2
Introduction
Choosing the right career can be challenging, especially when
you may not have a good understanding of all the options available.
For Black Americans, who are underrepresented in the inancial
services industry, a lack of knowledge about potential career paths
can be a big roadblock to entering the ield.
To help bridge the gap between the inancial services industry and talented Black individuals, The American
College of Financial Services and its Center for Economic Empowerment and Equality (CEEE) have created
this practical guide to career pathways in inancial services.
The goal of this guide is to provide potential Black inancial services professionals with the information you
need to identify attractive opportunities in the industry, and to help them understand how to ind inancial
services jobs and build successful, long-term careers.
We begin by exploring some of the challenges that Black Americans may face as they consider their career
options and then discuss the inancial services industry and why it may be a great it for Black Americans.
You will see an outline of what a lifelong career may look like and discover resources that are available to
help you explore your options in inancial services.
3
Challenges and Opportunities
Black Americans are underrepresented in the inancial services
industry. While Black Americans make up almost 13% of the US
population, data from the US Bureau of Labor Statistics indicates
that they make up only 5% of inancial professionals.
1
In subsectors of the inancial services industry, the picture is even starker. According to the CFP Board, less than 2%
of those holding a CFP
®
certiication are Black—there are only 1,652 Black CFP
®
professionals in America today.
2
Less
than 1% of Certiied Public Accountants (CPAs) are Black, and less than 3% of sta at public accounting irms is Black.
Similarly, Black Americans are notably absent at higher levels of the industry—Black professionals hold less than 4%
of top management jobs at America’s biggest banks.
This professional underrepresentation is mirrored in the signiicant wealth gap that exists between Black and White
Americans—the median Black family’s wealth was just $24,100 in 2019, about one-eighth of the $188,200 median wealth
of White families.
5
Black Americans also display a lower level of inancial literacy overall, answering just 7% of questions
in an index of inancial literacy correctly compared to 24% for White Americans.
6
The overall picture, then, is of sizable gaps in the relationship between Black Americans and the inancial services
industry—an employment gap, an access gap, and an underlying gap in understanding.
The evidence suggests that many Black Americans do not fully understand inancial services and products and,
therefore, may not choose to seek careers in the inancial services industry. The resulting lack of Black inancial
professionals decreases the quality of the services that inancial institutions oer Black Americans. This, combined
with historical barriers and broader racial inequities, exacerbates wealth inequality, undermines inancial access,
and breeds a further lack of understanding between inancial services institutions and Black communities.
Yet despite these challenges, the inancial services industry can oer attractive prospects for Black Americans. As the
US becomes more diverse, there is growing demand for diverse professionals to serve our changing nation and many
inancial institutions are working to improve their inclusivity and equity to better serve new clients and markets. This
transformation has the potential to open up new opportunities for Black professionals.
On a more personal level, a career in inancial services can be both inancially and emotionally rewarding. In addition to
attractive pay, it can oer an opportunity to positively impact clients’ lives and help them build wealth for their families.
Many Black inancial professionals ind that their work beneits their communities and enables them to give back while
enjoying a successful career.
At the CEEE, we are committed to bridging the gap between Black Americans and the inancial services industry
by boosting inancial literacy in Black communities, closing the wealth gap, and driving greater diversity across
the industry. A key aspect of driving greater diversity is improving potential Black inancial services professionals’
understanding of the inancial services industry and the career paths available in it.
This process begins with self-assessment. Financial services careers demand particular skills, and therefore, deciding
whether this is the right path for you starts with understanding your own skillset. Below, you will ind a short worksheet
designed to help you assess your skills.
1 CFA Institute. Racial and Ethnic Diversity in Finance. n.d.
2 Bay Street Capital Holdings. The Growing Need for African American Financial Advisors in the USA. 2022.
3 National Society of Black Certiied Public Accountants. Do You Know Your History? n.d.
4 Morning Brew. 8 Charts that Explore Racial Disparities in the Banking Industry. May 18, 2021.
5 Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System. Disparities in Wealth by Race and Ethnicity in the 2019 Survey of Consumer Finances.
