After some career advice (cefa/ cemap)

JimmyUK_2

Hi,

Excellent forum you have here!

Well, I am writing to hopefully receive some advice from you guys that are experienced and in the 'know', since I am a newbie.

I am 26 years old and for the past 3 years I have worked part-time as an office cleaner whilst I studied on some sciencey courses with the Open University- mainly just short courses that haven't led to anything. Anyway, it's not really for me so I have broken away from that now to concentrate on building a new career. I did very well at school and achieved excellent GCSEs but somewhere and somehow I got lost and have since gone from dead-end job to dead-end job.

I have been looking on the IFS website and I am at two minds about whether I should go for something like Cemap or cefa. My ambition is not to chase highly paid employment but to build a sucessful and secure career helping people with their finances.

However, say for instance I complete cefa, will that qualification stand me in a good position to secure a job to begin with, even though I've had no experience, even in a customer service role? Basically am I likely to encounter any problems finding a job? I wouldn't be worried what sort of job I enter into initally as long as it was secure and not commission only etc! So, would banks and insurance companies be my first port of call when I am qualified? And would a bank or insurance company likely to supervise me and tick the box after a year to say I was a competent FA?

Thanks for your time, as you can probably tell I am a little confused and any help, advice or tips would be much appreciated.

I look forward to reading any replies.

Cheers

dunstonh

Starting with the negatives....

Mortgage adviser is not really a secure job. More than half of new joiners leave in the first year or two as they cannot make a go of it.

It isn't a particularly well paid job either until you have spent a fair while doing it and have the contacts and relationship or luck to be in the right place at the right time.

I wouldn't be worried what sort of job I enter into initially as long as it was secure and not commission only etc!

Most employers will pay a fair chunk of the earnings on commission or target basis. With most employers, you would find your job under threat if you dont achieve target.

And would a bank or insurance company likely to supervise me and tick the box after a year to say I was a competent FA?

Probably the best thing to do is get the mortgage adviser side sorted first before considering financial adviser status. If you can make a go of it on mortgages, then you should be able to move into investment classification roles much easier than trying to do both at once. That is unless you can get an employer behind you to train you up and supervise. That typically means a bank nowadays. Most insurance companies have closed their doors to in-house advisers.

If you are confident and have the right support but most of all can get access to clients then it is worth it. If you dont get the right support and dont have access to a client bank then you may as well not bother.

JimmyUK_2

Thanks for your quick reply, very helpful indeed.

Do you know if many people, with no experience, enroll with the IFS off their own backs and work through the 4 modules of cefa qualification, then approach a bank and work with them for a year or so to gain competent status?

In other words, will banks welcome someone in who has done the above and offer them a salaried position, even if the salary is not very high?

dunstonh

Banks are not really interested if you have the exams or not. They are interested in whether you have sales experience and ability. They still have to send you on their induction courses and even if you have the exams, you would have to re-test so you may as well see if the banks are interested in your first.

JoeK_3

JimmyUK wrote: »

Thanks for your quick reply, very helpful indeed.

Do you know if many people, with no experience, enroll with the IFS off their own backs and work through the 4 modules of cefa qualification, then approach a bank and work with them for a year or so to gain competent status?

Hi, Jimmy. I own a company called Money Marketing Limited that train budding Mortgage Advisers and Independent Financial Advisers.

Just for the record, CeFA is the IFA qualification and CeMAP is the Mortgage Advisers qualification.

CeFA is in four parts
CeMAP is in three parts.

CeFA 1 and CeMAP 1 are the same exam, as it is the foundation exam. Once you have passed either of these, you can then start to specialise.

It is often advantageous to start at a bank or building society in a junior capacity and work your way up, cashier, loans officer, mortgage adviser, financial adviser.

JimmyUK wrote: »

In other words, will banks welcome someone in who has done the above and offer them a salaried position, even if the salary is not very high?

No employer will consider employing you as an adviser without at least either CeFA 1 or CeMAP 1 and it may be advantageous for you to start at this point before applying for jobs.

Hope this helps

JoeK

JimmyUK_2

Thanks for the advice. I think that I will start off doing the cefa and cemap
1st module and then attempt to find work, probably as a cashier like you suggested. I think that's my best bet.

If you have any other tips or advice It would be very much appreciated.

cheers

Cute_'n'_Quirky

A bank will NOT employ you without a CeMap 1.

They only list appointments with full CeMap 1 plus at least six months experience of being a mortgage adviser.

apk1

Cute_n_Quirky wrote: »

A bank will NOT employ you without a CeMap 1.

They only list appointments with full CeMap 1 plus at least six months experience of being a mortgage adviser.

Sorry to say but that is rubbish having worked for banks for the last 11 year they will take on the right people withount cemap 1 or sponsor you once inside, but and this is not meant to be a dig in any way Jimmyuk, they will be looking to take people on who have had steady sales based roles previously, so I think you might struggle.

In fairness Jimmyuk it sounds like you are studious and have "lost your way" as opposed to be unable, so if you are able to study and pass Cemap off your own back, I think that will help you find somewhere, I think once you are qualified a lot of doors will open.

Good luck

dunstonh

Banks will take you on with no exams. They are looking for sales ability. They will take on a non-qualified double glazing salesman more readily than someone with no sales experience but already holds cemap (or FPC or equivalent)

Cute_'n'_Quirky

apk1 wrote: »

Sorry to say but that is rubbish having worked for banks for the last 11 year they will take on the right people withount cemap 1 or sponsor you once inside, but and this is not meant to be a dig in any way Jimmyuk, they will be looking to take people on who have had steady sales based roles previously, so I think you might struggle.

In fairness Jimmyuk it sounds like you are studious and have "lost your way" as oppesed to be unable, so if you are able to study and pass Cemap off your own back, I think that will help you find somewhere, I think once you are qualified a lot of doors will open.

Good luck

I guess that you have not attempted finding a placement with a bank as a Trainee Mortgage Adviser - particularly outside the City of London.

apk1

Cute_n_Quirky wrote: »

I guess that you have not attempted finding a placement with a bank as a Trainee Mortgage Adviser - particularly outside the City of London.

Sorry I don't understand what you are saying here, are you saying its easy or its hard ? without cemap or previous experience there will be next to no chance, with Cemap you should at least get to the interview stage.