About 2 months ago, I wrote that I was applying for a higher position at the bank. In fact, I was eyeing the Private Banking Wealth Management department at the firm. They take care of clients with over $1M to invest. I really wanted to be part of this group since it is probably the best position that a financial planner can have in a bank; you face highly challenging situations while meeting many interesting clients.

There was an opening to take care of entrepreneurs (which are usually millionaires to be) for downtown Montreal and I applied for the job. The interview went very well and I knew that I was a good candidate. But… because there is always a but…

I didn’t get the job!

I got a call the other week telling me that I was not the one picked for the job downtown. At first, I wasn’t super happy. Then, they told me that they wanted someone to stay there for many years (and make a career out of it). Since we all know that I live 1 hour away from Montreal, it is obvious that I would jump on a similar opening closer to my house if it ever happens in the upcoming years. Therefore, they preferred keeping me for the next opening in my area instead of having me downtown for a limited time.

I must say that I pushed myself into the corner with this one since I told them that it would be a no brainer for me if I had the choice between downtown and my area. I actually really like working downtown but I also know too well that I won’t be traveling forever either…

I’m still a bit bitter about this situation (since I’ve almost always got the job after an interview!) but I have learned a few tricks from not getting this job:

Ask for interview feedback

If you get declined for a position; don’t just answer back “thank you, goodbye”. Keep the hiring person on the phone and ask him more questions. While it’s never easy to cope with refusal, I have taken grasp over my feelings and continued the discussion. I wanted to know what went well and what needs to be improved (managers never want to say what went bad, they rather use words like “to be improved” ). This is how I got some “free coaching” and they also told me that I would meet with the manager of the south shore to make sure it goes smoothly and that I have a better chance of getting the job.

Ask about the next step

All right, so you now know that you are not getting the job, now what? What is the next step after you swallow the pill? Do you get angry and become a disgruntled employee? Do you go after another job with a competitor and show them that they were wrong for not giving you the job? These are understandable reactions but they are not part of a solution.

I asked the person who declined me what was the next step in my situation. This is when he offered to help me meet with the person in charge of the south shore. This showed goodwill from the organization and the fact that I wasn’t getting BS from HR (‘cause we all know that HR are EVIL). I am now looking forward to this meeting!

Behave and get a hold of yourself

You didn’t get the job. You are frustrated. I understand, I was too! However, frustration leads to anger, anger leads to hate, hate leads to the Dark Side (oops, I digress ) or at least nothing positive and will certainly not lead to your next promotion. This is why I came back the next morning, smiling and working hard… as usual. In fact, I am now working harder since I know I didn’t get the job. Even though you didn’t get the job, it doesn’t mean that you have made a bad impression. This is why you need to surf on the “good impression” you have left. There are tons of candidates for each position and only one winner. This time, it wasn’t you. But you have to be sure that next time, it WILL BE YOUR TURN to get the job .

In the meantime…

In the meantime, I am working on a few files at my desk in order to continue my job. I am now a little bit behind my 2011 financial goal of making 150K. While the beginning of the year was awesome, I ran into few speed bumps over the past 2 months. I didn’t lose any accounts but my growth has slowed down. On the other hand, I have grown my book big enough to get another great salary raise this year . I will certainly not spit on 7%!

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I came up with the idea of writing about the difference between a financial planner and a stock broker when I realized during a conversation with one of my clients that the difference is not that obvious. So for those who are dealing with a financial planner or a stock broker, you might not even know what they can do for you and which one you need. I’ll try to make it clear with this article.

Certification

As I have previously mentioned, a Financial Planner needs a CFP certification (which stands for Chartered Financial Planner) in order to call himself a financial planner. To become a financial planner, you need to pass a specific exam. In some places, such as Quebec, you also need a certificate in financial planning before applying to write the exam. This obviously ensures that the financial planner has a minimum  knowledge before he starts his job .

In order to become a stock broker, the only certification required is a “trading license”. Depending on if you are in the States, Quebec or somewhere else in Canada, the name of the license can differ but the result is about the same; you buy a big book where it explains what the stock market is, the difference between bonds, equities and other types of investments, etc. Once you have read it, you pass the exam and you get your “license”.
Overall, we can say that the certification to become a financial planner is much harder than to become a stock broker.