September 28, 2020.
6 TIAA Institute Global Financial Literacy Excellence Center. How Financial Literacy Varies Among U.S. Adults. 2022.
4
WORKSHEET ONE
Assess Your Skills
Take a moment to consider the skills you have developed during your education
and/or previous work experience. Using the table below, list your top ive skills and
the experiences that helped you develop them.
Try to focus on high-level competencies and speciic experiences and achievements
that demonstrate your abilities. For example, if you list leadership as a skill, identify
concrete examples of this skill in action, such as “Served as sorority president in
my sophomore year and oversaw 10% membership growth” or “Worked as a shift
supervisor at a grocery store and improved customer service scores by 20%.”
Keep this worksheet handy—we
will be referring to it again
as we consider the skills
needed to succeed as
a financial professional.
SKILL EXPERIENCE 1 EXPERIENCE 2 EXPERIENCE 3 EXPERIENCE 4
Example:
Leadership
Example:
Worked as a shift
supervisor at a
grocery store and
improved customer
service scores
by 20%
5
Financial Services: A Great Option for Black Americans
The inancial services industry oers many appealing career
paths for Black Americans. This section will oer an overview
of the inancial services industry and explain why it may be
a good it for you.
e Financial Services Industry: An Overview
The inancial services industry includes a wide range of organizations and institutions that work with money–moving it,
investing it, protecting it, donating it, and managing it. Some of the key areas of inance include: work schedules and
generous time o.
BANKING
Bankers focus on helping people store, borrow, and spend money. The core functions of banks include taking
deposits, processing transactions, and lending money. Deposits are held in instruments like checking accounts,
and banks provide a range of loans, including mortgages, business loans, personal loans, student loans, and more.
Many banks also oer other services, such as inancial plans and investments, but the core thing that makes a
bank a bank is the ability to take deposits.
Generally speaking, banking is a regulated industry. The US government requires banks to obey a range of
rules and, in return, provides banks with certain protections and guarantees. For example, the money held
in individuals’ bank accounts is insured by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), and banks can
borrow money directly from the Federal Reserve. While retail banks that deal with individual customers are
highly regulated, investment banks, which deal with businesses and wealthy investors, have more freedom
to make investments and lend to riskier enterprises.
INSURANCE
Insurance professionals are concerned with protecting individuals’ and businesses’ money and other assets
from various risks. An individual may, for example, have life insurance, property and car insurance, and disability
insurance to protect themselves and their family against risks such as death, theft, ire, and injury. A business, in
contrast, may have general liability insurance to protect them against claims from angry or injured customers, or
cyber insurance to protect them against the risk of hackers.
The insurance industry is highly regulated, and many insurance employees must have special training and
licenses. Insurance companies typically generate proits through investment and underwriting, which is how
insurers determine what premiums to charge their customers to cover dierent risks.
FINANCIAL PLANNING
Financial planners focus on helping individuals build long-term inancial plans to meet speciic goals, such as
saving for retirement, paying for college for their children, or donating large amounts of money to important
causes. Financial planners, also known as inancial advisors, get to know their clients and work closely with them
to set short-, medium-, and long-term goals and decide on the best strategies for achieving them. Planners may
have expertise in tax planning, insurance, investment management, and many other areas and use this knowledge
to develop comprehensive plans for a variety of dierent clients.
Generally, inancial planning is not as highly regulated as banking or insurance. However, inancial advisors need
specialized knowledge and may need certain licenses to oer particular products or types of services. They may
also need to register with the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) and pass certain FINRA exams.
6
WEALTH AND INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT
Wealth and investment managers specialize in helping clients—either individuals or businesses—grow their
money. By creating investment strategies and recommending particular assets—such as stocks, bonds, and real
estate—and investment products, wealth and investment managers help clients achieve their long-term inancial
goals. To do this, wealth and investment managers must have specialized skills and knowledge, and there are
many regulations with which wealth and investment management irms must comply.
