The Paraplanner Club has now worked with over 50 mentees, while 20 mentors have volunteered to offer help their peers with a range of topics, yet the founders, Siân Davis Cole and Chloe Phillips, believe there is more demand for mentoring within the paraplanning community and have called on anyone sitting on the fence to find out more.
Launched in February 2021 and sponsored by Professional Paraplanner, the initial success of The Paraplanner Club has been in line with expectations, Siân and Chloe say.
“We’ve had a steady number of paraplanners becoming mentees, and others wanting to become mentors, and that is continuing,” says Siân. “It has been important to have the right balance of mentors to mentees, as all mentors are volunteers helping in their own time.”
Siân and Chloe believe there is more demand for mentoring within the paraplanning community. “We have over 1,000 followers on LinkedIn, which suggests people are interested but maybe have not taken action to find out more as yet. We’re sure that there are many of those followers who would benefit from the mentoring scheme, so we’d encourage them to visit the website and download the application pack to see what’s involved. All conversations are confidential,” Chloe says.
“There is no commitment to go further but we are certain there are more paraplanners who could benefit from having a chat with someone.”
Typical topics which paraplanners have raised include specific issues relating to their role, such as dealing with a particular problem or an individual, the right exams to take and when, exam coursework, as well as many on career change, such as how to move into financial planning, how to move from an administrator to a paraplanner, as well as how to become an outsourced paraplanner.
Having moved from in-house to outsourcing herself, Siân says: “We have people asking about the opportunities in outsourcing. I’d say before jumping in the deep end, you should understand yourself and what’s important to you. Assess what you truly think and feel about the job you are doing now and then get a real feel for what outsourcing would mean for your working and personal life. Then put those in context of your goals and ambitions.”
Siân adds: “We’re here as a sounding board and the range of people we have as mentors, spread across in-house and outsourced firms, from small to national firms, and employed paraplanners to company directors, means that we can match the mentee with the right mentor to help them.”
More information on The Paraplanner Club can be found on the website HERE.
