What a financial advisor really does
You learn the whole picture of someone's money and life, build a plan that fits it, and keep them on track when they get scared.
FieldBusiness
Preparation (O*NET Job Zone)Considerable preparation needed
What the work involves
What fills a typical week for financial advisors, built from O*NET occupation data.
- Meet new clients to learn their income, spending, debts, insurance, goals and comfort with risk
- Analyze what clients share and build plans for saving, investing, insurance and paying off debt
- Answer client questions about why the plan says what it says
- Run regular reviews to see if a job change, a new baby or a market drop means the plan needs to change
- Prepare and explain performance reports and income projections
- Spend real time finding and keeping clients
- Coordinate with clients' accountants and attorneys
What the days are like
What people in the job know
- Being exact matters because errors land on real families, not a spreadsheet. Importance of Being Exact or Accurate: 65% extremely important; Consequence of Error: 33% very serious (O*NET Work Context)
- Hours run long even though the schedule looks regular on paper. Duration of Typical Work Week: 54% more than 40 hours; Work Schedules: 96% regular (O*NET Work Context)
- You have a lot of control over how you spend your day, which also means you have to drive your own business. Determine Tasks, Priorities and Goals: 44% a lot of freedom; Recruit and maintain client bases is a Core task, importance 63 (O*NET)
- Explaining is as big a part of the job as analyzing. Answer clients' questions about plans and strategies: Core task, importance 89 (O*NET task 3)
- The phone rings every day. Clients expect to reach you. Telephone Conversations: 68% every day; E-Mail: 92% every day (O*NET Work Context)
How people get into it
Most advisors have a bachelor's degree (58% of O*NET respondents say it is required; 23% say a post baccalaureate certificate). Anyone who regularly meets clients and gives investment advice for a registered adviser must register as an investment adviser representative, which in most states means passing the Series 65 exam, and many advisors later earn a planning certification. People often start as a paraplanner or associate advisor working under a senior advisor.
The Firstday trial, easy to hard
Three simulated tasks with AI coworkers who message you, react to your work and coach with questions. Nobody scores you.
What the trial can't show: The trial casts you as a newly registered associate advisor (Series 65 passed) whose recommendations all go through a senior licensed advisor, so it does not show what it is like to own client relationships and sign off on plans yourself. It does not show building a client list from nothing, sales targets, compliance paperwork in full, or years long client relationships. All clients and figures are fictional, and nothing here is real financial advice.
Reading about it is one thing.
Find out how the work feels to you before you spend on a degree, course or job change. Your first trial is free.
Other careers you can try
Job details on this page are built from O*NET OnLine, 13-2052.00. This page includes information from the O*NET 31.0 Database by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA). Used under the CC BY 4.0 license. O*NET® is a trademark of USDOL/ETA.