Sourcing and screening candidates

Keep the job description top of mind as you consider the ideal profile of your next hire. Focus on the complete person, not just his or her technical skills.

Here are some candidate profiles to consider as you begin sourcing potential candidates.

• Financial service professionals
  Focusing on candidates with financial services experience can shorten the recruitment process. Wirehouse advisors, employees from other RIA firms, and candidates from other financial service areas may have greater awareness of what it means to be an RIA.
   
• Adjacent professions
  Nearly 40% of advisors under age 40 considered joining a banking, accounting, or insurance firm before joining their current RIA firm.² Post your description on sites that recruit for these professionals. Note: Female employees at RIA firms typically take a different career path than their male counterparts and are more likely to have worked in operations, education, technology, HR, or marketing.²
   
• Career changers and reentrants
  People looking to restart or change their careers may have a higher level of maturity and more life experience and relevant skills than you may find in recent graduates. In addition, they may join your firm with a referral list of colleagues, clients, and connections.
   
• Recent graduates
  Hiring newly minted MBAs or graduates from undergraduate business programs allows you to train them in your firm's culture at the beginning of their careers. In turn, recent graduates are often eager to learn and grow and can offer fresh perspectives.
   

Reach out to employees, clients, and other professional contacts for candidate referrals.

• Look for talent within your own firm.
• Contact professional and educational associations and organizations.
• Access job opportunity websites, including niche websites.
• Connect with students at local universities and colleges (e.g., attend job fairs, visit career centers, and reach out to professors).
• Connect with universities with academic tracks for the CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ designation.
• Consider offering "returnships," or internships for midcareer professionals.

Start the process by requesting the same information from each candidate, typically a cover letter, résumé, and salary expectations.

• Scan résumés for basic qualifications.
• Focus on specific hiring criteria (e.g., strong customer service skills or supervisory experience).
• Consider conducting a 15–30-minute phone interview to get a sense of whether the candidate is a potential fit. Raise any concerns you noted from their résumé, such as an employment gap.
• Design an unbiased screening process
• To mitigate any potential unconscious bias that may be present in your firm, design an unbiased screening process by:
  • Masking the name on résumés to keep your team focused on the candidates' experience and accomplishments.
  • Using a standardized candidate evaluation form.
  • Including qualitative and technical questions or case studies to help keep the recruitment process more objective.
  • For more information on how unconscious bias works, check out Harvard University's Implicit Association Test.

Determine which candidates will move forward in the hiring process.

• For candidates under consideration:
  • Share notes with your recruitment team.
  • Set a deadline for feedback from the recruitment team.
  • Contact candidates to arrange the next round of interviews.
     
• For declined candidates:
  • Decline via phone or email.
  • Save contact information for strong candidates who may be right for future openings.