INDUSTRY STATS
According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Financial Consultant positions are at a 4% growth rate, which is slower than average. With that said, there are currently 466,300 jobs in the market right now. The total number of jobs is expected to increase by 19,500 to 485,800 in the period of 2020-30.
What’s more, the median annual wage for the Financial Consultant jobs was $64,770 in May 2020. The lowest 10% earned less than $36,910, and the highest 10% more than $208,000.
Our conclusion? The Financial Consultant job market is wide open for candidates.
Top financial consultant sections that make the best resume
- Header
- Professional summary
- Experience (with numbers and results)
- Relevant skills
- Education
- Certifications
How to craft the perfect Financial Consultant resume experience section
Perfecting the experience section: financial consultant resume checklist:
- Be careful with bullet points: use no more than 4-6 per position;
- Mention only positions that are relevant to the job you’re applying for;
- List your experience in chronological or reverse-chronological order;
- Highlight your results by using numbers – e.g. percentage increase/decrease in an important metric that’s followed by - your hard work;
- Use action words whenever possible… but more on that below.
Need examples? We looked through thousands of Financial Consultant resumes and gathered some examples of what the ideal experience section looks like. Check them out below!
- Many professional trainings in Bulgaria and abroad.
- Useful knowledge about insurance opportunities, saving and family care.
- Working with international companies with years of valuable experience and practice in financial services.
- Licensed to sell investment and insurance products in Canada
- Experience with financial analysis and completing an financial planning reports
- Built database of 750 prospective customers
- Implemented financial planning strategies to generate new business across various platforms MFDA, IIROC & Insurance.
- Achieved Top Overall Rookie award and sales target award for 2014 for outstanding performance in all overall sales categories.
- Achieved 100+ clients in less than 2 years.
- Preparation of Client Net Worth Statements from their Tax Record.
- Preparation of Reconciliation of the assets owned by the client.
- Preparation of Cash Flow Statements from the income generated and expenses made during client’s career
- During my engagement in Audit and Assurance Department of the firm I have been involved as a team member in large audit teams. As a team member I had the opportunity to work in planning execution and conclusion stages of statutory audits. Validation of financial reporting packages and other special nature engagements.
- Preparation of Client Net Worth Statements from their Tax Record.
- Preparation of Reconciliation of the assets owned by the client.
- Preparation of Cash Flow Statements from the income generated and expenses made during client’s career.
- During my engagement in Audit and Assurance Department of the firm, I have been involved as a team member in large audit teams. As a team member, I had the opportunity to work in planning execution and conclusion stages of statutory audits. Validation of financial reporting packages and other special nature engagements. My responsibilities included engagement management, client relationship management and coordination with professionals of various fields like legal, actuarial and IT experts and decision making on resolution of critical reportable matters.
- Performed stakeholder management and recommended suitable products/solutions in response to identified stakeholders' concerns;
- Developed and managed communication strategy for key stakeholders; carried out risk assessments;
- Identified and implemented improvements in stakeholder database management as well as stakeholder outreach process enhancements adopted throughout the company;
- Influenced business leaders at all levels of the organization using data analysis when making recommendations;
- On-boarded and mentored 5 newly-hired Associate Financial Consultants within the company.
- Closed $60,000 worth of investments in 6 months after i joined
- Analyze the newest updates on foreign exchange market both technically and fundamentally and provide a concise summary of analysis to clients
- Make sales visit and sales call to provide the newest opportunities provided in the market
- Provide On going support for all P2P & Order to Cash Modules
- Conducted Proof of Concepts, Demos, customizations/extensions , testing solutions, generated test scripts and writing documentation.
- Roll Out Global ERP financial projects-,SPAIN,ITALY,HK,SINGAPORE.
- Advised on new business processes and re implementation under R12.2.4 version of business structures.
- Gathering requirements from customers ,design and execution.
- Exceeded expectations of target across the board.
- Was placed in underperforming branches to revive their business.
- Advised on Life, Critical Illness and Income Protection, consistently delivering right customer outcomes, whilst delivering on the Bank's business plan.
- Writing suitability reports on a daily basis, for checking by Quality Assurance department.
- Supported Line Manager in delivering the group's business plan, by attending weekly telephone conferences, monthly team meetings and regular one to ones using this as a forum to share best practice and continuously promoted self development.
- Pre-planned own business plan to ensure targets were met if not exceeded by ensuring a high level of rolling activity in the diary by self generating meetings daily and monitoring colleagues diaries to ensure maximum outcome.
- Lead by example by successfully engaging the Bank Managers and branch colleagues to work in partnership by taking part in morning huddles, individually coaching and supporting staff members and going the extra mile to provide service excellence to the branch customers.
