A Financial Advisor is anyone who helps people manage their money. It is an umbrella job title under which many other more specific job titles fall. If you are looking for a job as a Financial Advisor, it is good to set up job alerts for a few different titles, as these can vary. You could be called a financial planner or an investment advisor, depending on the job's exact responsibilities and requirements.  

Financial Advisors mainly work for financial institutions such as banks, mutual fund companies, or insurance companies. They advise individual clients or businesses to help them achieve their financial goals. Some Financial Advisors are independent Consultants, but they are more commonly associated with a larger company. There may be some travel required for Financial Advisors, such as attending conferences, networking events, or seeing clients at their work or home.  

Some financial planners, although not all, are held to what is called a fiduciary standard. This standard means the planner must put their client's interests above the planner's interests or firm. The easiest way to find out if a planner is fiduciary is to ask. If held to the less scrupulous suitability standard, the planner is only required to reasonably believe that they are acting in the client's best interest. The suitability has a lot more room for interpretation, so it is essential to understand the difference between the two.

Personality of a Financial Advisor

A Financial Advisor needs to be comfortable with mathematics and have an entrepreneurial, can-do attitude.  

Problem-solver. Often, money troubles are a symptom of a larger issue. It is your job to gently and empathetically guiding your clients to find solutions that can help them solve their problems. You not only need to have good ideas to help your clients, but you should also be able to plan and execute a strategy to help them achieve their financial goals.  

Entrepreneurial. Whether you work for a bank, a large broker, or as an independent Financial Advisor, you need to be a self-starter with an entrepreneurial attitude to succeed. It means having strong networking skills and proposing innovative solutions to clients.   

Interpersonal skills. You need good people skills to work with clients, colleagues, and managers, which is especially true if clients are in some way unsatisfied. It would help if you also came across as highly trustworthy, as clients are putting their hard-earned money into your hands. They want to know that they're in good hands.