As part of our ongoing commitment to give something back to the local community, members of the FPC team have recently attended a series of events to promote Financial Planning as an exciting career opportunity to young people contemplating their career choices.
On the 5th July two of the team, Financial Planner, Helen Thomas and Financial Planning Assistant, Hayley Butler attended a careers fair hosted by the Liverpool Insurance Institute at the Crowne Plaza in Liverpool. The event targeted 15 to 18 year olds and college students and introduced them to the career possibilities in both the Insurance and Financial Planning sectors. As well as hearing from apprentices and graduates, key industry experts were on hand to talk about their experiences.
Helen and Hayley were asked to facilitate the interactive Discover Fortunes team competitions which aim to bring the sectors to life and help students to learn more about saving, pensions and investments, plus develop teamwork, communication and problem-solving skills to boost their employability.
At an earlier initiative in November last year Helen and Partner at FPC, Bernice Blundell also attended the Greenbank High School Careers day. Greenbank is an all-girls school and historically girls have not pursued careers in the STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) subjects so the aim of FPC’s involvement was to encourage more girls to continue with mathematics at A-level and beyond. Helen and Bernice spent the day working with groups of students, introducing them to the world of Financial Planning and reiterating the importance of maths, both in daily life and at a vocational level.
The FPC team is looking forward to building on the partnership with Greenbank High School and will be attending this year’s careers day in November.
Financial planner, Helen Thomas got as much from the day as the students commenting: “It was great to see the students really getting involved in the financial planning process. At the start of the day, most had little or no idea of what financial planning was or what a career in financial planning entailed. However, by the end of the afternoon they were not only aware but also enjoying the problem solving and analytical skills involved. It was a great opportunity to show them that financial planning is more than just mathematical, it is about helping people. I’m now looking forward to the next event”.
Partner of FPC, Bernice Blundell comments: “Thanks to Helen and Hayley for all their efforts last week preparing and presenting the interactive sessions. We are keen to fly the financial planning flag whenever we get the opportunity. These initiatives are exactly what all firms should be supporting so that the profile of our profession and the value we add can be more broadly understood.”
FPC is also involved in a number of other initiatives to both boost the profile of women in the Financial Planning sector and to help young women to improve their understanding and organisation of their finances. We’ll be providing an update soon…
