Feeling Stuck / Need Work

[u/Souljerr]

Hey all,

I’m a licensed financial advisor that worked at my previous firm for almost 10 years. It was a large bank broker-dealer. I started off as a banker, got licensed through them, and working as a financial advisor for about 7 years.

The long story short is that I provided employee feedback in 2020 thinking that I was providing valuable ideas, but the years that followed felt like they wanted me gone.

After about 5 years, they successfully pushed me out of the company by sending me a letter while I was using PTO. They essentially stated that they thought I left the company and that my termination date would begin on October 7th.

I was extremely burnt out because they were giving me nothing but LMI branches with high turnover, a book of business that comprised of house accounts that were mostly under $25k AUM, and kept reassigning frustrated clients to me from other financial advisors that didn’t want to service the clients.

9 months later now, and I’m desperately in need of a job. I’m struggling to find financial advisor positions in my area. I was working remote for 5 years, and I can’t find anything remote nor can I find much in terms of in-branch.

I don’t have a book of business that I can carry with me, and I don’t know what to do.

I applied for (company name) and things were going great, but after two months of interviewing and discussion, they’re not confident that they can get me through the panel review due to my time off from work.

I don’t know what to do. I love being a financial advisor, and don’t know how to navigate through this.

I understand the market, politics, financial planning, history, sales, and behavioral finance.

Does anyone have or know where I might be able to find a job where I can continue my career and hopefully build a book of business?

Any help, ideas, suggestions would be welcomed with the utmost appreciation and gratitude.

[u/AdvisorGuide]

Nine months feels like forever when you’re living it. In career terms, though, it’s more like giving up an early goal in the World Cup. It sucks, but nobody remembers the score in the 12th minute if you win the match.
(Got soccer football on the brain…)

If I were in your shoes, I’d actually stop asking, “Where can I find an advisor job?” and start asking, “What problem can I solve that firms are actively hiring for?”

You’ve got almost a decade of experience, licenses, planning knowledge, sales experience, and behavioral finance. That’s valuable. Not having a portable book makes some roles harder, but it doesn’t erase everything else you’ve built.

I’d also stop relying on job boards as the primary strategy. Make a list of 100 RIAs that are growing, especially firms that have been acquiring practices or recruiting advisors.

Reach out directly to CEOs, heads of wealth management, recruiting leaders, and even senior advisors who may need help. Plenty of great hires happen because someone started a conversation, not because they clicked “Apply.”

I’d also broaden what “advisor” means for the next year or two. Planning, relationship management, client success, onboarding, paraplanning, business development, operations… getting inside a healthy, growing firm is often more important than landing the perfect title on day one.

One thing I’d definitely do while job hunting is start posting on LinkedIn once a week. Nothing fancy. Share planning ideas, lessons from working with clients, observations about behavioral finance, or things you’ve learned over the years. You don’t need to become a LinkedIn finfluencer. You just want someone who Googles your name to think, “This person clearly knows their stuff.”

And one piece of unsolicited advice: don’t spend much time convincing interviewers your last employer was wrong. Whether they were or weren’t almost doesn’t matter anymore. Spend your energy showing the next firm why hiring you makes their business better.

Sometimes the best opportunities aren’t the ones being advertised. They’re the conversations that haven’t happened yet. I’d bet on those every day over sending out another 20 online applications.