by Rebecca King
Editor's note: The following is an excerpt from the 2010 FPA Financial Planning Salary Survey, which will be released in October. Visit www.FPAnet.org/Learn/ResearchCenter for more information.
Hiring methods are important to getting the best staff you can for the compensation you offer. This excerpt examines hiring methods based on feedback from nearly 400 firms.
Most financial planning firms rely on their network or word of mouth for identifying job candidates. While this method is certainly inexpensive, it does not reach as broad an audience as job sites or ads. The most common "other" responses include employment agencies/temp agencies, Craig's List and college/university postings.
With the exception of online specialty job sites, all of the general recruitment methods have been rated as being effective.
In the hiring process, most financial planning practices use a combination of in-person interviews, applicant résumés, background and/or reference checks
and phone interviews.
Hiring Plans
On average, firms did not hire or eliminate any positions in the past 12 months. Future plans are more positive with nearly half of firms (42 percent) planning to hire additional staff in the next 12 months and only 1 in 20 (5 percent) planning to eliminate positions over the next 12 months.
This hiring is happening across many firm sizes. Even some sole practitioners are looking to expand their firms by adding staff members.
Most firms intend to increase compensation for their employees over the next 12 months. This is indicative of either positive revenue and client experiences or optimism for the economy this coming year.
| Recruiting Methods Used | |
| Word of Mouth/Network | 84.1% |
| Online Large Job Sites (Monster, CareerBuilder, etc.) | 35.4% |
| Other (Please Specify) | 25.8% |
| Print Ads in Newspapers or Magazines | 24.8% |
| Online Specialty Job Sites | 21.5% |
| Online Networking Sites (Facebook, LinkedIn, etc.) | 8.4% |
| Steps Taken in Hiring Process | |
| In-Person Interview(s) | 95.9% |
| Collection of Applicant Résumés | 88.1% |
| Background and/or Reference Check | 80.3% |
| Phone Interview | 58.5% |
| Skill or Personality Testing | 54.7% |
| Trial Employment | 42.3% |
| Other (Please Specify) | 3.8% |
| Percent of Firms That Plan to Hire Additional Staff in the Next 12 Months | |||
| Sole Practitioner | Firm with 1–5 Employees | Firm with 6–30 Employees | Firm with 31 or More Employees |
| 16.4% | 37.1% | 50.4% | 80.0% |
