How to Write an Effective Financial Advisor Resume
A Financial Advisor needs to be a master of: breaking the ice with strangers, gaining trust, tax laws, marketing, etc. – while also being able to identify existing and emerging investment strategies that suit the customer’s needs. Writing a great financial advisor resume that will land you a job, requires that you put all of your skills into action, so you’ll be able to land a face to face interview.
It’s really important to come across as a confident person, who has the necessary social skills to be successful in this position. Each sentence, bullet point, paragraph must focus on making the reader swoon in anticipation of meeting you for a formal interview. In the following paragraphs, you will find many suggestions that can help you along your path to writing a killer resume.
Step 1) Personal Details
This step is fairly straight-forward: Put your name at the top of the page, in a font that’s at least 2pts larger than the font in the body of your resume. The next line below your name will be your address, followed by your city and state (or province), phone number and email. Look at some templates if you’re in doubt as to the proper format.
Example:
Joe Money
5493 Tabernacle Lane
Westwood Connecticut, NY 56037
Phone: (555) 555-3497 Email: jomoney@its.com
Step 2) Objective Statement
This is where your financial adviser resume gets tricky. An perfect objective statement will be a maximum of two lines and needs to be compacted into a single sentence. Try to craft this statement in such a way that it captures what kind of opportunity you’re looking for, while also touching on key skills you bring to the position.
Example:
“Certified Financial Adviser (also spelt Advisor) looking for a results-driven, commission-based position where I can use my ability to assist clients with their investment purchases and establish new territories for your company.”
The above example would look great on any financial advisor resume for a number of reasons: It states the applicant is currently certified in their profession, what their desired compensation plan is (commission), what they will do for clients (help with investments), and that they’re driven to help expand the company that hires them. Spend time on this statement… Some employers may look to your experience or education without even glancing at this section – But this is a selling point that says a lot about you to most recruiters.
Step 3) Experience
Experience will play a huge role in landing a position with a major bank, or reputable private company. There are many private companies out there that will hire almost anyone who has the proper certifications, but they tend to rank low on the salary scale. In this section of your resume, you’re going to detail what skills you learned/used in each position held and more importantly… what results you achieved for yourself and the companies you worked for.
Take the time to read over the company’s job description for the position you’re applying for, so you can better highlight what you bring to their company, should they hire you. In the absence of a job posting, you can look at their website to get an idea of what they focus on (look for the company “Mission Statement” if they have one) and how your experience fits into the company’s goals.
Step 4) Education
This is another section of your resume that will have more of an impact with banks and major companies. Again some smaller firms won’t be terribly impressed that you’re a Harvard business graduate, but won’t pay you terribly well in comparison to major banks and investment agencies. State any relevant post-secondary education, along with other industry related coursework you have completed.
Step 5) Finish Up and Don’t Forget to Proof Read!
Follow the “Education” section of your financial advisor resume with a section titled “References.” Write “Available on request” under the heading and make sure you create a separate page with your personal and professional references to hand out at job interviews. Once you’re finished, it’s really important that you read the entire resume several times to find any errors you might have made.
A single spelling, grammar, or formatting error can make the difference between your resume getting to the “interview folder” or the “junk pile” – so don’t click the send or print buttons until you’ve performed some due diligence. Have a friend, relative, or professional acquaintance look over your resume to find any mistakes you may have missed, along with any redundancies that may have slipped past you when you proofread the resume.
Once you and two other people (at least) have read your financial advisor resume… you’re done! Click the send button, or print and distribute your resume accordingly.
