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Originally Posted by AsxBroker
Hi Temjin,
There may also be some downsizing in Sydney in the backoffice roles in finance as companies reduce staff count, for frontoffice roles they are still there but looking for experienced staff.
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This is the biggest problem I have right now. I am having trouble competing with front office roles with nil industry experiences as there are plenty others who have minimum education but have years of experiences and is WILLING to work in an administrative role without advancement for a long time. None of the recruitment agencies are willing to help me for entry level CSO roles at this time, nor have I seen an actual job advertisment of similar in seek/other sites for the last few months.
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When looking for a job, unless you have an Honours, don't apply for Graduate Positions, the problem here is that uni students can punch in "graduate" into seek or mycareer and get a list to apply for (I just got 900 for "graduate" in Brisbane on Seek...). You are much more unique.
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Well, I got a graduate role in an engineering firm, so maybe my expectation was that I could have easily got it. I had a lot of confidences because my mentor was actively helping me to apply for the role. Yes, I don't have Honours in my bachelor degree (it's almost impossible for Mechanical & Space Engineering!!
), but I did manage to pass the first four stages of the selection process for the bank's graduate program. (resume check, psychometric, phone interview, psychometric round 2)
So to have received an interview (being the 80 out of 1800) was a pretty good achievement for me. I was probably going up against a lot of other experienced people, and not just pure graduates.
I'm still waiting for a feedback from the interviewers, will have to chase that up on why I was not accepted.
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Stop changing your resume as well, that's just wasting your time and frustrating you further. Stick to the one which landed you the interview with the private firm. A resume is a bit like a brochure, it's the main points, though in the interview your personality and enthusiasm seals the deal. It's like going to a car dealership, they give you a brochure which gets your interest and then if you take it for a test drive (interview) it doesn't handle well you cut the lemon loose and jump in the next one which takes your fancy. For your resume make sure it's two pages, if it's bigger it's cumbersome to go through, if it's smaller it looks weak.
You've probably already figured out on your resume, you want to say the main/important bits, ie, name, DOB, address, experience, qualifications and hobbies/achievements. Experience wise, I know your a bit light on for this industry but you've probably worked before? Put down your previous roles and bullet point three or four of the responsibilities. For qualifications you basically want to say you've just finished your DFS and you are going to continue to complete your ADFS. For hobbies and or achievements make sure it's a team/group thing (if you play tennis, put it down as doubles!!! and don't put down any weird freaky stuff - Keep It Simple).
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My resume was originally written by a paid professional and I have made many changes, or rather, improvements to it before using it as a template for applying for financial planning related jobs. I would say I have spent countless hours to make it as perfect as possible.
And since having it checked and revised by various people, including my mentors, I could confidently say my resume and cover letters are at its maximum effectiveness.
It has a "career change" format in which I highlighted a lot of my transferable skills and as much relevant experiences/achievements as possible. The DFP and RG146 compliance is a also big one on my resume. I don't think any recruiters who read my resume would have leave that out.
As for work experiences, I specifically focused on achievements and less on responsibilities. These achievements were also specifically choosen to reflect the jobs I am applying for.
The inclusion of my mentors as referee also caught all of my previous interviewer's attention. They all asked for how I met them and what I have learnt, and like I said, the last interviewer mentioned I was the only applicant he ever saw to have a professional mentor in this industry.
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If you can't seem to find the roles on seek or mycareer, try going to large companies websites and finding what vacancies they currently have, if your not sure of companies names you can go to yellowpages.com.au and search on words like financial planning, funds management, insurance, banking, superannuation, etc.
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Already done the yellowpages part a long time ago.
Already listed close to 50+ relevant financial planning firms with contact names, emails and phone numbers. I knew I may need to come to the stage of mass emailing (along with cold calling) them if the strategy of applying through direct advertisment fail after a period of time.
