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Trainee Timeline

Becoming a skilled financial advisor isn’t easy. It takes time, dedication, and a combination of analytical skills and the ability to develop strong personal relationships.

To help ensure you have what it takes, you’ll need to complete our rigorous interview process, including meetings with branch management in your local office, conference calls with Raymond James recruiters, and a series of aptitude and career-preference tests, prior to being offered a position as a financial advisor trainee.

Next, you’ll begin a comprehensive, 39-month program during which you will receive a combination of salary, commissions and year-end bonus/award opportunity. Starting with comprehensive initial training – including one-on-one work with your branch manager, test preparation support and sessions at our corporate headquarters – we believe this commitment is crucial to giving you the foundation you need for long-term success.

1) Earning Your Licenses

To become a licensed financial advisor, you must pass certain certification requirements, including:

  • The Series 7 exam for general securities sales;
  • The Series 66, which covers state laws, ethics and general investment knowledge; and
  • The life, health and variable annuity licensing exam.

To support you, Raymond James provides test preparation materials, regular conference calls with test experts to give you insight into the best ways to study and eight weeks to focus on preparing for the exams.

2) Learning the Basics

Once you’ve passed the appropriate licensing exams, you’ll undergo a three-week intensive training program at the St. Petersburg, Florida, corporate headquarters of Raymond James. During these sessions, you’ll learn:

  • What investment alternatives and services Raymond James offers,
  • Financial planning strategies to use in your practice,
  • How to effectively use Raymond James’ technology systems, and
  • Sales-related relationship-building skills.

3) Reviewing and Planning

Next, you’ll head back to your local office for a full month to begin to practice what you’ve learned. During this time, you will implement all aspects of your business plan and measure the early results of your activity.

4) Applying What You’ve Learned

Finally, you’ll spend an additional week at the corporate headquarters, during which time you’ll get more detailed information about sales, marketing and developing client relationships. In addition, you will be able to test much of what you’ve developed on your own. For this final step, you’ll:

  • Review and refine your business plan with the help of your peers and Raymond James trainers,
  • Role-play specific client meetings and investment situations, and
  • Learn additional product and service information.
 
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