In some cases, inancial professionals who oer wealth and investment management services must obtain
licenses and register with various inancial authorities such as the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
FINTECH
More and more, the world of technology overlaps with the world of inance. Innovative new companies are using
technology to deliver fast and cost-eective inancial services in areas like peer-to-peer payments, lending, and
stock trading, as well as supporting inancial services irms with mid- and back-oice solutions. Those who work
in inancial technology (FinTech) generally combine programming and software development skills with
knowledge of the broader inancial industry.
The extent to which FinTech irms and employees are regulated and licensed depends on the particular services
they oer their clients.
BROKERAGE
Brokers act as intermediaries, buying and selling inancial instruments such as foreign exchange, stocks,
bonds, and derivatives on behalf of their clients, which may include other inancial irms, business organizations,
wealthy individuals, and individual investors. Brokerages range from sophisticated Wall Street operations that
oer bespoke services to high net worth individuals to discount shops that serve small clients through mobile
phone applications.
Brokerage irms are generally highly regulated, and, in most cases, those wishing to pursue careers as brokers
must obtain special licenses and register with various inancial services industry regulators.
All inancial institutions have departments such as Human Resources, IT, and Marketing, and many interesting roles are
available in those departments. In this guide, however, we will focus on client-facing or front oice roles. These are the
roles that actually deliver inancial services to clients—the relationship manager who helps you with your mortgage at
your local bank, the inancial planner who works with you to design your retirement strategy, and the fund manager
who invests the collective savings of hundreds or thousands of clients like you.
7
Core Skills of Financial Professionals
To a certain extent, the skills that inancial professionals need are determined by the particular area of the industry in
which they work. For example, people who work in insurance underwriting need the advanced statistical skills obtained
through studying actuarial science, while those who work in FinTech may need speciic programming skills.
In general, however, most inancial professionals–especially those who work in client-facing roles–must be:
Comfortable with numbers
Skilled in leadership and able to demonstrate accountability
Good at communication
Organized
Proicient at problem-solving
Mature and have a high degree of emotional intelligence
Proicient at time management
Good at teamwork and at working and interacting with dierent types of people
Is a Financial Services Career a Good Fit For You?
Let’s take a moment to assess how your skills align with the skills required for a career in inancial services.
8
WORKSHEET TWO
Financial Services Career Skills
Below is a list of skills that lead to success in inancial services. While you may already have mastered some, this
exercise can help you identify areas where additional professional skills development would beneit your overall
long-term success.
Look back at Worksheet One—do any of your skills match? If so, copy across the relevant experiences. Then, take some
time to consider the other skills – are they ones you have? What experiences have allowed you to develop those skills?
Fill them in. As you write, think about how you would explain these experiences to potential employers. Can you share
stories that illustrate how this experience helped you develop a particular skill?
SKILL EXPERIENCE 1 EXPERIENCE 2
Numeracy
Leadership and
responsibility
Communication
Organization
Problem-solving
Maturity and
emotional
intelligence
Time management
Teamwork
9
Financial Services Career Skills
As you can see, many of your skills can translate into a successful inancial services career. There are also other reasons
that inancial careers can be a great it for Black Americans:
• There are many dierent types of organizations in the inancial industry, ranging from very large, highly organized
institutions to small boutique irms with just a handful of employees. That means that it is possible to ind a irm with
the size, culture, and values that suit you.
• Many inancial services irms have a strong sense of mission and are focused on improving people’s lives, whether
by helping them protect the things that matter to them or enabling them to achieve the retirement of their dreams.
A career in inancial services can be extremely rewarding for those who want to serve their communities.
• A career in inance can oer generous pay—inancial services jobs pay a median wage of close to $40 an hour
compared to less than $23 an hour for all jobs on average. Many Black Americans may ind themselves oering
inancial support to their families in ways that White Americans may not, and this can put pressure on budgets.
