Becoming a Paraplanner
RachaelFS
Member
Good Afternoon All,
Hope everyone is well
I have recently begun working as a PA to a financial advisor, with the view i will train to become a paraplanner.
I have a degree in business management, but no real experience within Financial Services.
Can some one please confirm if they feel this would be the correct course for me
https://www.cii.co.uk/media/10126333/qspec-certificate-in-paraplanning.pdf
Also with this
Can anyone shed any light on the 'one off costs'
Standard Qualification Fee £770.00
Package Fee £188.00
Associated Learner Fees
Annual
Non-Mandatory Annual Membership £80.00 per annum
(Assumes entry level membership)
One off
Digital enrolment £497.00
Digital and printed enrolment £595.00
Digital only enrolment plus £570.90
Digital and printed enrolment plus £639.78
Key facts booklet (Printed and Digital) £108.00
Key facts booklet (Digital Only) £90.00
Knowledge checker £90.00
E-learn £127.50
Audio revision £127.50
Study text update (Digital only) £168.00
Study text update (Printed and Digital) £201.00
Is it a requirement to purchase all of these, or do you just need to select a few.
Any help would be well received
Kind regards
Comments
Hi Rachael and welcome to the Big Tent!
In answer to your question, the Certificate is useful but I would probably start with working towards the Diploma as this is what will give you the foundation knowledge to become a paraplanner.
https://www.cii.co.uk/learning/qualifications/diploma-in-regulated-financial-planning-qualification/
You do not need to buy all the different materials, just pick what is best for you and your style of learning and go with that! There are also lots of qualification support services that you can use who are great at helping you get successful exam results. There are some in the Big Tent so it may be worth speaking with them.
Have you had a look at some of the threads in the New to Paraplanning stream https://thebigtent.paraplannerspowwow.co.uk/categories/new-to-paraplanning
There will be conversations in there that will be useful to you too,
https://thebigtent.paraplannerspowwow.co.uk/discussion/1453/future-paraplanner-seeking-career-advice#latest
There was also an online assembly about this last year, which might be helpful to watch: https://www.crowdcast.io/e/mentoring-feb21
The Personal Finance Society have also put together a booklet answering lots of questions for those new to paraplanning, which is here: https://www.thepfs.org/media/10122021/getting-you-started-in-paraplanning.pdf
One final tip I would offer is to get yourself a mentor to help you with your journey; if you sign up to any exams with the CII and PFS, you get access to their Connect Mentoring Platform https://connect.cii.co.uk/
where you can look for mentors to help you with your exams and your career journey - this is all part of your membership.
I hope that's helpful but just drop me a note if you want to have a natter!
Hi Rachel, I second what Caro said. I just started with RO1 and worked my way through the exams while working on the job. I purchased the workbook and then different enrolments through each exam. I felt the Audio Revision was useful for car journey's and then exam examples was good..
Thank you
My concern with the Diploma in regulated financial planning is that there is no paraplanning module, would i need this?
I don't think you need the paraplanning module. Most employers look for the Diploma anyway for a paraplanner. I'm not saying its worthless, far from it, but if you go the Diploma route like most I feel this is also the best route.