- Worked in close collaboration with my Commercial, Mortgage and Wealth Partners to meet customer needs and deliver an exceptional customer experience and expand product knowledge in these areas to be better placed to make referrals.
- Promoted the Brand, so the customer has every reason to recommend the Group to family, colleagues and friends.
- Consistently kept up to date with product and process changes to provide the best possible customer experience and deliver against plan.
- Strictly adhered to risk requirements by keeping up to date with and following the FCA rules and principles.
- (CRM) Responsible for business client acquisitions and relationship management
- Acquisition of small, mid, large business clients during 2 year period
- Specialized in Corporate Structure Planning, Financial Planning, Forecasting and Executive Compensation
- Multiple month Production Leader
- Financial forecasting via FFS, Profile Forecaster, Asset Maps, Ad-Hoc Analysis
- Provided investment advice, retirement planning, trust and estate planning services to HNW individuals and corporate clients
- Designed tax reduction strategies for high tax bracket clients
- Assisted senior consultants with researching industry publications and client websites to locate new sales opportunities to identify new prospects resulting in three new business plans
- Provided investment advice, retirement planning, trust and estate planning services to HNW individuals and corporate clients
- Designed tax reduction strategies for high tax bracket clients
- Assisted senior Financial Consultants with researching industry publications and client websites to locate new sales opportunities to identify new prospects resulting in three new business plans
- Provided investment advice, retirement planning, trust and estate planning and gifting options to reduce estate taxes to HNW individuals and corporate clients
- Identified and established target niche client segments and established a strong reputation within those markets, as well as the designations to support the practice's specialization
- Partnered with sales teams at key points in the sales cycle to achieve sales and retention goals
- Provided investment advice, retirement planning, trust and estate planning and gifting options to reduce estate taxes to HNW individuals and corporate clients
- Designed tax reduction strategies for high tax bracket clients
- Assisted senior consultants with researching industry publications and client websites to locate new sales opportunities to identify new prospects resulting in three new business plans
- Customer - Cleo Communications
- Help construct efficient cash flow analysis processes for accountants
- Yielding a high accuracy 2 -month cash forecast
- Train finance department on how to create accurate revenue forecasting models
- Customer - Hoke Inc.
- Implement Insightly CRM to consolidate data from multiple sources
- Streamlining financial operations from quote to cash
- Significantly improving accuracy of sales forecasts
- Placed trades on the major exchanges (Stocks/ETFs, Options, Mutual Funds) after interpreting market conditions and communicating the client’s buying power
- Uncover client’s issues and needs to further develop the business relationship and uncover new assets
- Weekly meetings dedicated to learning the Financial Consultant role and successful financial planning
- Team SME on client engagement and Service Plus
PRO TIP
In writing your Financial Consultant resume, you will no doubt want to list your previous duties - as you should. But steer clear of just listing your duties, instead of your achievements. Make your resume stand out by communicating what you have done, and not merely what the job needed you to do.
Action verbs for your financial consultant resume
Recommended reads:
Impressing recruiters with a top financial consultant resume skills section
Checklist for an impressive financial consultant resume skills section:
- List both hard and technical skills that are important for the role;
- Check what the job description says and add some keywords based on that;
- Focus only on relevant skills;
- Try not to list things such as “communication”; rather, highlight your soft skills in other sections of your Financial Consultant resume.
Top skills for your financial consultant resume
Excel
VBA
Matlab
SAP
BI
Mathcad
Business Objects
ETL
PL/SQL
Communication
Negotiation
Critical thinking
Problem solving
Collaboration
Flexibitly
Resilience
Dedication
Empathy
PRO TIP
Don’t feel obliged to spend a separate section for your soft skills - you can weave them throughout your job experience or career summary. But, don’t just write empty words - back them with examples.
Recommended reads:
Financial consultant resume header: tips, red flags, and best practices
Checklist for your financial consultant resume header
- Your name and surname in a legible and larger resume font
- The job title you’re applying for or your current job title as a subheading to your name
- Link to your portfolio or online profile, such as LinkedIn
- Address (City and State for the US; just your city for rest of the world)
- Email address
- Headshot (required or welcomed in the EU; not required and sometimes frowned upon in the US)
Stick to popular email providers such as Gmail or Outlook. And use these professional formats to create your username:
- first.last@gmail.com
- last.first@gmail.com
- firstlast@gmail.com
- f.last@gmail.com
- first.l@gmail.com
Recommended reads:
PRO TIP
Include a link to your portfolio in your Financial Consultant resume header. Most companies will require that you include one in your resume, and even if they don’t, it’s an excellent opportunity to directly show them your proudest projects.
