Help for a Job Interview
thomwiseman
Member
Hello,
I have applied for a job as a trainee paraplanner and I had the interview and they have asked me to produce a suitability report for a mr and mrs example who have received an inheritance.
I have done the calculations part of the report, however I don't actually know how to present it. I don't suppose some has a sample of a suitability report that I can follow the structure of. I have found a writing guide on the personal finance society, but if anyone has an example of a report that I could see to see the format it would be really useful.
Thank you
Comments
FCA COBS:
SR requires you to
State client objectives
Set out your recommendation
Explain how the recommendation meets objectives
State disadvantages (risks) of recommendations
I would suggest that is a good place to start.
As a bonus tip (in case you aren't aware), you might want to consider if a Deed of Variation would be beneficial for the client's & their own future IHT position.
Everything else (charge disclosure, T&Cs of contract etc are covered by Illsutration / Key Features etc, although some firms may require this in SR).
I just see this a completely unnecessary recruitment process. If they are offering a trainee role, I see no benefit to this. I could understand if they put an example in front of you and asked for you to comment, highlight mistakes etc but it is their job to train you once they hire you. the hiring processes these days are too convoluted and over technical, especially at these junior stages.
That aside, Richard has covered the basics above and you'll be able to find further guidance from places like the PFS/CII, especially as they have a number of coursework modules that cover this. They are probably looking for an aspect of, you couldn't do x because we have not got enough info etc.
I expect the above opinion to be unpopular but that is the short of questions I would be asking myself when I am vetting a new role, as it is a two way process and wonder how supportive the training and manager is going to be. However, I say this from the comfort of already going through this career to a senior level and beyond and appreciate I am not looking to enter the career and the hurdles that has.
Thank you will go over these thank you. Especially the bonus tip.
It did surprise me a little bit, I could understand for an experienced role but for someone with no experience.
They have never had a trainee before, I would be the first. They have only ever hired externally before.
Yes I got the guide from PFS. I would go over old coursework for an example as well. Thank you
As someone who has previously recruited into paraplanning teams, I like this test. It gives you insight into the grasp of essential skills of maths and English, plus you can see how good they are at formatting and structuring documents.
It also identifies how much you they can do on their own without support. There is a world of difference between a wage-taker and a go-getter and this seems to me a good test for figuring out who is more likely to be the latter.
Richard has you covered on what needs putting in. I'd add that you want to make it visually appealing and get the basics right. Use white space, add a table of contents, add page numbers, use formatted headings, no dense text sections - use tables and bullet points. Try and aim for one point per sentence and keep sentences short (maximum 20 words).
Good luck.
You can do that in a much less alien way for someone looking at their first trainee role. If we were talking about a standard or senior role, then I would agree. In this instance, it is just corporate peacocking. You wouldn't ask someone looking to start in other sectors to be trained, to do it before an offer.
Like I said, it is just my opinion and was likely going to be unpopular.