What a Financial Planner can do

A financial planner is like a general practitioner doctor. He will cover the 7 fields of financial planning with his clients:

- Insurance / Protection (life, disability, critical illness)

- Legal aspects (marriage rule, divorce, etc.)

- Personal finance (budgeting, financing, etc.)

- Tax optimization

- Investing

- Retirement planning

- Estate planning

In real life, very few financial planners will cover all the fields. Most financial institutions hire financial planners to do investing, retirement planning and sometimes financing. However, when you find a good one, he should go over all the aspects of your personal finance. He should refer you to a specialist for insurance (an insurance agent), estate planning and legal aspects (lawyer, notary) as well as using a tax expert or an accountant when required.

As for investing, most financial planners cannot trade stocks. In most cases, they can build investment portfolios with mutual funds and work with you on your asset allocation. However, they can’t give you stock recommendations or trade for you. Forget the ETF products as well, they are not authorized to trade them (unless they have their broker’s license….)

What a Stock Broker can do

Obviously, the main thing that a stock broker does is… trades stocks . However, most stock brokers are leaving the stock trading portfolio model for investment solutions that are easier to manage for their clients such as:

- Investment baskets (created and traded by their firm)

- ETFs

- Private investing / discretionary investments (with known portfolio managers)

- Even mutual funds!

Why are they leaving the stock trading model? Because, in most cases, a stock broker is always as good as his last trade. Clients are getting very impatient these days and they expect miracles from their brokers. Therefore, they expect them to buy only stocks that will go up….which is obviously impossible. Then, when stock brokers switch to “managed” investing solutions, they create a buffer that gives them more time to “satisfy” their clients. The biggest advantage of a broker is that he has access to all investment solutions on the market. It can be the hottest mutual funds, the latest bond issue or a custom made ETF portfolio; the stock broker can do them all (as opposed to the financial planner).

Who is the best?

The real question should be what are you looking for? A financial planner is very helpful to manage your overall finances as he is the only one with the knowledge to guide you in all the personal finance fields. However, if you are looking to get stock advice or trade ETFs, the financial planner won’t be of a great help. But to be honest, I think that people are definitely overreacting towards the management fees of mutual funds (for funds that are less than 2%). Paying between 1% and 1.75% is not too much to have your portfolio managed by professionals. ETFs are surely interesting but if you don’t know how to trade them, it’s like giving a Ferrari to a 16 year old kid who has never driven…

If you have a strong grasp on your personal finances already, maybe you only need a broker. But then again, make sure you are dealing with a professional. I know amazing stock brokers and some very questionable ones too… as is the case for most professions

In some very rare cases, you will meet a financial planner with a broker’s license. Then, you have basically hit the jackpot .

Some people will tell you that they would rather be on their own…. I’d say it’s a poor answer unless you have a strong financial background and a high interest in managing your portfolio and finances. I believe your finances should be managed by a professional much like you require the help of a dentist to manage your dental care or a doctor for your overall health. It doesn’t mean that you have to close your eyes and blindly follow your financial advisor, but asking him questions and following his lead will surely increase your net worth .

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We all know someone who is successful. It can be your best friend, parent, neighbor, sport idol or the guy on the TV at the moment. You might be envious, jealous or just wondering how these people can make it that far. Those who think it’s related to just luck, you are definitely wrong. People make their own luck, good or bad (as they create an empire or their own burnout). There are 3 common factors that most successful people have: Talent, Work and…what is missing?

Let’s start with Talent first!
The funniest part is that you don’t need much talent as opposed to what most people think. You don’t need to be an expert to write a book, you just need to know more than the guy next door. That’s true for most fields you would like to be successful in. Being “good” at something is usually enough to make you go further. The fact that you are better than the average Joe in something makes easier for you to shine a little and this is usually the starting point of a great success story.

Work… man you gotta work!

This is, in my opinion, the biggest factor in any equation for success. People who work hard and work well are rewarded. To illustrate this point, I’ll use my own example. Back in high school, I didn’t have to study and average 90% in each course from geography to history passing through math, French and sciences. Then, just before University, my marks were strong enough to get me anywhere I wanted. All that without working much. You could say that at that time, my success was due to talent. I was good at school, period. However, when I started University classes, the whole ball game changed. I started to see B’s and C’s and my GPA after 2 sessions was 2.77! I still understood everything during classes but I thought I could sit back comfortably on my talent and get my way through with A’s… I was darn wrong! One of my friends was getting very impressive marks one after the other. I can’t say he was smarter than me but I can tell you that he was serious and worked hard on his stuff… and he was rewarded for it!

