Paraplanner Resume Example & Writing Guide
Use this Paraplanner resume example and guide to improve your career and write a powerful resume that will separate you from the competition.
Paraplanners are primarily responsible for planning and organizing all the details of a client’s financial plan. They’re often the first point of contact for new clients, and can serve as a trusted resource for existing ones.
Because there are so many moving parts to any financial plan—from asset allocation to tax implications to insurance needs—paraplanners need to be incredibly organized. They need to have a knack for breaking down complex information into easy-to-understand language, and have great communication skills to help clients feel comfortable with their decisions.
Because of the sensitive nature of the work they do, paraplanners also need to have a high level of discretion. They need to understand how to protect client confidentiality while still providing the transparency clients need to make confident decisions.
Here are some tips and an example to help you write a great paraplanner resume that will land you interviews with top firms in the industry.
How to Write a Paraplanner Resume
Here’s how to write a resume of your own.
Write Compelling Bullet Points
Bullet points are the most effective way to showcase your experience and qualifications. But rather than simply listing your responsibilities, you can use them to demonstrate your value by providing specific examples of how you contributed to the organization.
For example, rather than saying you “provided financial analysis for new product launches,” you could say that you “provided financial analysis for new product launches by calculating ROI for new product launches based on projected revenue and costs, resulting in a 15% increase in projected revenue for new product launches.”
Notice how the second bullet point is more specific and provides more detail about what exactly you did and the outcome of your work.
Identify and Include Relevant Keywords
Paraplanner resume keywords are essential to getting noticed by the applicant tracking system (ATS). The ATS will scan your resume for certain terms related to the job opening, like “budgeting” or “financial analysis.” If your resume doesn’t have enough of the right keywords, the ATS might discard your application.
To make sure your resume makes it past the ATS, use this list of common paraplanner keywords and phrases as a starting point:
- Financial Planning
- Retirement Planning
- Estate Planning
- Investments
- Financial Advisory
- Wealth Management
- Tax
- Financial Services
- Financial Analysis
- 401(k) Retirement Savings Plans
- Tax Preparation
- Insurance
- Mutual Funds
- Accounting
- Financial Accounting
- Life Insurance
- Business Planning
- Risk Management
- Financial Modeling
- Financial Advisory Services
- Investment Advisory
- Banking
- Teamwork
- Microsoft Access
- Negotiation
- Business Strategy
- Property & Casualty Insurance
- Customer Service
- Business Planning & Strategy
- Financial Planning
Showcase Your Technical Skills
As a paraplanner, you need to be proficient in a variety of software programs and systems in order to effectively do your job. This might include financial planning software, portfolio management software, and tax preparation software. Additionally, you need to be able to use spreadsheets and word processing programs to create reports and documents. Being able to list your technical skills prominently on your resume will show that you are a valuable asset to any financial planning firm.