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If your not finding the exact Financial Planning role you want, you can start in a finance organisation as junior/admin/customer service, build your experience and let them pay for your ADFS. Don't bother cold calling, stick to the internet as you can do it at any time (3am if you want) whereas calling is usually between 9am and 5pm, costs a phone call and the chances are the right person to speak to is in a meeting, on holidays or they'll tell you to apply online anyway. If your still struggling, go for part-time roles as these would be great because you'll have more time to complete your ADFS quicker! (Just find out if they'll still re-imburse the full amount, or half if your a part-timer or some firms won't, remember to tell them that you are keen to move from part-timer to full-timer when it's available).
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This is the problem. I could not find "junior/admin/customer service" role that you are telling me to get. I hardly could find any roles advertised on the internet. And when there are some, with really low salary, they were all looking for people who have some type of adminitrative experiences within the same industry. Most recruitment agencies stock such positions, but they will never let me go through the interview stage due to complete lack of relevant background/experience.
As for cold calling, I have done a lot of research on job hunting and this should remain one of the most effective way of applying for jobs. It should show them how proactive I am and how eager I am to enter the industry. Not only that, it would help the companies to save money by not going through recruitment agencies for new staff.
Yes, I know the potential problems that I would faced when cold calling, but I prefer the more "aggressive" way than to wait passively for advertisment to come through. By taking the passive option, I would be competing with a lot of other potential applicants as well.
Do anyone here have cold calling for jobs experiences?
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Where abouts in QLD are you?
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Brisbane, wish I was in Sydney.
Lot easier. hehe
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In regards to DFP, DFP was 8 subjects and a course ONLY issued by the Financial Planning Association of Australia (FPA). You have completed your DFS which is 4 subjects, when you have completed the next 4 subjects you have completed your ADFS which is equivalent to DFP.
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Really? I thought you only need to complete DFP (Module 1 to 4) to be considered as RG146 compliance? Or I am not right now? I have already done my skill assessment and received a letter stating I satisfy all the requirements of DFP. I know there is an additional 4 to go for the ADFP.
I guess my next option is to finish ADFP too, but I guess that's really overkilling and I would not get the chance to utilise that level of knowledge anyway.
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Don't worry, confidence is important, so is determination. When I originally started in stockbroking, I probably applied for a couple hundred roles as a junior sh*t-kicker in pretty much any finance company. I remember in January 1999 printing off my resume and a covering letter, enveloping them and hand-delivering them to 80 stockbroking companies in Sydney's CBD. I wouldn't suggest doing this as Brisbane is smaller and the internet is a much better way of doing things.
Ironically, I got a job at Computershare as one of the girls I was doing my FinSIA Dip Fin Mkts with was working there at the time. One stockbroking company came back to me in April 1999 and offered me a job.
Go and search the internet for those different finance companies and apply on their websites for the roles which you think you've got a good chance and you'd be good at.
Cheers,
Dan
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Confidence is definitely my strength here. This is why I thought I had good chances with the graduate program and that private firm interview. While I did not get the offer, I was really close at it.
I forgot to mention that the representative of the private FP firm actually gave me a...sort of offer, that he will take me in as soon as there is an opening in his firm. He actually asked me to inform him if i have received another offer later down the track. During the feedback talk, he told me he was previously looking to recruit two paraplanners, but had reduced it to one due to the economic uncertainities. He repeatedly stated that I was EXTREMELY CLOSE and it was a difficult decision. Again, when I asked him what else I could have done to better my chances, he specifically mentioned, "You basically ticked all the boxes and done far more than one could expect".
Of course, I still didn't get the offer. But since he is offering me a job (as soon as there an opening that is), and that he requested ME to inform HIM when I have taken another job, it shows he is definitely serious and commmited about that offer for me. Though he has not given me a timeframe, could be 3, 6 or 12 months.
As for determination, there is no going back now. I already spent months at it and I KNOW I do not want to stay in the engineering industry. The motivation to make a career out of the engineering industry is just not there. It would also be extremely difficult for me to compete with other "career-minded" engineers. And most would have done additional studies and/or doing their best to acquire their professional certification status. I have not made any progress on that since I started. My heart is just not here.
So moving into the financial service industry is the only way out now.
Thanks for the help guys.