Talent + Work = Success… really?

This is where I think something is missing. Some people are successful without the third factor so we could think that talent + hard work is enough. We may think that people with a little bit more talent push their success higher as they can only play on these 2 variables. But I think there is a third one. The factor makes the whole game different for those who include it in their own success equation. This factor is called: FUN.

Talent + Work + FUN = Success

Why having fun is so important? Because life is boring if you just wake up at 7am in the morning, take your shower and coffee, go to work, work 8-10 hours, return home, watch tv and hit the sack… until the next day. Life is pretty boring if you design it that way even if you are talented at something and work hard every day.

However, if you have FUN, if you LOVE what you do, if you FOLLOW YOUR PASSION, then, and only then, the sky is the limit. The reason why I am currently building an online empire and that I was able to make $12,000 in a single month is because I’m having fun doing it. It is not because I am talented (I can’t even write proper English!). It is not because I work that hard (I work hard, but I know a lot of people putting way more hours than me into their projects). It is because I’m having so much fun working on my computer, writing and creating. I wake up each morning at 4h30 and the very first thing I do is that I look at my blogs. I go on forums, read my fellow bloggers. This is what motivates me the most. I constantly think about my company not because I need to work on it all the time but because I just LOVE what I do.

If you are asking me what is my equation for success I would say:

FUN + Work + Talent… in that order ;-D

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As is the case at the beginning of each year since I started this blog, I setup my goals for the year. I usually do a mid-year revision to make sure I am on track with all of them. However, this year, since I was quite aggressive with both my personal and business goals, I have decided to review them quarterly. I really want to achieve all of them so I better take a look at where I stand:

Personal Goals:

#1 Paying off all my credit cards

This is probably where I suck the most of all of my goals! I’m definitely bad at paying off debt as I always find an excuse to spend more money. I guess it comes with the fact that I tend to make more money so I don’t see the problem. As I mentioned last week in my net worth update, I will be able to use my tax refund to drop my credit cards (and I’ll eventually sell my stocks to clear one of my cards later on…).

So far, I can’t say that I am ahead of target, but I know I have several cards, excuse the pun , in my hand that I have yet played. This is why I am not too worried right now…

#2 Increase my Net Worth to Over 200K

This is definitely not a problem as I count on my assets increasing to reach it . My pension plan update (in April or May) will give it a great help. Combined to a hot housing market and a growing value of the shares in my business.  I am convinced I will reach this goal if I continue working on building my assets.
#3 Be One of the Top 3 Financial Planners in Montreal – Make 150K

As of the last reports, I was part of the best performing financial planners for a 3^rd year in a row. I’m aiming for a record year.  So far in terms of net $ brought under management and percentage of objectives achieved (I’m looking at finishing the year over 200% of goals right now). While it is pretty hard to say if I’m on track to be top 3 or not, I know that I am doing well in my book, that’s what matters right now. I just have to avoid the “summer blues” and not slack off during the sunny months… I’m not on vacation yet!

Online Business Goals:

#1 Generate over 250,000 visits per month with my blog network

Having 2 VAs has definitely helped me to grow my traffic. They have helped me by doing keyword research and search engine optimisation of specific articles. As of my last monthly income report, I have achieved more than 230,000 visits. Summer time is coming so the traffic should go down around 200,000 visits. However, my network should be ready for another peak of traffic in September. I should be able to reach my goal.

#2 Write a free ebook and hit 500 downloads

This is where I am getting a bit late! My ebook layout is ready (it will be about dividend investing) and I have started to write it. The plan in April is to complete the ebook and send for editing and formatting so I can launch it in May. This is going to be a tough one!

#3 Create my first product (ebook) and sell 100 copies

Of all my personal and business goals, this is probably the hardest one to achieve. I first need to learn from my free ebook experience before writing one that costs something. Since I want to sell my second ebook, I want to make sure it’s professional and worth every penny you will pay.

I am convinced that my ebook will be ready by the end of the year but selling 100 copies will be pretty darn hard. I will have to work on a huge marketing plan I guess . However, I have my idea for the book and I know that it will worth it for many buyers!

#4 Create 10 niche websites and make a minimum of $100 per month with each of them.