In addition, Black Americans often borrow more for college than White Americans and are less likely to enjoy
inancial support from their parents.
8,9
For all of these reasons, salary and beneits can be a very important
consideration for Black professionals, and inancial services careers can oer an attractive option.
7 Bureau of Labor Statistics. National Occupational Employment and Wage Estimates. May 2022.
8 Education Data Initiative. Student Loan Debt by Race. May 17, 2023.
9 NPR. Here’s One Reason Why America’s Racial Wealth Gap Persists Across Generations. August 13, 2022.
10
Your Career Path
At this point, you may be interested in working in inancial services but uncertain of what a career path might look like
or how to get started. This section will take a more detailed look at how your inance career may begin and develop.
In general, you will begin with a relatively junior role and progress, taking on new responsibilities as your skills and
networks develop. For example, for someone pursuing a career in inancial planning or wealth management, a typical
career path may look like this (keep in mind this will vary depending on where you start your career journey):
Paraplanner
Responsibilities
• Client fact inding
and onboarding
• Maintain the irm’s social
media accounts and
accomplish marketing tasks
• Prepare iles for client meetings
• Client servicing
Financial Advisor
Responsibilities
• Develop custom
inancial plans
• Develop tailored
investment plans
• Direct Associate Advisors
on data input into inancial
planning technology
• Detail steps for plan execution
for support sta
• Meet with clients to present
inancial/investment plan and
ongoing reviews
• Draft quarterly outlooks
and summaries
• Perform investment research
• Research for quarterly outlooks
and summaries
• Client servicing
Associate Advisor
Responsibilities
• Data input into inancial
planning technology
• Portfolio asset allocation
analysis
• Prepare iles for advisory
meetings
Principal
Responsibilities
• Analyze appropriate inancial
statements to make decisions
that increase economic value
and improve individual or
organizational results
• Validate datasets, draw
conclusions, and make
sound business decisions
• Recommend tools and best
practices for identifying risks,
managing those risks, and
implementing a successful
risk strategy
• Prepare a management proposal
drawing on the principles,
processes, and practices aligned
with high-performing ethical
organizations
Senior Financial Advisor
Responsibilities
• Develop custom tailored
inancial and investment
plans for specialized and
unique client needs
• Detail steps for plan execution
for support sta
• Consult with advisory irms’
premier clients to present
inancial/investment plan
and ongoing reviews
11
Overall, most inancial careers move through three phases:
We’ll explore each phase in turn.
Phase 1: Learning
This is the entry-level phase of your career. Typical job titles at this stage include junior analyst at investment and
wealth management irms, paraplanner or junior advisor at inancial planning irms, and junior claims handler at
insurance companies.
No matter which area of inancial services you choose to work in, your key priorities during this phase of your career
should be:
Finding your irst job
Developing industry knowledge and practical skills
Building relationships within your industry/irm
Learning industry norms
Building customer contacts
Obtaining any necessary licenses
Finding your irst job may be the toughest part of this process. There are several potential entry paths into inancial services.
For those interested in working in banking, insurance, and wealth and investment management, one option may be applying
to join formal training programs at large institutions. Many large inancial irms oer special programs for those entering the
industry that include intensive training, mentoring, and exposure to various departments and functions. These competitive
programs are a good way to learn about the industry and develop core practical skills.
At smaller irms, particularly those in the inancial planning sector, new entrants may have to seek a mentor who will take
them under their wing, give them their irst job, and provide on-the-job training. Finding the right person requires extensive
networking. Job fairs can be a helpful way to connect with potential employers, as can LinkedIn.
In addition to these paths, there are various opportunities for Black professionals. The CEEE and The American College of
Financial Services, for example, organize an annual Conference of African American Financial Professionals (CAAFP), which
oers networking opportunities to those seeking to enter the industry. This includes its NextGen Program, which supports
Black students who want to attend CAAFP and pays for their participation.
