BTS has launched new ‘Career Pathways’ lunchtime information events sharing real career stories from real people. BTS director, Luiza Todd explains.
‘I want to pursue a career in Financial Services, where do I start?’
‘I’m working in another sector, what do I need to do to move into Financial Services?’
‘I’m studying the for the R0 exams as a second careerist, is lack of experience in the sector going to put me at a disadvantage?’
‘What are the different routes to achieving a Level 4 qualification in Financial Services and how do I choose which one to take?’
Questions like these come into the BTS inbox daily. With 18 years’ experience in the regulated exam field, BTS have had the privilege of supporting thousands of candidates on their paths to building a career in Financial Services and along the way have had countless conversations with individuals about their triumphs and pitfalls.
Driven by a desire to bring together this community of experience, BTS has launched a new series of lunchtime careers information events under the title ‘Career Pathways’. We wanted to develop a way to bring together peers and industry experts to share information and experience on different subjects related to careers in Financial Services.
The Career Pathways events are designed for new / recently qualified financial service professionals and those thinking about their next steps. Each event will take a different topic of conversation including:
- Getting into Financial Services, where to start?
- Changing careers and transferrable skills
- Routes to Level 4
- Qualifications for paraplanners
- Neurodiversity and studying for regulated exams
- International careers in Financial Services
- Women in Financial Services
- Using social media to promote yourself and grow your client book
The lunchtime sessions (delivered on Zoom) will see special guests from across the industry chat to the BTS team about their experiences of getting in and getting on in the financial services. Inspired by the words of Leonard Nimoy, ‘the more we share, the more we have’, we want to tell real career stories from real people and provide attendees the opportunity to ask questions or just sit back and listen.
Running fortnightly on Wednesdays at 12pm, the events are open to anyone and are free to attend. The first event, running on Wednesday 27 April at 12pm will cover Getting into Financial Services, where to start? Featuring special guests, financial adviser Ruth Downs DipPFS, and aspiring financial planner James Tout.
Ruth Downs is an experienced financial adviser with a difference. Genuine, friendly, and all-round animal lover. With a varied previous career as a promotions model, air hostess and fieldwork and operations manager for a global communications agency, Ruth’s financial journey began in 2015 whilst helping her mum recover from major heart surgery. During this process she found a passion for finance and decided to study and use her knowledge to help simplify finance for others with straight talking, jargon-free advice.
James Tout worked in PR and journalism for 18 years before deciding to change career and train as a financial planner, out of a general interest in investing. After providing friends and family with informal advice on their investments, he started to think seriously about retraining and began his first CII module in early 2020, while still working as a freelance in corporate communications. His studies were somewhat waylaid by the pandemic, but after passing R01 in May last year, he’s since used the BTS guides to pass units R02-R05 on first attempt. He is taking R06 this month (April) and is now actively looking for his first job in the industry to complete the transition away from his ‘old’ career.
Hosted by BTS director, Luiza Todd, this first session promises to be an honest account of what it takes to break into the sector.
Interested in attending? View the schedule of events and sign up to receive Zoom links here: https://www.bespoketrainingsolutions.com/career-pathways
About Bespoke Training Solutions
Bespoke Training Solutions (BTS) have been supporting regulated exams for over 18 years, specialising in R0 support with outstanding candidate tracked results and feedback. Resources include digital and printed study guides, group and 1:1 training, e-Learning modules and a mobile app of practice exam questions. Visit www.bespoketrainingsolutions.com to learn more on how BTS can help you on your regulated journey. Or call us on 01748 822777.
