How Do I Become an Advisory Services Manager?

Advisory services managers are experienced, highly education professionals who commonly work in the financial sector. These professionals oversee teams of advisers who assist financial managers to manage risk while generating the highest possible returns in areas such as tax, investment, and information technology. To become an advisory services manager, your first step should be to earn an undergraduate degree in a field such as information systems, accounting, finance, or management. It is also a good idea for a person who wants to become an advisory services manager to earn a graduate degree in a related field since many employers, while not requiring this qualification, might prefer to hire candidates who have earned it. In most cases, it is also essential to get about three to five years of experience working in financial services.

Individuals who work as advisory services managers focus primarily on helping their clients to make the best financial decisions by reducing risk. When an advisory services manager concentrates on information systems, he or she might help clients to choose the most effective software and hardware and might also help them to find the best security in terms of firewalls, password protection, and physical protection of hardware. An advisory services manager with a background in accounting, on the other hand, might assist clients in audits for both external and internal use.

In most cases, a person who would like to become an advisory services manager first must get experience as an assistant or junior adviser. To do this, it is a good idea to participate in internships while in school. A decent program should offer students the opportunity to meet recruiters from financial firms. A students who wants to become an advisory services manager can choose to intern with several different companies and even in different capacities, this way he or she can learn about various options for this kind of career. Having experience as an intern in a financial services firm is a requirement in many job markets where people graduate from college fully prepared to take entry level positions.

Aside from having a deep understanding of his or her field, as well as being comfortable with relevant technology, a person who wants to become an advisory services manager should also have good management skills. This kind of professional acts often as a project manager, meaning that he or she might delegate tasks to team members and create budgets, processes, and time frames. It is also important to be flexible, especially when it comes to listening to the needs of clients, most of whom have varying goals and perspectives on paths for achieving goals.