Crafting a strong summary for your financial consultant resume
Checklist: The perfect financial consultant resume summary section
- Add a couple of keywords from the job description;
- Mention some of your most valuable skills and characteristics;
- Highlight your top achievements (and add numbers!);
- Use no more than 3-5 sentences to guarantee readability and keep - the hiring manager interested.
Resume summary formula:
PRO TIP
You’re not going to get hired simply because of a good summary or objective. However, your recruiter can bump you up in front of similarly experienced candidates who didn’t demonstrate such passion and drive.
Recommended reads:
An impressive education section: Financial consultant resume
Financial consultant resume: education section checklist
- Highlight your highest education degree;
- Include the degree subject, year of graduation, and institution name;
- Mention some of the awards you’ve received during your studies;
- List your certifications (incl. the body that’s issued them);
- Entry-level positions: Give preference to courses that are relevant to the position.
Top certifications for your financial consultant resume
Financial Modeling for Business Analysts and Consultants
Learn Financial Modeling in Excel that will allow you to participate in due diligence, strategy or turn around projects
The Complete Financial Analyst Course 2022
Excel, Accounting, Financial Statement Analysis, Business Analysis, Financial Math, PowerPoint: Everything is Included!
Financial Analysis for Management Consultants & Analysts
A practical guide with case studies and examples of financial analyses done during consulting projects
Beginner to Pro in Excel: Financial Modeling and Valuation
Financial Modeling in Excel that would allow you to walk into a job and be a rockstar from day one!
Finance & Accounting for Management Consultants and Analysts
A practical guide that will help you understand financial statements & do financial analyses during consulting projects
Recommended reads.":
PRO TIP
If you hold a certain major and a minor, your majors should be mentioned first.
The right format for your financial consultant resume
When it comes to formatting your Financial Consultant resume, there are certain things you need to keep in mind. These include your level of expertise, your total years of experience, and the position and company you’re applying for, to name a few.
You can choose between three basic resume formats:
- Reverse-chronological resume format;
- Functional skills-based resume format;
- Combination (or Hybrid) resume format.
The reverse-chronological format is just that – all your experience listed in a reverse-chronological way. It’s great for experienced professionals who have been in the industry for many years and have no career gaps.
The functional skills-based resume, on the other hand, focuses on skills, education, and personality traits, rather than experience. This makes it great for graduates, people with less experience, or bigger career gaps. The idea is to show you’re the perfect match without putting too much emphasis on your lack of relevant experience.
If none of these sound suitable, go for a hybrid (or combination) resume. It’s a mix of experience, skills, and personality traits. It’s also considered modern and innovative because of its non-traditional structure and sections. Here, you can add details about what your typical day looks like or what your life philosophy is. In short, the hybrid resume format shows who you are, both as a professional and as an individual.
More tips on perfecting your resume style and layout:
- Choose a traditional 12p font;
- Make sure your resume margins are no bigger than an inch;
- Go for a one-page template. If you have broad experience and can’t fit your resume on one page, choose a two-page resume template
- Save your resume as PDF to avoid formatting issues and unauthorized editing.
Read this: Ways to make your Financial Consultant resume stand out
Recommended reads:
PRO TIP
Test your draft Financial Consultant resume by sending it out to peers and mentors in your circles. Ask them to review it as if they are hiring you for a project and implement the feedback afterwards.
More sections worth adding to your financial consultant resume
If the industry, company, and position you’re applying for allow for that, you could include other sections in your Financial Consultant resume. By doing this, you’ll show the recruiter that you’re a real human and not a robot.
Here are some ideas:
The right kind of creativity for your financial consultant resume
Several years ago, everyone preferred keeping a safe distance from creative resumes. Today, adding creativity to your CV is considered cool, innovative, and one of the best ways to stand out.
You can add a creative section that describes your typical day or even go for a colorful creative template. No matter what you choose, make sure to keep the position, company, and industry in mind. Otherwise, you risk looking silly.
What makes a great financial consultant resume: key takeaways
- Choose a resume layout that sends the right message across and fits your current career situation;
- Create a resume header that shows your desired job title, and easy to find contact numbers;
- Be specific about your experience, accomplishments and future goals in your summary;
- Feature detailed metrics and specific examples that show the impact you made in your previous roles when describing your experience;
- List soft skills backed by examples;
- Add all of your technical skills and certifications that you have and match the job description;
- Show off a dash of personality in your resume that will demonstrate your culture fit and the right mix of hard and soft skills.
