Recruit the Right Fit for Your Wealth Management Firm with Financial Planner Recruiting

Don’t Just Take Our Word For It!

Q&A: With One of the Top Financial Advisor Recruiters

Six Questions with Ali Staton, Founder & Leader Recruiter

Q: How long does it typically take to find qualified candidates in a given search and fill a role?

Finding qualified candidates does take time, but the good news is that is is our job to make the process as smooth, efficient, and effective as possible. It can typically take anywhere from one week to one month to find top talent that is suitable for the role. This is very dependent on things such as location, job specifications, and years of experience. Our job is to provide you with resumes as quickly as we have the most qualified candidates for the specific role. On average, we recommend that you conduct between 2-3 interviews with candidates, which includes a combination of video and in-person interviews. Keeping this in mind, it could take anywhere between 1-3 months, depending on how quickly the process moves. We are there every step of the process to help ensure questions are answered, and the process is moving along smoothly.

Q: How do the services you provide differ from other financial advisor recruiters?

Financial Planner Recruiting provides services from start to finish in order to alleviate most of the workload off of you as possible in the transition process. We are happy to help with the following areas of the job search in our advisor recruiting process:

-Assist with Job Description: We are happy to use a job description that you have already made and are here to help you add or take away any pertinent information as needed.

-Candidate Sourcing: We take all of the looking off of your plate!

-Candidate Screening (phone and/or Zoom call): We conduct phone and/or Zoom interviews with all candidates we speak with within the search process. These typically last anywhere from 30-45 minutes as we make sure they are the best choice for the firm and the role.

-Candidate Presentation of Resume and Bio to Client, Firm Owners, and Team Members: When we feel we have a candidate that could be a good fit, we send you a copy of their resume and a short “bio” about them so you have an understanding of their experience, what they are looking for, and what we discussed in our conversation, etc.

-Management of Interviews: Unlike many other financial advisor recruiters, we will happily set up and manage the interview process for you. Whether in person or over Zoom, we can be the inter-communicator to make things easier for you with regard to scheduling.

-Questions from clients and candidates: We are here to answer any questions you may have about the candidate or the new hire process along the way. We also serve as a communicator with the candidate throughout the process and debrief with them after interviews to ensure that they are still a good fit for the role.

-Client Check-Ins as needed or wanted: If you would like to schedule check-ins or have them as needed to discuss the search, we are happy to include this in our services.

-Assist with Offer Stage as needed or requested: We do not provide sample offer letters, but we are happy to lend advice or consultation as requested at this stage.

Q: In what ways do you go about finding both the best candidates and top talent in the wealth management industry?

Financial Planner Recruiting takes a unique approach to finding top talent for boutique firms. We pride ourselves on having a built-out candidate database from which we like to start searching. We use specific tools to help us engage in the search process. We do our due diligence to take a careful look at the area in which the job is located, the job description and specifications, and any other pertinent information to make sure we are finding qualified candidates for the search. For new advisors, career changers, young talent, or candidates of a younger generation, we are sure to ask about why the specific change to the financial industry.

Q: What questions do you ask financial planners in the recruiting process to make sure they are qualified candidates?

Finding qualified candidates is important, but asking them the right questions in order to ensure they are the best candidate for the job is just as crucial. Here are a few things we make sure to discuss with the candidate to make sure they have the firm’s best interests in mind.

Candidate’s background, previous work experience in the financial services industry, years of experience in their current role, software exposure, growth trajectory, compensation expectations, why they are looking for a new firm, and how they build client relationships.

Q: What financial planning firms do you work with?

We work primarily with boutique RIA’s and boutique wealth management firms as well as LPL Financial, Merrill Lynch, Raymond James, Northwestern Mutual, wirehouses, Morgan Stanley, and other boutique entities of these firms located within the United States.

Q: How long have you been recruiting in the financial services industry?

My background originally started in education. I spent six years teaching in a special education elementary classroom and then transitioned into an administrative role. From here, I changed careers into recruiting. My husband is a Certified Financial Planner and firm owner, so financial planning has always been in our family. I started out my recruiting career at a small recruiting firm focused on working with boutique RIA’s and finding them newer candidates in the profession as well as new financial advisors. From there, I transitioned into a larger recruiting firm working with independent firms still in the boutique wealth space, helping them find new talent. I have direct experience and exposure to working with boutique RIA’s and helping them from start to finish with finding their right-fit hires. I understand what it takes to find the best talent along the way in the hiring process, no matter the current market conditions. I focus largely on making sure my clients not only have a successful hiring process by working with me but that I make the experience as easy as possible while finding the right fit candidates.