Once you have successfully found your irst job, your focus will be on learning and relationship building. Your success during
this phase will depend heavily on the following skills:
Phase 1
Learning
Phase 2
Building
Phase 3
Leading
Communication Time
management
Organization Teamwork
12
It will also be important for you to seek out potential mentors at your new organization who can help you learn and
grow. Your irst line manager will naturally be a key mentor, but you should also try cultivating relationships with
potential mentors in other departments or functional areas. If your irm has a formal mentorship program, try to get
involved early and be active in it.
You may also need to pursue additional education to ensure you have the baseline skills you need for your irst job—
or irst few jobs. For some roles, such as certain jobs in insurance or investment, you will need particular licenses.
Generally, your employer will help you with training and pay the fees associated with taking your exams and obtaining
any licenses and registrations you need. In other cases, having relevant training and qualiications can help you get
your irst job or excel in your new role.
Depending on the area of inancial services you work in, you may need to register with the Financial Industry Regulatory
Authority (FINRA) as part of a member irm and pass certain exams, including:
• Series 6: Also known as the limited-investment securities license, this license allows holders to sell “pre-packaged”
investment products, including mutual funds and variable annuities. Insurance agents that sell variable products in
which securities constitute the underlying investments also need a Series 6 registration.
• Series 7: Also known as the general securities representative (GS) registration, this allows a holder to sell individual
securities, including stocks, call and put options, bonds, and other ixed income investments. However, it does not
entitle the holder to sell commodities futures, real estate, or life insurance.
• Series 63: Also known as the uniform securities agent registration, this license is required by each state and entitles
the holder to transact business within the state.
• Series 65: This exam is required for those intending to provide inancial advice or services on a non-commission
basis. This includes inancial advisors and planners who provide advice in exchange for a lat fee.
The American College of Financial Services oers several programs that can be helpful at this stage in your career:
• The Financial Services Certiied Professional
®
(FSCP
®
) Program oers the foundational knowledge needed
for a inancial career. It covers essential product knowledge and core marketing and planning skills.
• For those wishing to become inancial planners, a CFP
®
Certiication Education Program is essential. Covering
inancial planning roles and responsibilities, income taxation, principles of investment, retirement and estate
planning strategies, planning for insurance needs, and more, the CFP
®
certiication is a nationally recognized mark
of excellence in inancial planning.
• The Wealth Management Certiied Professional
®
(WMCP
®
) designation is designed for those who want to pursue
a career in investment and wealth management. The WMCP
®
teaches professionals how to employ a goal-based
wealth management process for investment management, create an eicient investment portfolio, evaluate inancial
instruments, assemble a wealth management strategy, and provide solutions for complex wealth management
needs such as wealth transfer and asset management.
• The Chartered Financial Consultant
®
(ChFC
®
) designation covers a must-have list of requirements for inancial
advisors, from knowledge on tax and retirement planning to special needs advising, wealth management, insurance,
and more.
• For those pursuing a career in insurance, a Chartered Life Underwriter
®
(CLU
®
) designation can be an essential irst
step. The CLU
®
equips designees with extensive life insurance knowledge and risk management strategies. In most
states, a CLU
®
designation exempts you from pre-licensing education and underwriting certiication requirements,
meaning that CLU
®
designees are ready to start work right away.
Armed with the right knowledge and skills, you will be able to start your inancial career with conidence.
Overall, in this phase of your career, being enthusiastic, willing to learn, and hard-working will set you on
the path to long-term success.
13
Phase 2: Building
In this career phase, you are gradually taking on greater responsibility and increasing your earning potential. If you are
an insurance agent or inancial planner or advisor, you will be building up your client base, winning new clients, and
generating sustainable revenue for yourself or your institution. If you work in investment banking, this is the phase of
your career where you move from junior analyst to analyst or senior analyst.