Niche website creation has been quite an adventure since the beginning of the year. I am learning a lot about creating a static website structure, search engine optimization and promotion. I’m only making a few bucks per month so far but the creation is going well. I currently have 2 sites up and running (Home Security System Canada and Second Hand Saddles HQ), and I am almost finished with my third one (What is Dividend?). I can tell you that my third one is much better than my first 2 sites in term of quality content and keyword optimization. I think I have found a way to create high quality content and make money out of it at the same time (basically, reproducing my blog model into a niche website). I’ll announce my new website shortly.

#5 Switch The Financial Blogger’s direction from Personal Finance Blog to a PF/Online income blog

Of all the goals, this one was achieved quicker than I thought. I wasn’t quite sure how you would react to the change of direction for my main blog.  But I have rapidly discovered that most of you are very interested about discovering what I do to make money online. I will still hold onto the personal finance stuff as well as I think it’s part of this blog’s nature. In the end; all means are good to reach financial freedom; making money online or managing your personal finances the right way .

The next step

Since the beginning of 2011, I am pretty much focused on what I have to do. However, preparing this recap helps me ensure I devote my energy to the right tasks. Right now, my priorities for the next quarter are:

Personal side:

- To avoid spending too much money

- Working hard at work and avoid slacking off because it’s sunny outside!

Business side:

- Finish / edit my 3 niche websites and start a 4^th one.

- Finish my ebook for the end of April to send it for editing

I think that setting up your priorities help you reach your goals. Short term attainable goals are a must for me to reach bigger goals. How do you achieve your goals? Do you have them written somewhere?

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That’s it, I’m on a roll again! After turning down a 250k job based lifestyle quality, I had an interview for an interesting position in the area I am looking for: Downtown. The job is pretty similar to what I do right now (e.g. financial planner) but for a wealthier clientele. This would not represent a huge climb in income as the previous job was but I would be getting my foot in the door in the wealth management department. One of my financial goals for 2011 was to pay off my debts, there is nothing better than a raise to pay them off .

So far in my career, I’ve been quite successful with my interviews. I didn’t get every job I applied for but I have always left a very good impression. Sometimes, leaving a good impression is as good as getting the job. I’m not an expert of any sort, but I have realized that some minor details make a big difference when it comes to the interview. So here are a few of my interview tricks:
Interview Trick #1: My Super Suit

We all have one. There are a few pieces of clothing you own that make you feel good, are comfortable and good looking. It is very important that you wear your favorite suit, shirt and tie. You will enter the interview room confident and proud. You will be at ease and your interviewer will notice that as well. Basically, you need to feel like a million bucks. Smiles and solid handshakes can’t hurt as well .

Interview Trick #2: Writing a letter

Along with my resume, I always write a letter. This is usually a short one pager that explains a few of my abilities and the motivation I have to apply for a new job. Since employers receive tons of resumes on their desk, you need to find a way to stand out from the crowd. By writing a letter, you have more chances of getting read. At the time of the interview, I always bring 2 to 3 copies of my resume and my introduction letter. Just to make sure all the interviewers will have a copy in hand. While one interviewer is asking a question, others can take a look at the documents you just provided.

Interview Trick #3: Knowing the Job

My first manager once told me: “if you want a promotion, you must know how to do the job first”. This may sound a bit tough depending on the field you are working in.  This is why I cut it down to “know what the job is about”.  If you stopped at reading the job’s description, you are bound to be in left field. Find people working in that department, ask them interview questions, try to know what their day-to-day looks like. Ask them what they like, what they don’t like about their position. During the time of the interview, you will look like someone who doesn’t take application process lightly and that you go a little bit further in your investigation.

Interview Trick #4: Knowing the interviewer

Here again, this might be hard to know a lot of information before your interview. However, when you schedule your interview, it doesn’t hurt to know who will be present. Just tell them that you are curious as who will run the interview. After you get some names, you can always ask around to know what kind of individuals they are. I don’t advocate to change your personality during the interview (you will be happier and your boss too if both of you know who you are from day #1). However, trying to know your interviewers’ background and interests can only help you create a quick connection during the interview.

I’ll get news from my interview in a few weeks (probably by the end of April). I don’t what it will look like as there were several candidates and I know that they are not clowns. This will be a fierce competition! I’ll let you know how it goes!

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