Morven Millar reports on going back to the classroom…
Last week I had the pleasure of being involved in an event at Altrincham College of Arts in Timperley called ‘Discover Fortunes’. The event was all about introducing students at the school to the Financial Planning profession and also included an opportunity for me to give a short presentation on my route into the profession.
The session, which is part of a series of events put on by the Chartered Insurance Institute (CII) as part of their education programme, has been designed to raise awareness of careers in financial planning and help lay the foundations for the recruitment of the next generation of Chartered Financial Planners.
Designed for students aged between 15– 17 and aimed at helping to bring an understanding of the different elements of investments, pensions, savings and protection, it was great to see 30 bright young individuals in attendance.
After some brief introductions, the session got into full swing with an interactive game based on the financial background of five clients at different life stages – from a second jobber to a retired couple. As the session progressed, it was fantastic to see the students gain in confidence and raise some excellent points of insight.
There was lots of talent in the room and hopefully the session will, at the very least, have opened some of the students’ eyes as to the career options available in the financial services industry.
There are so many career options for school leavers today and in amongst them all, financial services isn’t necessarily an obvious choice. Careers in financial planning can be extremely rewarding and varied, bringing a wide range of opportunities and multiple options. Due to the often confidential nature of the work we do as financial planners, it can be tricky to gain ‘access all areas’. As such, this sort of session is really helpful to demystify the industry, giving some indication as to what we do on a day to day basis.
There are also many ways into the profession now, not all of which involve the traditional university route, which students are perhaps not always aware of.
Events such as this are vital in helping to spread the word about our profession amongst younger generations hopefully generating some interest in the career options available.