Bitter truth: If you are high-IQ and highly ambitious seeking to enter this industry, you have to drop off your resume in-person (most effective with boutiques) so the decision-makers can SPEAK to you, because most talent acquisition processes in place are not designed to capture you.

You will be shocked by the amount of shocked and happy firm owners that didn't know someone like you existed

If you're someone that has been trading, investing, working in an adjacent field and/or independently learning various aspects of wealth planning, chances are your composite IQ-work ethic will blow the competition out of the water.

You'll notice when you meet fellow paraplanners or Jr associates or start helping with hiring and training, that most people in your experience bracket (and sometimes even a bit higher) are not keeping up in certain regards. Youll observe the new people, even if they're experienced paraplanners, are mostly automatons just moving through the motions and not really understanding the "big why".

You'll wonder why others keep failing the Series 65 when you passed it on the 1st try. You'll wonder why when they finally pass it why they're having trouble recalling and applying basic investment concepts at work. It's because of these discrepancies and many more that you're the "top talent" that industry pundits, that you likely follow during your free time, are talking about.

Another big one: You'll wonder why certain team members need so much hand-holding for answers that should be either intuitive (from your perspective) or google-able.