At Berry & Oak, we’re passionate about inspiring the next generation of financial planners and helping young people gain a real insight into the profession. Each year we’re delighted to welcome students into the business, giving them the opportunity to experience the variety of roles within a modern financial planning firm and see first-hand what goes on behind the scenes to deliver great client outcomes.
This year, we welcomed Coby for a three-day work experience placement. We asked him to share his thoughts on his time with us in his own wordsā€¦
After finishing Year 12, I had the privilege to join Berry & Oak for a 3-day work experience around financial planning. This was incredibly useful as it gave me a much greater insight into the finance sector and definitely opened a new door that I would love to go down in the future. It differed significantly from previous work experiences as it gave me hands-on experience of working in an office and gave me a real taste of what a 9-to-5 would actually look like, which was a unique and new experience for me.
From the first day, it became transparent the actual amount of effort that goes on behind the scenes to please the clients, which I was extremely impressed by, and their ability to treat clients like old friends rather than just numbers on a huge list of clients, which is a really strong benefit of being a smaller company.
I got to spend time with the paraplanning team and get an overview of the fascinating software they use, such as TRUTH and FE Analytics, which proved very handy when summarising clients’ information and results. Moreover, I got the privilege of observing a client meeting, which gave me an incredible insight into the day in the life of being a financial planner. I found this especially useful as it involved topics that I would never have expected to be discussed during a meeting.
In addition, it really intrigued me how a financial planning firm has such a variety of different roles. This directly contrasted with my original belief that it would be filled with just financial planners. Instead, all the different roles have to work in harmony together in order for Berry & Oak to be the extremely successful business that it is today.
The whole team was absolutely brilliant and welcoming, always happy to answer my questions (even if it took 20 minutes to explain and distracted them from their work!), and I cannot thank them enough for it! I had some really in-depth and fascinating conversations with Will, which helped me understand the route into a financial profession, and a lovely talk over lunch with Robin, who is of a similar age to me and had recently started at the company, making it much easier to relate to. Sarah was a brilliant host, and Andrew also helped answer some burning questions I had. I could talk about the team all day with how brilliantly I have been treated!
I came to Berry & Oak unsure if it was the right path for me and I can leave now confidently knowing it is. I have discovered that I’m especially interested in client meetings and helping people as much as I can, so I would absolutely love a career in financial planning in the future.
A massive thank you to everyone at Berry & Oak for such a supportive, enjoyable and educational experience!ā€¯
A huge thank you to Coby for taking the time to share his experience with us. We loved having him as part of the team and are delighted that his placement has helped shape his future career aspirations.
We wish Coby every success with his studies and look forward to seeing where his journey takes him. Hopefully, this won’t be the last time we see him at Berry & Oak!