Joining the Profession
As a company, we encourage our peers to recruit and train apprentices and we ourselves currently have two. Each have their own unique stories leading to their involvement in their chosen professions as the accounts below show:
George Spicer:
Now I may not be speaking on behalf of everyone, but training to become a financial adviser isn't on the top of every lad's agenda, especially at the tender age of 19. However, that is where my story began.Dreaming of becoming a successful entrepreneur, being my own boss and retiring early is a fantasy that we all share isn't it? Studying entrepreneurship through the Peter Jones Enterprise Academy at City College Norwich, I thought I was on my way to realising that dream, but working with others and learning about how they will become financially independent was just as interesting.
The course throws you in at the deep end, placing nervy teens in front of seasoned business owners to sell an idea, a mini Dragons Den if you like. Watching who you considered confident people come out of the boardroom with a pale look on their faces, didn't do a lot for one's own confidence.
I entered the den, prepared to be grilled and I could sense the "here we go" atmosphere in the room. I made my pitch, and had a positive response from all the "dragons", one of whom is my current Employer Simon Linstead. (Must have made some impression on him then!)
Simon later became my mentor and we worked closely together for several months, until we finally came to the conclusion that my idea was a little too ambitious for a fresh-faced teen with little experience. And that it cost £40,000 to get off the ground, could have been a large contributing factor. Nevertheless, he kindly offered me a job with him at Nurture off the back of it.
Almost two years on and still trying to understand all that financial advice entails, through an apprenticeship framework. I have enjoyed every minute of shadowing the process of helping someone to reach their goals and financial security.
With so many changes with legislation and pension freedom, and increased transparency for clients, it's a very interesting and diverse career, with a lot of opportunities to grab for anyone who enjoys a challenge.
Our other financial planner in training has joined the profession as his third career.
Jonathan Hamilton - Don't look back, keep moving, in the direction of safety.
A great friend of mine asked me once what I was up to tomorrow/this week. His interest, from a well-informed, covert and trusted perspective, was in my wellbeing.I explained my plans... I was heading to Temple in London to meet a barrister at Gray's Inn, to observe and learn in a legal world... tentative steps towards becoming a lawyer. My friend said simply, "Don't travel on the tube" which was not an option.
When I alighted from the tube, leaving the tube station, I was greeted by minetape. Crowds had started to gather - walked busily to the outer cordon, not wishing to take a bullet, shrapnel or engage in anything unnecessary.
I was fine and incidentally so were all those peppered around the edge of the outer cordon. But it could have been oh so different.
I use the story to reflect on career choices. "Don't linger on the cordon, take action, move on and change," or "don't change, but move on..."
Then, I was focussed on becoming a lawyer, qualifying to practice law as a solicitor.
Hearing echoes of whispers in my ear, "Prepare to move... Move now," I have stepped off from my career as a solicitor, having enjoyed the challenge, late nights and heartache, to qualify as a financial adviser.
To some, this may seem like a step back, but my new setting, understanding new financial solutions for a varied marketplace of needs and objectives, impacting on real lives, appeals to me. Stepping from a corporate law environment, due diligence mattered hugely, but real people/lives were affected only indirectly, or near enough.
So, in conclusion, as I did once before, I have again walked to the outer cordon, in the direction of safety, understanding the philosophy at Nurture and the focus of constraint within bounds, exercising temperance, diligence and sensitivities in a world that is often shrouded in darkness.
We are delighted to announce that since penning this article, Jonathan has passed his Level 4 Financial Planning examinations and so a new chapter begins.