As your career progresses, you will ind that you need to develop new, specialized skills and in-depth expertise. You
may begin to focus exclusively on a single product line, type of client, or industry (if you are an analyst), and as your
focus narrows, your knowledge of your chosen area will need to deepen and expand.
It will also become important for you to open yourself up to new professional relationships and opportunities through
networking. Joining industry groups and professional associations is a good way to build industry-wide connections
and discover new potential roles, as is attending events such as the CAAFP.
No matter which area of inance you choose to work in, your key priorities during this phase of your career will be:
Developing specialized skills
Building your network inside and outside your irm
Pursuing new career opportunities/promotions
Becoming active in industry groups and professional associations
As your career progresses, you will ind that you need to develop new, specialized skills and in-depth expertise.
You may begin to focus exclusively on a single product line, type of client, or industry (if you are an analyst),
and as your focus narrows, your knowledge of your chosen area will need to deepen and expand.
It will also become important for you to open yourself up to new professional relationships and opportunities through
networking. Joining industry groups and professional associations is a good way to build industry-wide connections
and discover new potential roles.
Your success in this phase of your career will depend on the following skills:
Problem-solving
Taking responsibility
People skills
Communication
Building positive and mutually beneicial relationships with peers and clients is essential at this stage. You will also need
to invest in your personal growth by learning new skills.
14
The American College of Financial Services oers several programs that can be helpful at this stage in your career by
providing you with specialized skills and enabling you to oer clients additional services:
• The Retirement Income Certiied Professional
®
(RICP
®
) Program empowers inancial professionals with the
knowledge they need to become experts in today’s fast-growing retirement planning market. It is an extensive and
intensive retirement income education that covers all retirement income styles and strategies, straight from the
nation’s top thought leaders.
• The Chartered Special Needs Consultant
®
(ChSNC
®
) designation augments inancial planning and interpersonal
skills with specialized knowledge focused on special needs planning, including special needs trusts and helping
parents and caregivers plan for immediate and long term care, as well as wisely and compassionately guiding
families through complex inancial decisions like estate planning, beneiciary status, and eligibility for government
beneits like Social Security so they and their loved ones can have the peace of mind they deserve.
• The Chartered Advisor in Philanthropy
®
(CAP
®
) designation provides full time philanthropists, coordinators, and
wealth advisors with a common body of knowledge and a shared credential, enabling them to collaborate eectively
with clients on legacy planning. The cross-disciplinary workplace curriculum spans and synthesizes the arts and
sciences of philanthropic planning, including taxation, inance, fundraising, purposeful planning, family oice
dynamics, psychology, and strategic philanthropy.
The key to success in this phase of your inancial career is identifying appropriate areas for personal growth and
development and selecting the right balance of specialized skills to set you apart from your peers.
Phase 3: Leading
In this phase of your career, you will have matured into a leader in the inancial services industry. You will be responsible
for driving growth, handling day-to-day business operations, and managing junior team members. You may be a
managing partner in a inancial planning irm, a senior vice president at an insurance company, or a senior portfolio
manager at a wealth management irm.
No matter which area of inance you choose to work in, your key priorities during this phase of your career will be:
Understanding how to manage a business/department
Developing leadership skills
Staying current on industry trends and developments
At this stage, those around you look to you for direction, inspiration, and insight. It is important that you stay abreast
of the trends and developments in your industry and continue to hone your professional skills even as your focus turns
more toward management and leadership. You must, however, also actively develop your management and leadership
skills to ensure that you are equipped to handle any challenge.
Your success as a leader will depend on the following skills:
Business development
Problem solving
Conlict resolution
Strategic planning
Regulatory oversight
Communication
15
In this phase of your career, The American College of Financial Services can help you hone your skills with the
following programs:
• The Black Executive Leadership Leadership Program
SM
, oered by the CEEE, is designed to prepare the next
generation of Black leaders in inancial services. Culturally relevant and customized for inancial services, the
program embraces an environment of learning with and from Black academics, researchers, and industry leaders
with a curriculum that delivers the expertise and personal skills needed to reach the highest ranks of inancial
services.
