The mentoring scheme for Paraplanners

Although mentoring schemes are available with the LIBF, CII and other professional bodies – these all require paid membership which we didn’t really see as a fair way to be able to access the support needed by individuals within the paraplanning community.

Membership fees are often paid by an employer however, where an individual needs a certain membership to maintain their letters, for example, this will usually then restrict them to that professional body’s mentoring scheme as an employer is unlikely to pay for 2 lots of membership fees for a Paraplanner.

The aim of The Paraplanner Club is to provide individuals working within the paraplanning community access to a mentor to offer support and guidance in helping them achieve their objectives.

Individuals working within the paraplanning community can generally be defined as:

Paraplanners (including those working in Financial Planner hybrid roles)

Paraplanning team managers

Administrators who are looking to progress into paraplanning

The Paraplanner Club offers the opportunity to be matched to a mentor to provide guidance, advice and support. Initially a Mentoring Agreement will be drawn up between the mentor and mentee to confirm the commitment between them including how and when communications will take place to ensure everyone is happy.

A mentor will generally be somebody who wants to help other individuals who want to become the best Paraplanner they can be.

They might have been in the industry for many years, having worked their way up through various roles or they might have recently become a Paraplanner either way, they will have the desire to want to help others in achieving their professional goals.

A mentor could expect to achieve the following objectives through their work with mentees:

• Direct exposure to the difficulties encountered by individuals in different types of firms

• Exposure to diverse perspectives, styles, personalities, and cultural backgrounds

• Opportunity to leave a legacy of knowledge and experience

• Renewed energy around personal learning opportunities and their own role

Having a mentor can help an individual at different stages of their career, or it could be in relation to a specific objective. A mentor might be able to help you:

• Identify your own priorities and options

• Generate ideas about your future career direction

• Work out skills and learning gaps that need to be bridged

• Develop a career plan and a strategy of how to achieve it

• By challenging you to achieve your goals and help you to assess your progress against them

• Deal with a specific situation that is happening at your work at that given time

• By giving advice on how to promote yourself within your organisation to get yourself noticed and make the step up

• Achieve a work-life balance and communicate this effectively to your line manager/peers

• By advising on challenging situations

• Develop confidence

A mentor doesn’t have to be someone at a different stage in their career to you – your objective might relate to learning from your peers.

We only offer mentors to Paraplanners who work for financial advisers within the UK at the moment.