowledge, never burning bridges with any form of contact, and maintaining a professional attitude at all times to achieve success.
Enjoys communicating with others and assisting them with their concerns.
Core Qualifications
- Corporate communications
- Business forecasting
- Interpersonal communications
- Problem-solving
- Dynamic professional
- Professional networking
Experience
Sales Representative 7/2/2020 – Present
Company Name City, State
- Establish new client relationships and schedule meetings for salespeople
- A member of the team that manages the company’s trade show booth
- Make outbound cold calls to selected prospects
Customer Service Associate 6/1/2017 – 3/1/2020
Company Name City, State
- Assisting with the restocking of returned merchandise
- Treated customer queries as part of the customer service desk
- Assisted consumers in locating financial products and resolving concerns
Education
Bachelor of Science – Business Administration 2017
City, State Community College City, State
Second Resume Sample
John Segal
email@gmail.com
Telephone
LinkedIn.com/in/username
Twitter.com/username
Professional Summary
A high-performing financial planner with 5+ years of experience. Very skilled in client training, financial analysis, and planning.
Seeking a position at Dis & Dat Financial Services. At XYZ, raised client satisfaction score from 80% to 95% via using automation to free up more time for clients. Maintained client returns 6% higher than the team average.
Work Experience
Financial Planner
XYZ
Nov 2011–March 2016
- Managed internal systems, executed trades, and documented financial plans for 200+ clients with over $500M under management
- Maintained client returns 6% higher than the team average
- Raised client satisfaction scores from 80% to 95% via using time-saving automation software to spend 6-7 hours extra per week with clients
- Increased AUM by 20% in 12 months
Financial Planner
ABC
Nov 2009–Nov 2011
- Created and presented investment seminars and financial planning for clients and prospects. Increased client satisfaction by 40% and raised client base by 25%
- Developed standard reports that resulted in a clearer understanding of real-time performance. This raised client returns by 12%
- Mentored 2 financial planners who had been marked for termination. They became 2 of the firm’s top 5 performers
Education
2005–2009 New York University
Bachelor of Science in Business Development
- President, StockWatch student organization. Grew membership by 300%
- Handled senior projects to build an imaginary hedge fund. Based on stock picking, it would have grown $30,000 into a net worth of $75,000 in one year
Skills
- Hard skills: Generating reports, client training, sales, equity analysis
- Soft skills: Communication, Interpersonal skills, analytical skills, collaboration
Activities
Volunteer financial planner for XYZ Trust, $2.7M AUM.
Row in a competitive rowing shell 2x per week for fitness and self-care.
Conclusion
A strong résumé can open strong doors.
Evaluate your job skills, which include technological abilities, hard and soft skills, and any other relevant skills you have in your portfolio.
Make a detailed list of them.
In your financial planner resume, be sure to include those top abilities.
Always make a habit of citing skills that your education experience sections exemplify.
Recruiters and employers will definitely notice you.
Sell your most valuable abilities and achievements through your resume.
Show how you’re an excellent fit for a job or a project it will land you a job interview!