• The Chartered Leadership Fellow
®
(CLF
®
) Program provides inancial services managers with the knowledge
and tools they need to achieve key organizational goals, such as recruitment and retention, setting performance
standards, and developing business plans. The curriculum features a mix of relevant business courses to prepare
you for today’s leadership challenges and to help you create a culture of success in your organization.
• The Master of Science in Management (MSM) degree focuses on: (1) management concepts, tools, techniques,
and processes; (2) how inancial organizations use human, inancial, data, and risk management instruments to
develop a competitive advantage and eect change; and (3) current issues facing organizations and managers.
Graduates of the MSM program are prepared to assume management roles across functional areas in a wide range
of non-proit, for-proit, and private organizations.
• The Master of Science in Financial Planning (MSFP) is an accredited graduate degree program that gives aspiring
and active inancial professionals the practical and relevant skills they need to improve the inancial well-being of
their clients. Students in the MSFP program receive a strong foundation in inancial planning principles using sound,
ethical business practices and either inancial planning, retirement planning, or legacy planning.
Next Steps
As you have seen, inancial services can oer an exciting career path. But how do you get started?
One great irst step is reaching out to The American College of Financial Services’ Center for Economic Empowerment
and Equality
®
. The CEEE is a lagship center for research, thought leadership, curriculum and course development,
programming, and scholarships aimed at narrowing the wealth gap and cultivating lasting relationships between
inancial services and all underserved groups. You can visit the CEEE website to access cutting-edge research into the
inancial services industry and its relationship with Black Americans.
The CEEE can also provide guidance on scholarships that can support your inancial services education journey, as well
as helping you connect with Black inancial services professionals. For young Black Americans, the CEEE has partnered
with a number of historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs) to oer Know Yourself, Grow Your Wealth
®
, a self-
paced, eight-week educational program designed to help them increase their inancial knowledge and make informed
inancial choices.
In addition to reaching out to the CEEE, you can also take other steps such as:
• Reading more about the various sectors of the inancial industry
• Reading inancial media such as The Wall Street Journal and watching inancial news such as Bloomberg TV, as well as
following inancial professionals on social media
• Reaching out to any contacts you have who work in inance, or connecting with inancial professionals through your
LinkedIn network
• Considering your current education and whether you may beneit from additional certiications or designations
16
WORKSHEET THREE
Action Plan
It is time to lay out a plan of action for jump-starting your inancial career. Depending on your speciic background,
education, and experiences, you may need to start by doing some additional research into the various options available
to you. Alternatively, you may be ready to start looking for your irst job. Having a concrete action plan will help you
move forward wherever you are in your path.
GOALS (List three things you want to achieve as you move forward on your career path. This may include learning more
about your options, reaching out to inancial professionals, or applying for your irst job.)
GOAL #1
GOAL #2
GOAL #3
17
SKILLS GAP (You already have a list of your current skills. However, as you review your goals above, you may realize that
there are some gaps in your preparedness. You may feel, for example, that you need additional education to achieve a
goal such as getting your irst inancial services job. Take a moment to identify any skills or training you are missing.)
SKILLS GAP #1
SKILLS GAP #2
SKILLS GAP #3
SKILLS GAP #4
18
Action Items (Based on your list of goals and the skills gap you have identiied, it is time to decide on some practical
action items. Link each action item to a particular goal or skills gap and establish a timeline for completing it—this will help
you stay on track.)
Action Item Associated Goal/Skill Timeline
19
Learn more or submit an application at:
TheAmericanCollege.edu/Equality
Equality@TheAmericanCollege.edu
888-263-7265
As you consider your career options and the
paths available to you, remember that there are
resources, programs, and organizations ready to
support you. And, if you choose to pursue a career
in inancial services, we hope you will make
The American College of Financial Services
and the Center for Economic Empowerment
and Equality your lifelong partners.
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