As a recent young graduate, it wasn't long ago I was challenged with the task of job searching.
With little work experience it can be hard to decipher what you should be looking for in an employer.
I decided to work in financial planning as I was fortunate enough to complete a week's work experience with TFP Financial Planning in 2018.
This was eye-opening as I never fathomed how large the spectrum was between what I thought were financial advisers and financial planners.
What draws me to financial planning is that it's not just creating a financial plan for a client, but it is building a longstanding relationship, identifying goals and objectives, and helping them live life to the fullest.
Since finishing university, I was lucky enough to have returned to TFP, I have now been part of the team for five months. I joined TFP as they have a brilliant ethos to financial planning and strive to provide a world-class service.
What mostly stood out for me when I began the recruitment stage at TFP was the job specification compared to other advice firms.
At TFP there was so much exposure at an early stage to a vast majority of aspects.
It was clear TFP wanted to develop skills and knowledge early by letting you work with cash flow modelling software and be fully engaged with clients by working closely alongside the planners.
When I was looking for a job, I identified growth and a dynamic environment to be characteristics crucial to me. My rationale behind this was I believed these were important for an employer to have to be fully engaged with their employees.
Growth is important as I aspire to have good career prospects. For this, you need a firm that wants to invest its time in developing its employees.
During my interview, I questioned whether TFP had clear career progression options available.
The answer was there was a range of opportunities, this demonstrated their flexibility for you to establish what direction you wished to progress into but more prominently that they can facilitate career growth.
Additionally, I wanted to work for a firm that was dynamic and not afraid to challenge the norm.
Being a young recruit, I wanted to be valued by my employer and have the space to learn from others to develop my knowledge and skill set.
TFP facilitate this as they promote collaboration, and we are provided with the freedom to work together. I feel this has been a crucial factor in my development so far at the firm.
Recruitment process
The recruitment process at TFP consisted of interviews, a focus on myself and my CV and a chance to express what I could bring to the team.
