As the impact of Covid-19 and furlough makes the job market unstable, advisers are struggling to fill more experienced roles but are being inundated with applications for trainee roles as school leavers struggle to find jobs.
Martin Bamford, head of client education at Informed Choice, found this to be true after he posted two job advertisements last week, one of which was for an inexperienced/trainee administrator and the other for an experienced paraplanner.
He has already received more than 100 applications for the trainee role but only one candidate has applied for the experienced role.
Jon Bean, chartered financial planner at Carter Thompson Wealth Management, said his firm has had a very similar experience having received more than 50 applications for a trainee post and only one for the experienced.
Mr Bamford said this is a likely result of the impact of Covid-19 on the job market as these are “worrying times for school leavers who are job hunting”.
He suspected that many young people are firing out job applications for roles they may not be acceptable for as a lot of the applications he received for the trainee role have been unsuitable.
Mr Bamford said: “We have had to filter out those who haven’t complied with the requirements. For example we have received applications from people who did not provide their CV or a cover letter. We have also had to screen out those who are unsuitable due to location.”
He also said that candidates are likely applying for a role in any sector due to the current circumstances rather than having a specific ambition to start a career in the advice profession.
He added: “There is not a glut of candidates who are keen to work through the various roles in a financial planning business, to develop a professional career.
“Paraplanning and financial planning are not well-known career choices for college or university leavers, and a lot more needs to be done to attract high-calibre candidates to our profession.”
Shortage of recruits
Last year, Nucleus warned that advisers are increasingly struggling to cope with their workload due to a shortage of quality new recruits coming into the profession
Garry Mcluckie, communications director at Nucleus Financial, has claimed the biggest issue facing advisers today is capacity.
He said firms were unable to recruit staff due to a lack of appropriate applicants and as a result were struggling to meet their advice and compliance needs.
Furlough has also made it harder for firms to attract qualified applicants as individuals are not currently looking for a new role.
Latest job market data from CV-Library found that applications to finance jobs fell by 5.8 per cent in August, despite the amount of jobs being advertised increasing by a steady 2.8 per cent month-on-month.
Lee Biggins, founder and chief executive of CV-Library said: “It’s surprising that applications have dropped so significantly; especially given that the government’s Job Retention Scheme is coming to an end in a matter of weeks now.
“However, it's important to remember that August is typically a slower month for hiring – even during a pandemic. It’s vital that employers don’t lose faith in the job market.”
Mr Bamford is hopeful that when the furlough scheme is closed on October 31, it will become easier to fill experienced positions.
He said: “I suspect that in a month or two we will have better luck trying to fill the more experienced role as when furlough ends more people will be out there looking for jobs.
“Due to furlough, people are quite happy to be receiving 80 per cent pay and being at home but once this ends, and some people are inevitably made redundant, then people will be out looking for jobs again.”
amy.austin@ft.com
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